cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hepatic metabolism of ergot alkaloids in beef cattle by cytochrome P450.

This study was conducted to investigate the involvement of cytochrome P450 3A (CYP3A) in the metabolism of ergotamine in beef liver microsomes. When incubated with liver microsomes, ergotamine was hydroxylated to metabolites M1 and M2. Similarly, its isomer was hydroxylated to M1-Iso and M2-Iso (8-hydroxy-derivatives). Further incubation resulted in a second hydroxylation of M1 and M2 to metabolites M3 and M4 (8,9-dihydroxy derivatives). Maximum formation of metabolites was reached after 20 min, and ergotamine and its isomer were almost totally metabolized after 60 min of incubation. The formation of these metabolites was completely dependent on the presence of NADPH or the NADPH generating system and was also dependent on microsome concentration. Ergotamine was converted at a rate of 2 nM/microgram microsome/min when incubated with bovine liver microsomes to produce a metabolite profile (M1, M2, M1-Iso and M2-Iso) similar to the metabolites produced (2.2 nM/microgram/min) when ergotamine was incubated with liver microsomes of dexamethasone treated rats. This work provides information on the modification of ergotamine in bovine liver microsomes by CYP3A, which is of importance in understanding the detoxification and the clearance of ergotamine and other ergot alkaloids by bovine.
Functional processing of fertilin: evidence for a critical role of proteolysis in sperm maturation and activation

Fertilin is a sperm surface protein with an essential role in fertilization. It is required for the migration of spermatozoa through the oviduct, for binding to the zona pellucida, and for efficient binding to the egg plasma membrane. Fertilin consists of two subunits, fertilin alpha and beta, both of which belong to the metalloprotease-disintegrin protein family (ADAMs). Fertilin alpha and beta are made as larger precursors that are processed proteolytically at different stages of sperm maturation in the testis and epididymis. Fertilin alpha is processed first, most likely by a pro-protein convertase in the secretory pathway of testicular cells. Fertilin beta is processed later, while spermatozoa are in transit through the epididymis. The processing of fertilin beta in the epididymis correlates with the acquisition of fertilization competence in spermatozoa, exposes an epitope that has a role in sperm-egg interactions, and triggers the relocalization of fertilin from the whole sperm head to the posterior head. These findings indicate that the proteolytic processing of fertilin and perhaps also other sperm proteins plays an important role in sperm maturation and activation in the epididymis. Further evaluation of the functional significance of proteolysis for sperm maturation should lead to new and exciting insights into the mechanism of sperm maturation, and may also uncover the cause of certain types of male infertility. The identification of the responsible proteases could provide novel targets for contraceptive drugs.
Convergent ecosystem responses to 23-year ambient and manipulated warming link advancing snowmelt and shrub encroachment to transient and long-term climate-soil carbon feedback.

Ecosystem responses to climate change can exert positive or negative feedbacks on climate, mediated in part by slow-moving factors such as shifts in vegetation community composition. Long-term experimental manipulations can be used to examine such ecosystem responses, but they also present another opportunity: inferring the extent to which contemporary climate change is responsible for slow changes in ecosystems under ambient conditions. Here, using 23 years of data, we document a shift from nonwoody to woody vegetation and a loss of soil carbon in ambient plots and show that these changes track previously shown similar but faster changes under experimental warming. This allows us to infer that climate change is the cause of the observed shifts in ambient vegetation and soil carbon and that the vegetation responses mediate the observed changes in soil carbon. Our findings demonstrate the realism of an experimental manipulation, allow attribution of a climate cause to observed ambient ecosystem changes, and demonstrate how a combination of long-term study of ambient and experimental responses to warming can identify mechanistic drivers needed for realistic predictions of the conditions under which ecosystems are likely to become carbon sources or sinks over varying timescales.
Planned post-chemoradiation neck dissection: significance of radiation dose.

Objective: The increasing prominence of multimodality therapy for patients with advanced head and neck cancer reflects its high survival and functional preservation rates. We report the pathologic data on patients undergoing neck dissection (ND) after induction chemotherapy followed by concomitant chemoradiotherapy (IC-CRT) in three similar protocols utilizing decreasing doses of radiation therapy. Materials and Methods: The databases of 221 patients who underwent IC-CRT between 1999 and 2002 were reviewed. Based on posttreatment residual or pretreatment N2a or greater neck disease, 73 patients without pretreatment neck surgery were eligible for analysis (1 N1, 3 N2a, 26 N2b, 20 N2c, 23 N3). Three additional subgroups were also analyzed with respect to outcome: Undissected patients with less than N2 disease, patients who had neck surgery prior to IC-CRT, and patients with N2a or greater neck disease who did not have post-IC-CRT ND. Study Design: Retrospective analysis. Results: Sixty-seven patients underwent unilateral or bilateral selective neck dissection. Six patients had modified or radical ND. There were no wound healing complications. Pathologic analysis revealed viable cancer in 15 of 73 patients (20.5%): 1 had N1, 3 had N2b, 4 had N2c, and 7 had N3 neck disease. The incidence of viable cancer in the neck dissection specimen increased as radiation dose decreased. Complete response induction chemotherapy predicted negative pathology (P = .003). In the subgroup analysis, patients who had pretreatment surgery had a lower risk of dying from the primary cancer Conclusions: 1) The incidence of positive pathology after IC-CRT increases as radiation dose decreases. 2) Selective neck dissection after CRT has been demonstrated to be feasible and safe; the complication rate of ND after IC-CRT is acceptably low. 3) There is viable posttreatment cancer in 20.5% of patients, indicating necessity of ND in these patients.
Usage of Sphingosine Kinase Isoforms in Mast Cells Is Species and/or Cell Type Determined

