cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Rebalancing Redox to Improve Biobutanol Production by Clostridium tyrobutyricum

Biobutanol is a sustainable green biofuel that can substitute for gasoline. Carbon flux has been redistributed in Clostridium tyrobutyricum via metabolic cell engineering to produce biobutanol. However, the lack of reducing power hampered the further improvement of butanol production. The objective of this study was to improve butanol production by rebalancing redox. Firstly, a metabolically-engineered mutant CTC-fdh-adhE2 was constructed by introducing heterologous formate dehydrogenase (fdh) and bifunctional aldehyde/alcohol dehydrogenase (adhE2) simultaneously into wild-type C. tyrobutyricum. The mutant evaluation indicated that the fdh-catalyzed NADH-producing pathway improved butanol titer by 2.15-fold in the serum bottle and 2.72-fold in the bioreactor. Secondly, the medium supplements that could shift metabolic flux to improve the production of butyrate or butanol were identified, including vanadate, acetamide, sodium formate, vitamin B12 and methyl viologen hydrate. Finally, the free-cell fermentation produced 12.34 g/L of butanol from glucose using the mutant CTC-fdh-adhE2, which was 3.88-fold higher than that produced by the control mutant CTC-adhE2. This study demonstrated that the redox engineering in C. tyrobutyricum could greatly increase butanol production.
Susceptibility of Recent Isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to Gentamicin, Polymyxin, and Five Penicillins, with Observations on the Pyocin and Immunotypes of the Strains

The susceptibilities of recently isolated strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to gentamicin, polymyxin B, carbenicillin, ampicillin, penicillin G, and two newer penicillins were tested with the inocula-replicating technique by using undiluted and 10(-3) dilutions of the cultures. With either inoculum, polymyxin B was the most active agent, and a comparison with previous data from this laboratory showed that the susceptibility of P. aeruginosa to this antibiotic had not changed over the past 20 years. Gentamicin was nearly as active as polymyxin, all but 2 of the 141 strains tested with the diluted inoculum being inhibited by 6.25 mug/ml or less. AB-2288, an agent resembling carbenicillin, was four times more active than carbenicillin or BLP-1654; the last two were equally active against the 10(-3) inoculum. A more marked inoculum effect was noted with the penicillin analogues tested, the increase in minimum inhibiting concentration with the undiluted culture being eight-fold for carbenicillin and at least 16-fold for AB-2288 and BLP-1654. Pyocin typing and serotyping failed to demonstrate any clearly predominating types.
'Lessons in Productive Democracy: Mobilizations to Produce African American Education When State Efforts are Inadequate'

For the past two decades there has been much discussion of the state of democratic participation in the United States. Scholars and observers have described lower levels of civic engagement, and decried what some have called the US’s “diminished” democracy. Responses have included calls for “participatory democracy”, “empowered participation”, “deliberative democracy” and “public work.” With the exception of the discourse on public work, much of this discussion ignores or undervalues the productive side of democratic participation. Often, in contexts where the state lacks the will or capacity to provide public goods in the manner desired by communities, we find examples of communities of individuals mobilizing and pooling their resources and efforts to coproduce (by aligning their efforts with those of the state) or in many cases produce (without the aid of the state) public goods and services. With African Americans often meeting governments (Federal, state and local) that have been indifferent or even hostile when it comes to providing them public goods and services, we often find individuals mobilizing for collective action aimed at meeting collective needs or solving collective problems – themselves or with the help of civic allies. Education is an arena where such actions have been common and remain visible. This paper describes key historical and contemporary examples of African Americans and their allies coproducing education for their communities. I argue that such examples, which arise within contexts where the state lacks the will or capacity to meet the educational needs desired by these communities, reveal a vibrant realm of public engagement often overlooked by those who decry the lack of civic engagement. Ultimately, these examples reveal a latent democratic potential in these and similar communities that may well be a source of civic capacity for solving community problems. While not sufficient to completely replace the role of the state, these efforts do have the potential to address some of the unmet needs and may lead to expanded forms of civic participation and political involvement.
Cardiovascular/Invasive Monitoring

The elderly population in the United States continues to grow. As a result, trauma is no longer a disease of the young, and the older population has become an increasingly larger portion of those requiring hospitalization. However, due to preexisting comorbid diseases and decreases in physiologic reserve, the level of care required for the elderly patient may be somewhat challenging and complex when compared to young patients with similar injuries. The following chapter will discuss cardiovascular issues and management of the elderly as well as various modalities of hemodynamic monitoring to help provide care.
Moving diffractive optical elements from stand-alone components into micro-optical systems

The evolution of a diffractive optical element (DOE) from a stand-alone component into an integral part of a micro-optical system can be a significant challenge. Design, fabrication, assembly, environmental and packaging constraints of micro-optical systems should be intimately coupled – this is the definition of an integrated system. Coherent consideration of these factors can increase the utility of a micro-optical system. On the other hand, inattention to these integration issues will compromise a DOE’s performance. While DOEs and the micro-optical systems that incorporate DOEs can be complex, the decrease in optical source and detector dimensions that parallels Moore’s Law in the electronic world makes integrated micro-optical systems an inevitability.
Multi-Objective Optimization Approaches in Spacesuit Design