FceRI engagement in mast cells (MCs) induces the activation of two distinct sphingosine kinase isoforms (SphK1 and SphK2) to produce sphingosine-1-phosphate, a mediator essential for MC responses. Whereas embryonic-derived SphK2-null MCs showed impaired responses to Ag, RNA silencing studies on other MC types indicated a dominant role for SphK1. Given the known functional heterogeneity of MCs, we explored whether the reported differences in SphK1 or SphK2 usage could be reflective of phenotypic differences between MC populations. Using lentiviral-based short hairpin RNA to silence SphK1 or SphK2, we found that SphK2 is required for murine MC degranulation, calcium mobilization, and cytokine and leukotriene production, irrespective of the tissue from which the MC progenitors were derived, the stage of MC granule maturity, or the conditions used for differentiation. This finding was consistent with the lack of a full allergic response in SphK2-null mice challenged to undergo passive cutaneous anaphylaxis. A redundant role for both SphKs was uncovered, however, in chemotaxis toward Ag in all MC types tested and in TNF-α production in certain MC types. In contrast, human MC responses were dependent only on SphK1, associating with a more robust expression of this isoform and a more varied representation of SphK variants relative to murine MCs. The findings show that the function of SphK1 and SphK2 can be interchangeable in MCs; however, an important determinant of SphK isoform usage is the species of origin and an influencing factor, the tissue from which MCs may be derived and/or their differentiation state.
Sizing equivalent performing large-scale systems using modeling

This work analyses the relative performance of the Earth Simulator to systems constructed from HP AlphaServer nodes such as ASCI Q. The Earth Simulator uses vector processing nodes interconnected using a single-stage cross-bar network. The AlphaServer systems use microprocessors with deep memory hierarchies and are typically interconnected using the Quadrics Elan3 fat-tree network. The performance that can be achieved on a system result from an interplay of the characteristics of the system, the requirements of the workload, and scaling behavior of the two. Detailed performance models are used here to predict the performance of two codes representative of ASCI computations, namely SAGE and Sweep3D. The models are used to compare the performance of the two systems and in particular size an AlphaServer system that achieves the same performance as the Earth Simulator on SAGE and Sweep3D.
Corrosion behavior of pyrochlore-rich titanate ceramics for plutonium disposition: Impurity effects

The baseline ceramic contains Ti, U, Ca, Hf, Gd, and Ce, and is made up of only four phases, pyrochlore, zirconolite, rutile, and brannerite. The impurities present in the three other ceramics represent impurities expected in the feed, and result in different phase distributions. The results from 3 day, 90 C MCC-1 tests with impurity ceramics were significantly different than the results from tests with the baseline ceramic. Overall, the addition of impurities to these titanate ceramics alters the phase distributions, which in turn, affects the corrosion behavior.
Bayesian L 1 -Norm Sparse Learning

We propose a Bayesian framework for learning the optimal regularization parameter in the L1-norm penalized least-mean-square (LMS) problem, also known as LASSO (R. Tibshirani, 1996) or basis pursuit (S.S. Chen et al., 1998). The setting of the regularization parameter is critical for deriving a correct solution. In most existing methods, the scalar regularization parameter is often determined in a heuristic manner; in contrast, our approach infers the optimal regularization setting under a Bayesian framework. Furthermore, Bayesian inference enables an independent regularization scheme where each coefficient (or weight) is associated with an independent regularization parameter. Simulations illustrate the improvement using our method in discovering sparse structure from noisy data
Concurrent Multiscale Computational Modeling for Dense Dry Granular Materials Interfacing Deformable Solid Bodies

A method for concurrent multiscale computational modeling of interfacial mechanics between granular materials and deformable solid bodies is presented. It involves two main features: (1) coupling discrete element and higher order continuum finite element regions via an overlapping region; and (2) implementation of a finite strain micromorphic pressure sensitive plasticity model as the higher order continuum model in the overlap region. The third main feature, adaptivity, is not currently addressed, but is considered for future work. Single phase (solid grains) and dense conditions are limitations of the current modeling. Extensions to multiple phases (solid grains, pore liquid and gas) are part of future work. Applications include fundamental grain-scale modeling of interfacial mechanics between granular soil and tire, tool, or penetrometer, while properly representing far field boundary conditions for quasi-static and dynamic simulation.
Optimization of microstrip open end