In this paper, we use a multidisciplinary spacesuit model developed in a companion paper and an N-Branch Tournament Genetic Algorithm to optimize spacesuit designs for a Mars environment. The spacesuit design is optimized to minimize mass, stowage volume, and pre-breathe time prior to a spacewalk, and to maximize spacesuit mobility. These four objectives represent the primary measures of utility for a spacesuit design. This paper describes both a framework and process for spacesuit optimization, and demonstrates a new multi-objective visualization method for this four-objective design challenge. We discuss the preliminary optimization results as they relate to spacesuit design considerations. This initial investigation suggests that the power and CO2 removal technologies have little impact on the spacesuit architecture, whereas suit hardness and suit pressure have a far greater impact. Often suit pressure and hardness are determined at the beginning of the design eort and these early choices greatly influence the overall characteristics of the spacesuit. These results should be useful in the design of the next generation of spacesuits.
Regional Power in National Diplomacy: The Case of the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission

An interesting anomaly in the usual pattern of federal foreign policy management is found in the case of the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico. The U.S. Section functions as a quasi-independent agency formally subject to the U.S. Department of State for policy oversight. Since its formation in 1945, however, the U.S. Section has acquired substantial institutional autonomy from the State Department due to its specialized jurisdiction, clientele relations with U.S. border states, and bilateral diplomacy. The U.S. Section performs a mediator role between the State Department and its state clientele in resolving transboundary problems with Mexico, and leans toward the states when federal and state interests conflict.
Kr-collision shift of the Rb D 1 transition: The isoclinic point and precision optical spectroscopy

Measuring the energy dependence of optical-transition collision shifts has proven extremely difficult, in part because of Doppler broadening and the manifold of overlapping hyperfine components that must be disentangled in the spectra. Here, we demonstrate an approach to these measurements based on spectroscopic isoclinic points. To illustrate the approach's efficacy, we investigated the Kr collision shift of the Rb ${D}_{1}$ transition at 795 nm. For the expected Rb-Kr van der Waals interaction, the collision shift should scale like ${(T/{T}_{o})}^{\ensuremath{\kappa}}$, where ${T}_{\mathrm{o}}$ is a reference temperature and \ensuremath{\kappa}${}_{\mathrm{theo}}$ = 0.31. Exemplifying the difficulty of \ensuremath{\kappa} determinations, previous alkali-metal--noble-gas experimental measurements of \ensuremath{\kappa} have varied widely, sometimes in striking disagreement with theory (i.e., factor of 2 larger). In the present work, we not only demonstrate a measurement precision better than 10${}^{\ensuremath{-}10}$/\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}C, but with our technique we validate the theoretical scaling constant, finding ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{\mathrm{expt}}$ = 0.36 \ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{} 0.06.
Key Findings from the Nonlinear Base-isolated Benchmark

Two phases of the benchmark problem on base-isolated buildings concluded recently, culminating in two separate special issues in the Journal of Structural Control and Health Monitoring. The base-isolated building considered in the benchmark problem is based on the USC hospital building in Southern California. The goal of this benchmark is to provide a common computational test-bed to analyze competing control strategies on base-isolated buildings, including devices, algorithms and sensors. To achieve this goal, a 3-D finite-element model was developed in MATLAB to represent the complex behavior of the full-scale baseisolated building with lateral-torsional behavior. The model allows users to model both linear and nonlinear isolation systems. A nonlinear structural analysis tool was developed in Matlab TM and distributed to the participants for nonlinear dynamic analysis. Over twenty papers in two special issues in the Journal of Structural Control and Health Monitoring were published as a result of this effort. This paper presents an overview of this benchmark effort.
Implantable insulin pumps: a major piece of computerized diabetes therapy.

There is a significant need for revised, safe and more effective insulin delivery methods than subcutaneous insulin therapy, including CSII, in the treatment of type 1 diabetes. The aim of the review is to describe the current status, issues and prospects of insulin therapy with implantable insulin pumps. The International Registry of Human Implantation reports that, as of May 1988, 249 pumps have been implanted, using the intravenous or intraperitoneal route for insulin infusion. The data suggest a reasonable safety of the method, no pump run-away having been reported and only one patient having died of severe hypoglycemia possibly related to the pump. The more recent European (POINT) and U.S. (PIMS) trials with programmable pumps have confirmed the safety and suggested a better efficacy of the method over subcutaneous insulin administration. They also have pointed out that in order to represent an acceptable alternative to existing methods, implantable pumps still have to a) cope with or increase catheter longevity, presently of 2-3 years only, namely by improving catheter biocompatibility and b) clearly prove its superiority over subcutaneous methods at controlling diabetes, using large-scale, randomized, prospective controlled studies.
Hemangiopericytoma and Other Mesenchymal Tumors

A variety of mesenchymal tumors, both benign and malignant, may occur within the CNS, most arising from the dura/meninges. These lesions are histologically identical to their non-CNS counterparts, and are thus named accordingly. Meningeal hemangiopericytoma (HPC) and the microscopically similar solitary fibrous tumor (SFT) are by far the most commonly encountered tumors of this group.
Drone classification and identification system by phenome analysis using data mining techniques

The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology has gained immense popularity in recent times. The technology has witnessed enhanced capabilities in terms of payload, greater distance operability and stability in hovering. The growing sophistication in the UAV platform can be compared to the stability and efficiency delivered by manned aircraft. The UAV platform complimented by its size, absence of thermal signature and battery operated motors offer it incredible amount of stealthy performance capabilities. Recent times have been a witness to the prowess of UAV technology being exploited for illegal activities such as criminal, terrorist purposes, and drug delivery platform across the border. The drone technology has also been misused as a platform by, nefarious individuals who use the UAV technology with a unique eves dropping payload to launch network intrusion into corporations by hovering their UAV over the corporate infrastructure. According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), commercial airline pilots have reported over a 100 close call situations or drones in visible proximity of the aircrafts at the airports. Sales of Drone have been estimated to cross the 700,000 mark in 2015, an increase of 63% over its sales in 2014. This paper outlines the challenges in drone detection, its identification and classification to preempt any possible malicious intent.
The Engulfing Potential of Peritoneal Phagocytes of Conventional and Germfree Mice

It is not known what role naturally occurring microbial flora play in the development of the phagocytic capacity of peritoneal phagocytes. A quantitative comparative study of phagocytes from conventional and germfree animals is therefore desirable. With the development of a simple quantitative method, we have been able to measure the in vitro engulfing potential of peritoneal cells from different strains of mice raised in conventional or germfree environments. In the work to be presented we found no difference in the engulfing potential of peritoneal phagocytes from conventional and germfree mice. The importance of a defined population of cells and quantitative techniques are stressed, and the in vitro functional maturation of peritoneal phagocytes is reported.
Variants within the Leptin Receptor Gene (LEPR) on Chromosome 1p31 Are Associated with MS Susceptibility in a Model Adjusted for Known Disease Risk Factors (P5.275)

Objective: We investigated the relationship between four candidate LEPR SNPs and BMI, an established MS risk factor. Further, we tested each SNP for association with MS accounting for the independent association between BMI and MS. Background: Studies of autoimmune disease in humans and the EAE animal model support a role for serum leptin and soluble leptin receptor in MS. Both leptin and leptin receptor levels may be correlated with BMI. A recent GWAS identified SNPs within LEPR as significant determinants of soluble leptin receptor levels. Methods: We assembled samples from 1,104 MS cases and 10,536 age and sex matched controls (80[percnt] female, white non-Hispanic). All were members of the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Health Plan. Genotype imputation and very rigorous quality control criteria were applied. SHAPEIT2 for phasing was followed by IMPUTE2 (1000 Genomes Phase 3 integrated variant set, October, 2014). Each individual was characterized for genetic ancestry using MDS (PLINK) analysis, HLA-DRB1*15:01 status, 110 established non-MHC MS risk SNPS, and known environmental risk factors. Multivariable logistic regression models were applied using STATA. Results: BMI was weakly associated with one SNP within LEPR, rs2767485 (r=.03, p=.003). Three SNPs were associated with MS including rs2767485 (OR= 1.23, 95[percnt] CI: 1.09, 1.39, p=0.001) and missense variant rs1137100 (OR=1.17, 95[percnt] CI 1.04, 1.31, p=0.009), when adjusted for sex, smoking, education, year of birth, genetic ancestry, BMI, HLA-DRB1*15:01, and a weighted genetic risk score comprised of the 110 non-MHC SNPs. Association between LEPR SNPs was restricted to individuals carrying at least one copy of HLA-DRB1*15:01. Conclusions: Variants within LEPR are associated with MS and confer risk independent of BMI and other known genetic and environmental risk factors. Our findings shed further light on underlying mechanisms involved in MS pathogenesis. We also detected evidence for effect modification of LEPR associated variants by HLA-DRB1*15:01 status. Disclosure: Dr. Barcellos has nothing to disclose. Dr. Gianfrancesco has nothing to disclose. Dr. Shao has nothing to disclose. Dr. Rhead has nothing to disclose. Dr. Shen has nothing to disclose. Dr. Schaefer has nothing to disclose. Dr. Barcellos has nothing to disclose.
Development and tissue distribution of sucrase-isomaltase mRNA in rats