In this paper it is shown theoretically and experimentally that by contouring the open end of a microstrip line improved open circuit characteristics may be obtained. To this end a model based on the method of moments solution of the appropriate MPIE using triangular basis functions is obtained. With this approach microstrip elements of arbitrary shape may be modeled in a multilayered structure with excellent accuracy. Microstrip open ends with rectangular, trapezoidal, triangular and elliptical contours are modeled using this approach which leads to the optimum open end shape. In addition, highly accurate experimental techniques are developed and adopted to verify the practical value of the theoretical model.
Submarine growth and internal structure of ocean island volcanoes based on submarine observations of Mauna Loa volcano, Hawaii

A recent model for the submarine growth of Hawaiian volcanoes indicates that these volcanoes are composed mainly of fragmental lava debris formed as lavas enter the ocean. This model has major implications for locating earthquake hypocenters and for the landslide hazard potential of these and other ocean island volcanoes. Observations from submersible dives and analyses of volcanic glasses collected from the western submarine flank of Mauna Loa indicate that subaerially erupted pillow lavas are abundant at depths of 950 to 1900 m below sea level. Fragmental lava is an important component of ocean island volcanoes, as witnessed during the most recent eruption of Kilauea volcano, but probably is the dominant lithology only in the upper 1 km of the submarine section. A submarine dike complex was discovered 17 km west of the assumed axis of Mauna Loa9s southwest rift, which indicates that its intrusive complex is much broader than previously suspected (∼20 km vs. ∼8 km). The great width of this dike complex may be a consequence of crustal unloading following the South Kona landslide or a normal feature of Hawaiian rift zones that was previously unrecognized.
Quantitative insulin sensitivity check index: a simple, accurate method for assessing insulin sensitivity in humans.

Insulin resistance plays an important role in the pathophysiology of diabetes and is associated with obesity and other cardiovascular risk factors. The “gold standard” glucose clamp and minimal model analysis are two established methods for determining insulin sensitivity in vivo, but neither is easily implemented in large studies. Thus, it is of interest to develop a simple, accurate method for assessing insulin sensitivity that is useful for clinical investigations. We performed both hyperinsulinemic isoglycemic glucose clamp and insulin-modified frequently sampled iv glucose tolerance tests on 28 non-obese, 13 obese, and 15 type 2 diabetic subjects. We obtained correlations between indexes of insulin sensitivity from glucose clamp studies (SIClamp) and minimal model analysis (SIMM) that were comparable to previous reports (r = 0.57). We performed a sensitivity analysis on our data and discovered that physiological steady state values [i.e. fasting insulin (I0) and glucose (G0)] contain critical informa...
The Devil Is in the Details: Body Fluid Testing Regulation and the Erosion of Nursing Practice

Nurses have long performed tests on simple body fluids (e.g., chem strip, urine Dip Stix, guaiac of stool, urine specific gravity). As a result of the interpretation of JCAHO regulations by hospital administrators, nurses no longer have access to the supplies necessary to perform these tests. This article discusses the background surrounding the issues of body fluid regulation and how the current JCAHO laboratory regulations erode the scope of nursing practice. The author makes specific suggestions for nurses to retain their practice in this area.
One‐Photon Photophysics and Two‐Photon Absorption of 4‐[9,9‐Di(2‐ethylhexyl)‐7‐diphenylaminofluoren‐2‐yl]‐2,2′:6′,2′′‐terpyridine and Their Platinum Chloride Complexes

The synthesis, one-photon photophysics and two-photon absorption (2PA) of three dipolar D-π-A 4-[9,9-di(2-ethylhexyl)-7-diphenylaminofluoren-2-yl]-2,2':6',2''-terpyridine and their platinum chloride complexes with different linkers between the donor and acceptor are reported. All ligands exhibit (1)π,π* transition in the UV and (1)π,π*/(1)ICT (intramolecular charge transfer) transition in the visible regions, while the complexes display a lower-energy (1)π,π*/(1)CT (charge transfer) transition in the visible region in addition to the high-energy (1)π,π* transitions. All ligands and the complexes are emissive at room temperature and 77 K, with the emitting excited state assigned as the mixed (1)π,π* and (1)CT states at RT. Transient absorption from the ligands and the complexes were observed. 2PA was investigated for all ligands and complexes. The two-photon absorption cross-sections (σ(2)) of the complexes (600-2000 GM) measured by Z-scan experiment are much larger than those of their corresponding ligands measured by the two-photon induced fluorescence method. The ligand and the complex with the ethynylene linker show much stronger 2PA than those with the vinylene linker.
Policy Tragedy and the Emergence of Regulation: The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938

It is now a commonplace assertion among scholars of regulation to say that new regulatory statutes follow “crises,” “tragedies,” or “scandals.” The content and form of these critical events varies considerably. They include acts of journalism or research such as the publication of the Nader Report (which purportedly led to new federal automobile safety regulations) or Upton Sinclair's The Jungle (which eased the path for the Pure Food and Drugs Act of 1906). They include instantaneous disasters such as the Union Carbide gas leak in Bhopal, India, as well as slowly materializing epidemics like the thousands of horrific birth defects that resulted from widespread use of the sedative thalidomide in Europe and Australia in the late 1950s. As Lawrence Rothenberg describes this argument, it amounts to a meta-narrative of the origins of regulation, an alternative to capture theory. In the tragedy narrative of regulation, “public opinion becomes energized by some dramatic event or condition illustrating the pitfalls of a market's unobstructed operation; the outcry spurs elected officials to promulgate governmental regulation.” This story, as he notes, is at least as old as the work of Marver Bernstein and Anthony Downs.
Problem-based learning as a training modality in the occupational medicine curriculum