Previous studies of sucrase-isomaltase (SI) activities have shown this complex to be absent in the suckling rat and to appear during the weaning period. We describe here the cloning of a heterologous SI cDNA and its use for the quantitation of SI mRNA as a first step toward understanding the molecular basis of SI development. A survey of RNA from 12 tissues of mature rats by Northern blot analysis showed a 6-kb band of SI mRNA only in the small intestine. Within the latter, both sucrase activity and SI mRNA peaked in the jejunum. Assay of jejunal tissue from developing rats showed sucrase activity and SI mRNA to be first detectable at 18 days, to rise in parallel through 24 days, and then to diverge a little (enzyme activity being lower) by 36 days. When glucocorticoid was administered to 10-day-old rats, neither sucrase activity nor SI mRNA was detectable 12 h later. Both parameters were readily detected 24 h postinjection, although the mRNA had risen relatively more than the enzyme activity. The two parameters increased in concert through 5 days postinjection and then plateaued. We conclude that, with respect to distribution along the intestine and to normal and precocious development, activities of SI in the rat are determined primarily by the abundance of its mRNA.
Driving Surface Chemistry at the Nanometer Scale Using Localized Heat and Stress

Driving and measuring chemical reactions at the nanoscale is crucial for developing safer, more efficient, and environment-friendly reactors and for surface engineering. Quantitative understanding of surface chemical reactions in real operating environments is challenging due to resolution and environmental limitations of existing techniques. Here we report an atomic force microscope technique that can measure reaction kinetics driven at the nanoscale by multiphysical stimuli in an ambient environment. We demonstrate the technique by measuring local reduction of graphene oxide as a function of both temperature and force at the sliding contact. Kinetic parameters measured with this technique reveal alternative reaction pathways of graphene oxide reduction previously unexplored with bulk processing techniques. This technique can be extended to understand and precisely tailor the nanoscale surface chemistry of any two-dimensional material in response to a wide range of external, multiphysical stimuli.
The Efficacy of LUCAS in Prehospital Cardiac Arrest Scenarios: A Crossover Mannequin Study.

Introduction: High quality CPR is critical for successful cardiac arrest outcomes. Mechanical devices may improve CPR quality. We simulated a prehospital cardiac arrest, including patient transport, and compared the performance of the LUCAS Chest Compression System to manual CPR. We hypothesized that because of the movement involved in transporting the patient, LUCAS would provide chest compressions more consistent with high quality CPR guidelines. Methods: We performed a crossover controlled study in which a recording mannequin was placed on the second floor of a building. An EMS crew responded, defibrillated, and provided either manual or LUCAS CPR. The team transported the mannequin through hallways and down stairs to an ambulance and drove to the hospital with CPR in progress. Critical events were manually timed while the mannequin recorded data on compressions. Results: Twenty-three EMS providers participated. Median time to defibrillation was not different for LUCAS compared to manual CPR (p=0.97). LUCAS had a lower median number of compressions per minute (p<0.002), which was more consistent with current American Heart Association CPR guidelines, and percent adequate compression rate (p<0.002). In addition, LUCAS had a higher percent adequate depth (p<0.007) lower percent total hands off time (p<0.005). LUCAS performed no differently than manual CPR in median compression release depth, percent fully released compressions, median time hands off, or percent correct hand position. Conclusion: In our simulation, LUCAS had a higher rate of adequate compressions and decreased total hands off time as compared to manual CPR. Chest compression quality may be better when using a mechanical device during patient movement in prehospital cardiac arrest patients.
The Elephant Always Forgets: US Tax Reform and the WTO

The “Tax Cuts and Jobs ACT” (TCJA) enacted on December 22, 2017, includes several provisions that raise WTO compliance issues. At least one such provision, the Foreign-Derived Intangible Income (FDII) rule, is almost certain to draw a challenge in the WTO and is likely to lead to another US loss and resulting sanctions. This outcome would be another addition to the repeated losses suffered by the US for export subsidies from the 1970s to 2004, which led to the imposition of sanctions and the ultimate repeal of the offending regime. The important question for 2018 and beyond is whether the Trump administration and its Congressional allies will react to such a loss in a similar fashion as the Bush administration did in 2004, or whether it will defy the WTO, with potential far reaching consequences for the world trade order.
Retrospectives: Adam Smith's Discovery of Trade Gravity

The gravity equation is a current workhorse of empirical trade theory. It is generally acknowledged that this theory, which relates the extent of trade between countries to their respective sizes, distances, and relative trade barriers, was first developed by Jan Tinbergen in 1962. Acceptance of the gravity model as part of the discipline's core was limited by its scant theoretical foundation for the first 40 years of its existence. This paper finds that a theory of trade gravity was first developed by Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations. Moreover, it is shown that Smith's statement of a proportional relation between economic size and distance came about as an application of his general theory of differential capital productivity in different economic sectors, and his elaboration of a theory of the gains from trade originated by David Hume. It is further shown that Smith had an explanation of the size of border affects in trade volumes, and a gravity theory of trade restrictions.
The Role of MGMT Testing in Clinical Practice: A Report of the Association for Molecular Pathology

Recent advances in modern molecular technologies allow for the examination and measurement of cancer-related genomic changes. The number of molecular tests for evaluation of diagnostic, prognostic, or predictive markers is expected to increase. In recent years, O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation has been firmly established as a biomarker in patients diagnosed with gliomas, for both clinical trials and routine clinical management. Similarly, molecular markers, such as loss of heterozygosity (LOH) for 1p/19q have already demonstrated clinical utility in treatment of oligodendroglial tumors, and others might soon show clinical utility. Furthermore, nonrandom associations are being discovered among MGMT, 1p/19q LOH, isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutations, and other tumor-specific modifications that could possibly enhance our ability to predict outcome and response to therapy. While pathologists are facing new and more complicated requests for clinical genomic testing, clinicians are challenged with increasing numbers of molecular data coming from molecular pathology and genomic medicine. Both pathologists and oncologists need to understand the clinical utility of molecular tests and test results, including issues of turnaround time, and their impact on the application of targeted treatment regimens. This review summarizes the existing data that support the rationale for MGMT promoter methylation testing and possibly other molecular testing in clinically defined glioma subtypes. Various molecular testing platforms for evaluation of MGMT methylation status are also discussed.
Call Your Representatives: Connecting Classroom Learning to Real-world Policy Action:

This article presents an in-class exercise that teaches students how to call elected officials about a course-related issue of their choice. The goals are to connect classroom learning with real-li...
National Patterns of Care in the Management of World Health Organization Grade II and III Spinal Ependymomas.

Background Spinal ependymomas are rare, with an incidence of 1 per 100,000. Given the paucity of data for higher grade II and III disease, the management and patterns of care require further investigation. Methods Our study of 1345 patients with higher-grade spinal ependymoma used χ2 tests and simple and multivariable logistic regression models to assess demographic and clinical factors associated with therapy. Kaplan-Meier and log-rank tests were used to assess overall survival (OS). Results Most grade II patients received surgery alone (81.1%) compared with 36.8% of grade III. Approximately 60% of patients with grade III ependymomas received radiotherapy (RT) versus 15.3% of grade II (P Conclusions Approximately 40% of patients with grade III ependymomas do not receive immediate adjuvant therapy, which may be related to distance from a facility. Patients with this rare tumor may benefit from multidisciplinary care at facilities with a larger volume.
EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL STUDIES ON THE REACTIVITIES OF PARTIALLY AND FULLY FLUORINATED PRIMARY ALKYL RADICALS φ φIssued as NRC No. 40813

Absolute rate constants for hydrogen abstraction from n-Bu3SnH by a number of partially-fluorinated and fully fluorinated n-alkyl radicals have been measured. The C-H and C-C bond dissociation energies for a number of pertinent hydrofluorocarbons have been calculated by DFT. The rate data are compared with those for addition of the same radicals to styrene, and the reactivities of these radicals are discussed in terms of their electronegativies, their structure and the thermodynamics of their reactions. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.
Metabolic Dysfunction in Continuous-Flow Left Ventricular Assist Devices Patients and Outcomes.

Background Metabolic impairment is common in heart failure patients. Continuous‐flow left ventricular assist devices (CF‐LVADs) improve hemodynamics and outcomes in patients with advanced heart fai...
Directional association test reveals high-quality putative cancer driver biomarkers including noncoding RNAs.

Most statistical methods used to identify cancer driver genes are either biased due to choice of assumed parametric models or insensitive to directional relationships important for causal inference. To overcome modeling biases and directional insensitivity, a recent statistical functional chi-squared test (FunChisq) detects directional association via model-free functional dependency. FunChisq examines patterns pointing from independent to dependent variables arising from linear, non-linear, or many-to-one functional relationships. Meanwhile, the Functional Annotation of Mammalian Genome 5 (FANTOM5) project surveyed gene expression at over 200,000 transcription start sites (TSSs) in nearly all human tissue types, primary cell types, and cancer cell lines. The data cover TSSs originated from both coding and noncoding genes. For the vast uncharacterized human TSSs that may exhibit complex patterns in cancer versus normal tissues, the model-free property of FunChisq provides us an unprecedented opportunity to assess the evidence for a gene’s directional effect on human cancer. We first evaluated FunChisq and six other methods using 719 curated cancer genes on the FANTOM5 data. FunChisq performed best in detecting known cancer driver genes from non-cancer genes. We also show the capacity of FunChisq to reveal non-monotonic patterns of functional association, to which typical differential analysis methods such as t-test are insensitive. Further applying FunChisq to screen unannotated TSSs in FANTOM5, we predicted 1108 putative cancer driver noncoding RNAs, stronger than 90% of curated cancer driver genes. Next, we compared leukemia samples against other samples in FANTOM5 and FunChisq predicted 332/79 potential biomarkers for lymphoid/myeloid leukemia, stronger than the TSSs of all 87/100 known driver genes in lymphoid/myeloid leukemia. This study demonstrated the advantage of FunChisq in revealing directional association, especially in detecting non-monotonic patterns. Here, we also provide the most comprehensive catalog of high-quality biomarkers that may play a causative role in human cancers, including putative cancer driver noncoding RNAs and lymphoid/myeloid leukemia specific biomarkers.
Promise for the Future Gifted Education in Rural Communities

In this article, the narrow, standardized criteria rural school corporations typically use to identify gifted and talented students are examined. The authors suggest that individual assessment be c...
Cutaneous burn diminishes beneficial effect of intravenously administered mesenchymal stem cells on acute lung injury induced by smoke inhalation in sheep