Problem-based learning has been used as a curricular modality in the academic year of the Occupational Medicine Residency Program. The method was applied to the resolution of problems presented by patients referred to a university clinic specifically for the determination of possible work-relatedness of the syndrome or symptoms presented. Following the usual development of the occupational and medical histories, physical examination, and determination of certain clinical laboratory values, the resident would then have to seek assistance through consultation with related specialists, a perusal of the pertinent toxicology, epidemiology, or other discipline literature, and ultimately prepare a university-level report, following case conferences with fellow residents and faculty members. No formal direction was given the student, the problems of diagnosis, occupational etiology and medicolegal acceptance of the resulting report having to be resolved through self-perusal of informational sources. The knowledge gained from the exercise would be longer-lasting than that attained strictly from lecture attendance.
Polyamines Increase Antibiotic Susceptibility in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic human pathogen. Treatment is complicated by frequent acquired resistance to antipseudomonal therapies. Polyamines (cadaverine, putrescine, spermidine, and spermine) are ubiquitous polycationic compounds essential for all living organisms. In a dose-dependent manner, polyamines increased the susceptibility of P. aeruginosa to 14 β-lactam antibiotics, chloramphenicol, nalidixic acid, and trimethoprim as demonstrated by a reduction in MIC of up to 64-fold. This effect was partially antagonized (25 to 50%) by the presence of 10 mM of Mg 2+ or Ca 2+ . In contrast, the effects of the outer membrane permeabilizers, polymyxin B nonapeptide and EDTA, were completely abolished by 3 mM Mg 2+ or Ca 2+ . Changes on the outer membrane barrier by these compounds were assessed by activity measurements of periplasmic β-lactamase. The results showed that while EDTA and polymyxin B serve as outer membrane disorganizing agents as expected, exogenous spermidine and spermine did not exhibit any apparent effect on outer membrane permeability or rupture. In summary, these results strongly suggest that the increased antibiotic susceptibility by polyamines is exerted by a mechanism that differs from that of EDTA and polymyxin B. Polyamines might be potentially useful in antipseudomonal therapies by increasing the effectiveness of certain β-lactam antibiotics.
R. A. Millikan and the California Institute of Technology

If one examines a list of the publications of R.A. Millikan, arranged in chronological order, one finds essentially no break in continuity from 1910 to the present, except for the war years, 1918-20 and 1941-45. In particular, the years 1921 to 1940 were among the most productive of his career. One would never suppose that in 1921 Dr. Millikan assumed an administrative task of such great magnitude that it would have effectively stopped the research activities of most ordinary men. Moreover, one cannot explain this phenomenon by the assumption that Dr. Millikan gave but brief attention to his new administrative duties. On the contrary, his new tasks were carried forward with such zeal, vigor, and effectiveness that one who examines the history of his administrative achievements during the two decades after 1921 can only be astonished that a single man could carry such a burden even though he gave it all of his time and attention. His successor in these tasks hardly dares hope that he can ever resume a scientific career. In 1920 the name of a small technical school in Pasadena, California was changed from Throop College of Technology to the California Institute of Technology. This change in name was the external evidence for the culmination of the dreams and practical efforts of Dr. George Ellery Hale, the founder and, for many years, the Director of the Mount Wilson Observatory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. By 1908, Dr. Hale had seen the possibilities for establishing a great and unique center of pure and applied science in Southern California, and he started active work toward this goal. In 1913 he enlisted the aid of Dr. A.A. Noyes, distinguished chemist of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who came to Throop College first on a part-time basis, and in 1919 assumed full-time direction of the Laboratory of Chemistry.
The Taconian orogeny in southern New England: Nd-isotope evidence against addition of juvenile components

Nd-isotope data for pre-Taconian (meta)sedimentary and igneous rocks, syn-Taconian (meta)sedimentary rocks, and Late Ordovician–Silurian plutonic rocks indicate that the Ordovician Taconian orogeny did not add significant amounts of juvenile crust to the Laurentian margin in southern New England. Nd-isotope compositions of Grenvillian crust and Late Proterozoic to Early Cambrian rift sediments range from eNd of −3.1 to −6.6 at 450 Ma. Sedimentary rocks deposited during the Cambrian and the early Middle Ordovician, which represent the drift stage of Laurentia, and earliest Taconian sedimentary rocks show more negative eNd(450 Ma), with a range from −11.7 to −13.3. Sedimentary rocks deposited in response to the Taconian orogeny have uniform eNd(450 Ma) values of about −8. Middle to Late Ordovician and Permian plutonic rocks from southwestern Connecticut have eNd(450 Ma) values of −2 to −5, which indicates that these rocks contain older crustal components. Rocks with juvenile Nd characteristics are the early Paleozoic Maltby Lake Volcanics (eNd(450 Ma) +8) from southwestern Connecticut, and Middle Ordovician igneous samples from the Hawley Formation (eNd(450 Ma) +6 to −0.6) in Massachusetts.
How to Perform a Literature Search