Abstract Objective To investigate effects of intravenously administered allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on burn/smoke-induced lung injury. Methods Sheep were subjected to 40%, third-degree flame skin burn and smoke inhalation under deep anesthesia and analgesia. One-hour after injury, PlasmaLite A (control) or 200 million MSCs (treatment) were intravenously administered. Pulmonary oxygenation index, PaO2/FiO2 ratio, lung–lymph flow, and bloodless lung wet-to-dry weight ratio were measured. Distribution of MSCs and stromal cell-derived factor-1 (Sdf-1) protein level were determined in lung and skin tissues. Effects of burn exudate on MSCs migration were characterized. Results MSCs did not attenuate pulmonary dysfunction. The number of MSCs was significantly higher in lungs of sheep with smoke inhalation compared with those with burn/smoke injury. In contrast, number of MSCs was significantly higher beneath burned skin in sheep with burn/smoke than in unburned skin of sheep with smoke inhalation only. Expression of Sdf-1 protein was increased in the burned skin compared to unburned skin. Effects of burn exudate on cultured MSCs proliferation differed depending on collection time. Conclusion Skin burn diminishes beneficial effects of MSCs on smoke-induced lung injury, by promoting migration of MSCs from the pulmonary tissue to the injured skin area, possibly via expression of Sdf-1 protein.
Improving efficiency within a trauma nurse practitioner team.

Background Clinicians, including nurse practitioners (NPs), face a number of challenges in delivering high-quality care including frequent interruptions that can potentially compromise patient safety and job satisfaction. Local problem Trauma NPs voiced frustration with their efforts to provide efficient, high-quality care with frequent interruptions, most commonly pager alerts. The purpose of this quality improvement (QI) initiative was to increase trauma NPs' perceptions of patient safety and improve NPs' job satisfaction by reducing workflow interruptions. Methods The Model for Improvement guided this initiative. Interventions The aims of this initiative were to reduce the percentage of nonurgent workflow interruptions via pager alerts by 20% and to increase the utilization of a standardized trauma NP patient rounding process from 0% to 50%. Results Use of the standardized rounding process improved from 0% to 87%. Interruptions via pager alerts decreased by 36.2%. All nine (100%) trauma NP survey responses revealed an improvement in NP perception of patient safety and job satisfaction. Conclusion The QI initiative found that increasing communication during rounds by using a standardized rounding process involving the bedside registered nurse can minimize interruptions and improve the efficiency of a trauma NP team. The key to the success of the QI initiative was the implementation of a standardized rounding process.
Urban Snowpack ClNO2 Production and Fate: A One-Dimensional Modeling Study

Nitryl chloride (ClNO2) is formed in urban areas from the multiphase reaction of dinitrogen pentoxide (N2O5) on chloride-containing surfaces. ClNO2 undergoes photolysis to produce atomic chlorine (...
Splenic T-cell lymphoma in a North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis).

Background: Splenic lymphoma is commonly reported in domestic ferrets (Mustela putorious furo), but very rarely reported in wild Mustelidae species, including otters. One report described B-cell splenic lymphoma in an Asian smallclawed otter (Aonyx cinerea) that metastasized and was the primary reasoning for humane euthanasia (Stedman and Mills, 2014).Case Description: The current report describes a case of splenic T-cell lymphoma in a captive North American river otter (Lontra canadensis). The otter died several weeks after splenectomy and no evidence of metastasis was found on gross necropsy or histopathological evaluation.Conclusion: The splenectomy performed on this individual was presumptively curative for its splenic lymphoma. Extensive myocardial fibrosis was found, and suspected to have caused severe cardiac arrhythmia leading to acute death. Keywords: Fibrosis, Mustelid, Neoplasia, Splenectomy
Volumetric imaging efficiency: the fundamental limit to compactness of imaging systems.

A new metric for imaging systems, the volumetric imaging efficiency (VIE), is introduced. It compares the compactness and capacity of an imager against fundamental limits imposed by diffraction. Two models are proposed for this fundamental limit based on an idealized thin-lens and the optical volume required to form diffraction-limited images. The VIE is computed for 2,871 lens designs and plotted as a function of FOV; this quantifies the challenge of creating compact, wide FOV lenses. We identify an empirical limit to the VIE given by VIE 100x increase in VIE.
A systematic review of the cost-effectiveness of ultrasound in emergency care settings