Purpose: Evidence based clinical practice seeks to integrate the current best evidence from clinical research with physician clinical expertise and patient individual preferences. We outline a stepwise approach to an effective and efficient search of electronic databases and introduce the reader to resources most relevant to the practicing urologist.Materials and Methods: The need for additional research evidence is introduced in the context of a urological clinical scenario. This information need is translated into a focused clinical question using the PICOT (population, intervention, comparison, outcome and type of study) format. This PICOT format provides key words for a literature search of pre-appraised evidence and original research studies that address the clinical scenario.Results: Available online resources can be broadly categorized into databases that focus on primary research studies, ie randomized, controlled trials, cohort studies, case-control or case series, such as MEDLINE® and those that...
BEYOND ABORTION:REFUSAL OF CAESAREAN SECTION

KIE: Social pressures and legal restrictions are proliferating against pregnant women. A dramatic infringement on women's rights is the court ordered cesarean section, as illustrated by the case of Angela C., a terminally ill cancer patient, 26 weeks pregnant, whose refusal of a cesarean section was overridden by a District of Columbia court. The premature infant and the mother died within two days. This case epitomizes a developing judicial pattern whose ethical reasoning the author criticizes. Within the context of the right to privacy and the concept of viability, which could legally override that right, Mahowald analyzes different situations where cesarean delivery is refused. After arguing that court ordered cesarean sections are inconsistent with court refusals to force persons to undergo less invasive procedures (e.g., bone marrow donation for the benefit of family members), she proposes alternatives to the present inconsistent practice.
Changes in Diet and Lifestyle and Long-Term Weight Gain in Women and Men

BackgroundSpecific dietary and other lifestyle behaviors may affect the success of the straightforward-sounding strategy “eat less and exercise more” for preventing long-term weight gain. MethodsWe performed prospective investigations involving three separate cohorts that included 120,877 U.S. women and men who were free of chronic diseases and not obese at baseline, with follow-up periods from 1986 to 2006, 1991 to 2003, and 1986 to 2006. The relationships between changes in lifestyle factors and weight change were evaluated at 4-year intervals, with multivariable adjustments made for age, baseline body-mass index for each period, and all lifestyle factors simultaneously. Cohort-specific and sex-specific results were similar and were pooled with the use of an inverse-variance–weighted meta-analysis. ResultsWithin each 4-year period, participants gained an average of 3.35 lb (5th to 95th percentile, −4.1 to 12.4). On the basis of increased daily servings of individual dietary components, 4-year weight cha...
Proteasome inhibitors: Their effects on arachidonic acid release from cells in culture and arachidonic acid metabolism in rat liver cells

I have postulated that arachidonic acid release from rat liver cells is associated with cancer chemoprevention. Since it has been reported that inhibition of proteasome activities may prevent cancer, the effects of proteasome inhibitors on arachidonic acid release from cells and on prostaglandin I2 production in rat liver cells were studied.
King Arthur and Politics

THERE is nothing new in the statement that Geoffrey of Monmouth was inspired to write his great Historia Regum Britanniae by other considerations than a passion for historical truth; nor is there any doubt in the minds of scholars that it was owing to the influence of this book, direct and indirect, that the Arthurian stories leapt into general literary popularity just at this time.' In all the writing about these matters, however, I cannot find that anyone has ever suggested a line of inquiry that seems to me very helpful to an understanding of why and how the Arthurian romances came into being. There has been a great deal of discussion, some of it fruitful and some of it barren, about the genetics of these works, as well as a considerable amount of sheer quarrelling about the relative contributions of Wales and Armorica to the stories upon which they were based; but there has been too little effort to study their origins in relationship to other phenomena, literary, political, and religious, of the twelfth century. Yet it should be evident to all of us that the sudden development of Arthurian romance must have come about through ideas and impulses more or less consciously operative in people of the time. Scholars have too often treated this sudden florescence of romance as if it were a true and not a metaphorical flowering: something botanical, uncontrolled by human action, which is to lose sight of the plain fact that neither spurious history nor acknowledged fiction comes into being of itself. Of course we do know that stories about Arthur and at least some of his followers had long been told by the Celts. There is the reference in Nennius, which takes us back to the seventh century; there is the entry in the tenth-century Annales Cambriae, which mentions the battle between Arthur and Mordred; there are the monks of Laon, who found in 1113 that people in Cornwall believed
Experimental effects of bone plating in infancy on craniomaxillofacial skeletal growth

Abstract The potential effects of mini- and microfixation on craniofacial development was investigated in an animal model. Twenty-four rabbits had amalgam markers placed bilaterally at the lambdoid, coronal, and frontonasal sutures at 28 days of age. In group 1, plating was not done and served as controls. In groups 2 to 4, single 2- and 4-hole microplates and 4-hole miniplates were fixed across the left coronal suture. The right suture was not plated. After 6 months, intermarker distances and craniofacial angles were measured radiographically. Coronal sutures underneath the plates were also histologically evaluated. Plating across the coronal suture resulted in local anteroposterior constriction of marker distances that did not differ with the type of fixation used. More distant markers, however, were increased in all specimens as a compensation and, as a result, the cranionasal length of all groups were similar. No change in craniofacial angles was observed from that of the controls. Sutural morphology ...
Hypertension, Diuretic Use, and Risk of Hearing Loss.