The use of ultrasound (US) in emergency departments (ED) has become widespread. This includes both traditional US scans performed by radiology departments as well as point-of-care US (POCUS) performed by bedside clinicians. There has been significant interest in better understanding the appropriate use of imaging and where opportunities to enhance cost-effectiveness may exist. The purpose of this systematic review is to identify published evidence surrounding the cost-effectiveness of US in the ED and to grade the quality of that evidence. We performed a systematic review of the literature following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Studies were considered for inclusion if they were: (1) economic evaluations, (2) studied the clinical use of ultrasound, and (3) took place in an emergency care setting. Included studies were critically appraised using the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards checklist. We identified 631 potentially relevant articles. Of these, 35 studies met all inclusion criteria and were eligible for data abstraction. In general, studies were supportive of the use of US. In particular, 11 studies formed a strong consensus that US enhanced cost-effectiveness in the investigation of pediatric appendicitis and 6 studies supported enhancements in the evaluation of abdominal trauma. Across the studies, weaknesses in methodology and reporting were common, such as lack of sensitivity analyses and inconsistent reporting of incremental cost-effectiveness ratios. The body of existing evidence, though limited, generally demonstrates that the inclusion of US in emergency care settings allows for more cost-effective care. The most definitive evidence for improvements in cost-effectiveness surround the evaluation of pediatric appendicitis, followed by the evaluation of abdominal trauma. POCUS outside of trauma has had mixed results.
Development of an Electronic Algorithm to Identify in Real Time Adults Hospitalized With Suspected Community-Acquired Pneumonia.

Background Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a major driver of hospital antibiotic use. Efficient methods to identify patients treated for CAP in real time using the electronic health record (EHR) are needed. Automated identification of these patients could facilitate systematic tracking, intervention, and feedback on CAP-specific metrics such as appropriate antibiotic choice and duration. Methods Using retrospective data, we identified suspected CAP cases by searching for patients who received CAP antibiotics AND had an admitting International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code for pneumonia OR chest imaging within 24 hours OR bacterial urinary antigen testing within 48 hours of admission (denominator query). We subsequently explored different structured and natural language processing (NLP)-derived data from the EHR to identify CAP cases. We evaluated combinations of these electronic variables through receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to assess which best identified CAP cases compared to cases identified by manual chart review. Exclusion criteria were age <18 years, absolute neutrophil count <500 cells/mm3, and admission to an oncology unit. Results Compared to the gold standard of chart review, the area under the ROC curve to detect CAP was 0.63 (95% confidence interval [CI], .55-.72; P < .01) using structured data (ie, laboratory and vital signs) and 0.83 (95% CI, .77-.90; P < .01) when NLP-derived data from radiographic reports were included. The sensitivity and specificity of the latter model were 80% and 81%, respectively. Conclusions Creating an electronic tool that effectively identifies CAP cases in real time is possible, but its accuracy is dependent on NLP-derived radiographic data.
Myth of Diversification: Destabilizing Impact of Diversification on Financial Institutions

This Article analyzes the impact of asset and activity diversification on stability of major financial institutions. Diversification is typically viewed as a positive element in risk management. However, examining recent examples concerning diversified multinational financial institutions and a theoretical model of failure risk facing them, this Article demonstrates that under certain conditions, diversification can actually increase systemic risk. A financial conglomerate can be “too big to manage,” they can become more similar to each other and susceptible to coordinated failure, and, most importantly, catastrophic losses in one part of the firm can overwhelm the whole firm. Based on this finding, this Article proposes a number of mitigation measures to limit intra-firm spillover and to make resolution of troubled financial institutions smoother.
Finite-Support Capacity-Approaching Distributions for AWGN Channels

Previously, dynamic-assignment Blahut-Arimoto (DAB) was used to find capacity-achieving probability mass functions (PMFs) for binomial channels and molecular channels. As it turns out, DAB can efficiently identify capacity-achieving PMFs for a wide variety of channels. This paper applies DAB to power-constrained (PC) additive white Gaussian Noise (AWGN) Channels and amplitude-constrained (AC) AWGN Channels.This paper modifies DAB to include a power constraint and finds low-cardinality PMFs that approach capacity on PC-AWGN Channels. While a continuous Gaussian PDF is well-known to be capacity-achieving on the PC-AWGN channel, DAB identifies low-cardinality PMFs within 0.01 bits of the mutual information provided by a Gaussian PDF. Recall the results of Ozarow and Wyner requiring a constellation cardinality of ⌈2C+1⌉ to approach capacity C to within the asymptotic shaping loss of 1.53 dB at high SNR. PMF’s found by DAB approach capacity with essentially no shaping loss with cardinality less than 2C+1.2. As expected, DAB’s numerical approach identifies PMFs with better mutual information vs. SNR performance than the analytical approaches to finite-support constellations examined by Wu and Verdu.This paper also uses DAB to find capacity-achieving PMFs with small cardinality support sets for AC-AWGN Channels. The resulting evolution of capacity-achieving PMFs as a function of SNR is consistent with the approximate cardinality transition points of Sharma and Shamai.
A Synthetic Method for the Study of Empirical Ontology

In European philosophy there have been two definite but seperate traditions. One was the tradition of the ontology of idealism, as for instance with Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz; and another was the tradition of the epistemology of empiricism, as with Locke, Berkeley and Hume. Both ontology and epistemology are speculative fields, however, and there is no justification for such narrow and exclusive associations. Idealism is not peculiar to ontology nor empiricism to epistemology. There could be for instance an epistemology of idealism and a metaphysics of empiricism. As a matter a fact epistemology has sometimes been studied in relation to idealism, as the tradition of Schelling, Fichte and Hegel exemplifies; but nobody has thought to construct a system of ontology consistent with empiricism. Yet it must remain true that eventually an ontology is known by the method it uses.
Baltic Beverages Holding: Competing in a Globalizing World (A)

The Finnish brewer Hartwall and the Swedish brewer Pripps had to decide how to react to the rapidly changing European political, economic, and business environment in 1989-1990. Learning Objective: To illustrate the challenges firms face as the geopolitical & economic environment in which they operate changes, and how to successfully respond to such changes.
The reaction of ferric salts with transferrin.

The use of Fe3+ salts to saturate apotransferrin in buffer solutions and serum is often found in basic research and clinical procedures, despite a lack of adequate documentation. We have investigated the reaction of Fe3+ salts with apotransferrin using the absorption peak of Fe3+-transferrin at 470 nm to monitor the reaction. While titration of apo-transferrin with Fe3+-nitrilotriacetic acid gives a linear function and clear end point, titration with FeCl3 results in a sigmoidal-shaped curve and no clear end point is reached. The spectral data indicate that only 5 to 25% of the iron becomes bound when 1 eq of FeCl3 is added to apotransferrin at neutral pH. The remaining sites of the protein are vacant and available for reaction with Fe3+-nitrilotriacetic acid. Several methods for separating unbound FeCl3 from transferrin were attempted. They were, however, all unsuccessful and often gave misleading results. A stoichiometric reaction of Fe3+ salts with apotransferrin is only obtained when the reactants are initially mixed at a low pH and then carefully adjusted to neutrality. A method is also described for obtaining fully saturated, chelate-free Fe3+-transferrin, using Fe3+-nitrilotriacetic acid as the iron reagent. In view of the poor reactivity of Fe3+ salts with apotransferrin at neutral pH, proton release studies have been re-examined with Fe3+-nitrilotriacetic acid. A value close to 2.6 H+ released per Fe3+ bound was obtained by two methods.
ANIMAL RIGHTS LOBBYING: ASSOCIATIONS BETWWN SOLICITATIONS, FUNDING AND EFFECTIVENESS

Some 7,000 animal interest organizations in the U.S. spend approximately $5O,000,000 in advocacy of animals' welfare and rights. Organizations seeking to establish beneficial programs or lobby for favorable policy rely heavily on mailing solicitations for adequate funding. Findings indicate that solicitations do not generally translate into higher budgets, holdings and overt lead, yet seem to lead toward higher salaries. However, despite some rather higher heads for some associations, most budgets tend to be disbursed toward actual program endeavors.
A differential thermal analysis apparatus for use at cryogenic temperatures

A differential thermal analysis (DTA) apparatus for use in the temperature range from 20 to 300 K has been constructed and put into operation. This apparatus has multiple sample cells for simultaneous testing of up to twelve samples. Both temperature control and data sampling are handled by a minicomputer using a modified version of an interpretive language.
Drohende Cumarinnekrose bei einer 24-jährigen Patientin mit stattgehabter Beinvenenthrombose

Schmerzhafte, rosa- bis purpurfarbene, gegenuber der Umgebung scharf abgegrenzte Hautveranderungen sollten unter laufender Cumarintherapie an eine beginnende Cumarinnekrose denken lassen. Eine Substitution mit einem Protein-C-Praparat kann die Ausbildung von Nekrosen bei Patienten mit nachgewiesenem Protein-C-Mangel verhindern.
Topological regular neighborhoods

This article is one of three highly influential articles on the topology of manifolds written by Robert D. Edwards in the 1970's but never published. Organizers of the Workshops in Geometric Topology (this http URL) with the support of the National Science Foundation have facilitated the preparation of electronic versions of these articles to make them publicly available. Preparation of the first "Suspensions of homology spheres" was completed in 2006. A more complete introduction to the series can be found in that article (arXiv:math/0610573). In the current paper, a theory of topological regular neighborhoods is described, which represents the full analogue in TOP of piecewise linear regular neighborhoods (or block bundles) in PL. In simplest terms, a topological regular neighborhood of a manifold M locally flatly embedded in a manifold Q (BdM and BdQ empty) is a closed manifold neighborhood V which is homeomorphic fixing BdV and M to the mapping cylinder of some proper surjection BdV-->M. The principal theorem asserts the existence and uniqueness of such neighborhoods, for dim Q>7. One application is that a cell-like surjection of cell complexes is a simple homotopy equivalence (first proved for homeomorphisms by Chapman). There is a notion of transversality for such neighborhoods, and the theory also holds for locally tamely embedded polyhedral in topological manifolds.
The Fibula Nail for the Management of Unstable Ankle Fractures

Surgery for unstable ankle fractures comes with risks of infection and painful, prominent hardware not infrequently requiring further surgery to remove plates and screws. The fibula nail offers the opportunity for lower profile hardware and minimally invasive surgical techniques. The technique for using the fibula nail is illustrated in detail; in addition, recent literature pertaining to the fibula nail is reviewed.