Abstract Background Hearing loss is highly prevalent among adults in the United States. Hypertension also is common and often treated with diuretics. Hypertension may increase the risk of hearing loss by decreasing vascular supply to the stria vascularis. Use of thiazides has been anecdotally associated with hearing loss. In small studies, furosemide use has been associated with hearing loss that is usually reversible, but can be permanent. We investigated the relation among hypertension, diuretic use, and hearing loss in a prospective cohort of 54,721 women in the Nurses' Health Study I, 1994 to 2012. Methods Eligible participants included 54,721 female nurses aged 48 to 73 years in 1994 who provided information on thiazide diuretic and furosemide use in 1994, answered the question on hearing loss over their lifetime in 2012, and did not report hearing loss with date of onset before date of onset of hypertension diagnosis or medication use. The outcome was self-reported hearing loss. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to adjust for potential confounders. Results During 774,096 person-years of follow-up, 19,296 cases of hearing loss were reported (incidence rate, 25 cases per 1000 person-years). At baseline in 1994, the mean age was 57.9 years and mean body mass index was 26.3 kg/m 2 . Some 30.8% of participants had a history of hypertension. History of hypertension was independently associated with a modestly higher risk of hearing loss (multivariable adjusted relative risk, 1.04 [1.01-1.07]). Among women with a history of hypertension, neither thiazide diuretic (multivariable adjusted relative risk, 1.07 [0.99-1.16]) nor furosemide use (multivariable adjusted relative risk, 0.91 [0.75-1.09]) was significantly associated with risk of hearing loss when compared with women not taking antihypertensive medications. There was no significant effect modification by age. Conclusions History of hypertension was associated with a small increased risk of hearing loss. Thiazide diuretic use and furosemide use were not associated with risk of hearing loss among women with a history of hypertension.
Overview of the day

After a short summary of how the SOSP series began in 1967, EmCee Jeanna Matthews introduces the speakers. She has photos of them in their younger days when they were inventing OS principles.
Western faculty ‘flight risk’ at a Korean university and the complexities of internationalisation in Asian higher education

ABSTRACTDoes the internationalisation of Asian higher education give preference to Western faculty members, especially against the backdrop of internationalisation trends that call for an importation of Western pedagogical practices, ideas, and standards? This article seeks to complicate such a claim through close examination of the Western faculty members who work at a Korean university. In particular, this study reveals the systematic disempowerment of Western faculty members, which eventually leads to Western faculty members’ mass departure from South Korea. The ephemeral and transitional quality of the Western faulty members is what renders them even more helpless and commoditised for the benefit of a Korean university while the institution maintains the facade of internationalisation via the large-scale recruitment of Western faculty members by perpetually replacing those who leave with new recruits. Such a phenomenon exposes complexities within the internationalisation process that have yet to be ad...
The Etiology of Stone Formation in Patients with Surgically Active Urolithiasis

Patients with urinary calculi that are causing pain, colic, obstruction, and/or associated infection are considered to have surgically active urolithiasis (1). Their presenting complaints are often dramatic and require prompt surgical intervention to manage the acute problem and prevent long-term complications. A detailed metabolic evaluation of the patient at the point when he is in acute distress is often neither practical nor adequate. In particular, the results of urine chemistries in a 24-h urine collection may be inadequate because the patient is not taking his usual diet or fluids.
Electrochemical and Spectroscopic Studies of Rhodium and Iridium Diimine Complexes in Acetonitrile

The diimine and triimine complexes of the first row transition metals have been examined extensively in non-aqueous solvents (1–13). A number of these studies have employed both spectroscopic and electrochemical techniques to characterize the species produced during electrolysis. In many cases unusual species result when electrons are transferred to diimine chelates; the added electron delocalizes onto the ligand and the oxidation state of the metal remains unchanged. The nominal d6 complexes of Group VIII which have been studied and the species produced from them are summarized in Table I.
Structure and Regulation of the SN-Glycerol-3-Phosphate Acyltransferase of E. Coli

The cytoplasmic membrane bound acyl-Coenzyme A:sn-glycerol-3-phosphate(glycerol-P) O-acyltransferase(EC 2.3.1.15) of Escherichia coli catalyzes the initial committed step of membrane phospholipid biosynthesis. Phospholipid biosynthesis is likely regulated, in part, by this enzyme. Studies on glycerol-P acyltransferase were limited, until recently, to crude membrane preparations or partially purified preparations. Using a combined approach of molecular genetics and biochemistry, we have attempted to bring the study of the glycerol-P acyltransferase to a molecular level and establish a suitable system for in-depth functional and regulatory studies.
Myogenic contribution to agonist-induced renal vasoconstriction during normoxia and hypoxia

Acute hypoxia attenuates agonist-induced constrictor and pressor responses in conscious rats, and a recent report suggests that hypoxia may also diminish myogenic reactivity in isolated, perfused rat kidneys. Thus we hypothesized that the diminished responsiveness to pressor agents during hypoxia is caused by an impairment of myogenic reactivity. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were instrumented with a pulsed Doppler flow probe on the left renal artery, an aortic vascular occluder cuff immediately above the left renal artery to control renal perfusion pressure, and catheters were inserted to measure systemic arterial blood pressure and renal arterial pressure (RAP) and for administration of agents. Animals were studied under normoxic or acute hypoxic (fractional concentration of O2 in inspired gials = 0.12) conditions and were administered phenylephrine, arginine vasopressin, or angiotensin II. To determine the myogenic (pressure-dependent) component of agonist-induced vasoconstriction, renal vascular resistance was calculated during agonist infusion with RAP uncontrolled and with RAP controlled to preinfusion levels. Significant myogenic components of agonist-induced renal vasoconstriction were evident with all pressor agents used. However, hypoxia did not attenuate agonist-induced, pressure-dependent increases in renal vascular resistance. We conclude that the reduced vasoreactivity associated with acute hypoxia is not caused by diminished myogenic reactivity.
Event-Specific Image Importance

When creating a photo album of an event, people typically select a few important images to keep or share. There is some consistency in the process of choosing the important images, and discarding the unimportant ones. Modeling this selection process will assist automatic photo selection and album summarization. In this paper, we show that the selection of important images is consistent among different viewers, and that this selection process is related to the event type of the album. We introduce the concept of event-specific image importance. We collected a new event album dataset with human annotation of the relative image importance with each event album. We also propose a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based method to predict the image importance score of a given event album, using a novel rank loss function and a progressive training scheme. Results demonstrate that our method significantly outperforms various baseline methods.
Acute and chronic renal failure.

Two basic mechanisms are responsible for the increasing frequency with which surgeons must deal with patients with renal failure. The author addresses these two issues in his discussion of the prophylaxis and management of postoperative acute renal failure and the surgical complications occurring in patients with chronic renal failure.
Dispersion of Forecasts and Stock Returns

Prior research has established that stocks with high dispersion of earnings forecasts yield lower subsequent returns. I offer a new explanation based on some analysts' reluctance to revise their forecasts downward. I show that analysts' sluggish and non-synchronous response to negative information results in dispersion of forecasts. The inertia in downward forecast revisions also leads to market underreaction to bad news. Therefore, the negative relationship between dispersion and subsequent returns may be partially attributable to some analysts' sluggish response to negative information. I also test whether dispersion of forecasts exacerbates overpricing (Miller (1977)), but find that when dispersion of forecasts increases, prices decrease.
Abstract P92: Racial Differences in End of Life Care in Medicare Beneficiaries With Heart Failure

Background: Attention to quality and consistency of care at the end of life has increased over the last decade. However, little is known about racial differences in health care use at the end of life in patients with heart failure, a complex disease with high mortality and morbidity. Methods: We used a 5% national sample of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries with heart failure who died from 2000-2007. Demographics included age at death, sex, comorbidities and race (“black” vs. “non-black”). We calculated frequency of all-cause hospitalizations, intensive care unit (ICU) and hospice use in the 180 days preceding death. We calculated total cost to Medicare (in 2007 US dollars). Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to test for differences by race and Cochran-Mantel-Haenzel tests for nonzero correlation were used to test trends. We used generalized linear models with a log link and Poisson distribution to model total costs in the last 6 months of life. Results: The cohort included 229,543 Medicare patients with heart failure who died from 2000-2007. The average age at death was 83 years and 18,141 (7.9%) patients were black. Black patients were more likely than non-black patients to be hospitalized in the last six months of life (86.1% vs 80.7%; p<.001). Among hospitalized patients, blacks had longer lengths of stay (27.6 days vs. 20.3 days; p<.001) and were more likely to spend time in the ICU (51.5% vs 46.6%; p<.001). Black patients were less likely to use hospice services compared to non-blacks (21.9% vs. 28.6%; p<.001). While hospice use among blacks increased over the study period (14.1% in 2000 vs. 30.6% in 2007; p<.001), use in non-blacks remained higher (19.4% in 2000 vs 38.7% in 2007; p<.001). Total costs to Medicare per patient were more than $11,000 higher for black patients ($42,625 vs. $31,295; p<.001). Even after covariate adjustment, black race was independently associated with higher end-of-life costs (Cost Ratio 1.2, 95% CI (1.19,1.22); p<.001). Conclusion: Resource use at the end of life is higher among black Medicare patients with heart failure compared to non-black patients. Further research is needed to identify the factors that contribute to these observed differences.
Stability of High-Density Two-Dimensional Excitons against a Mott Transition in High Magnetic Fields Probed by Coherent Terahertz Spectroscopy

We have performed time-resolved terahertz absorption measurements on photoexcited electron-hole pairs in undoped GaAs quantum wells in magnetic fields. We probed both unbound- and bound-carrier responses via cyclotron resonance and intraexciton resonance, respectively. The stability of excitons, monitored as the pair density was systematically increased, was found to dramatically increase with increasing magnetic field. Specifically, the 1s-2p_{-} intraexciton transition at 9 T persisted up to the highest density, whereas the 1s-2p feature at 0 T was quickly replaced by a free-carrier Drude response. Interestingly, at 9 T, the 1s-2p_{-} peak was replaced by free-hole cyclotron resonance at high temperatures, indicating that 2D magnetoexcitons do dissociate under thermal excitation, even though they are stable against a density-driven Mott transition.
A Gaussian Mixture Model Smoother for Continuous Nonlinear Stochastic Dynamical Systems: Applications

AbstractThe nonlinear Gaussian Mixture Model Dynamically Orthogonal (GMM–DO) smoother for high-dimensional stochastic fields is exemplified and contrasted with other smoothers by applications to three dynamical systems, all of which admit far-from-Gaussian distributions. The capabilities of the smoother are first illustrated using a double-well stochastic diffusion experiment. Comparisons with the original and improved versions of the ensemble Kalman smoother explain the detailed mechanics of GMM–DO smoothing and show that its accuracy arises from the joint GMM distributions across successive observation times. Next, the smoother is validated using the advection of a passive stochastic tracer by a reversible shear flow. This example admits an exact smoothed solution, whose derivation is also provided. Results show that the GMM–DO smoother accurately captures the full smoothed distributions and not just the mean states. The final example showcases the smoother in more complex nonlinear fluid dynamics cause...
A Novel MicroRNA Signature in Myocardial Reductive Stress

Background Altered MicroRNA (miRNA) expression is associated with many pathophysiological processes of the myocardium. We have recently demonstrated clinical relevance for reductive stress (RS) in protein aggregation cardiomyopathy. However, molecular cross-talk between RS signaling and miRNA responses remains elusive. Here, using a novel mouse model, we have identified a potential miRNA signature for myocardial RS. Methods Mice exhibiting dose-dependent (TG-low and TG-high) myocardial RS were generated by expressing nuclear factor erythroid-derived-2-like 2 (Nrf2), a master regulator of antioxidant transcription. Incidence of RS and cardiac hypertrophy were confirmed by glutathione levels and echocardiography, respectively. miRNA microarrays were performed using Agilent’s System. Significantly altered miRNAs were further validated by real-time qPCR. To endorse our in vivo model, sulforaphane (SF) mediated pharmacological induction of RS was established using HL-1 cardiomyocytes. Results Reduced glutathione was dose-dependently increased in TG-L (~3-fold) and TG-H (~5-fold) groups according to Nrf2 transgene expression. Microarray analysis revealed 50 (21 up- and 29 down-regulated) and 139 (66 up- and 73 down-regulated) miRNAs significantly altered in TG-L and TG-H, respectively, suggesting a role for Nrf2 in promoting ectopic miRNA expression during RS progression. Real-time qPCR validation demonstrated a remarkable miRNA signature as significant increases in miR-582-5p, 1983, 208b-3p, 1927, 361-5p, 671-5p, 491-5p, 34c-3p and 96-5p (2.0 – 8-fold) expression were detected alongside miR-7043-3p, 204, 144, 451a, and 135a-2-3p downregulation (0.75 – 0.25-fold). Similarly, SF treated cardiomyocytes exhibited hypertrophy and increased miR-208b-3p, 1927, 671-5p, and 96-5p levels indicative of a conserved miRNA expression profile contributing to RS mediated cardiac pathology. Conclusion These findings represent a unique miRNA signature in myocardial RS that is associated with cardiac hypertrophy. Our future studies will address gain and loss of function for miRNAs involved in RS pathogenesis.
Near-perfect compliance with SCIP Inf-9 had no effect on catheter utilization or urinary tract infections at an academic medical center

Abstract Background The Joint Commission's SCIP Inf-9 mandated early removal of indwelling urinary catheters (IUCs), but the impact of compliance on catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) and postoperative urinary retention (POUR) are unknown. Methods Retrospective pre- and post-intervention study at a single tertiary academic medical center of all patients undergoing general surgery procedures with an IUC placed at the time of surgery who were admitted for at least two days before and after a Best Practice Advisory was put in place to improve compliance with SCIP Inf-9. Results A total of 1036 patients were included (468 pre-intervention; 568 post-intervention). POUR occurred in 13% of patients and CAUTI in 0.8%. There was no change in POUR, CAUTI, or catheter utilization after the Best Practice Advisory was initiated. Both POUR and CAUTI predicted longer lengths of stay. Conclusions Near-perfect SCIP Inf-9 compliance had no effect on the CAUTI rate at our institution. Summary Implementation of a Best Practice Advisory that ensured near-perfect compliance with a SCIP process measure designed for early indwelling urinary catheter removal had no measurable effect on catheter associated urinary tract infections, catheter utilization, or urinary retention. Early catheter removal was associated with double the odds of urinary retention.
Maximum Covering Formulation for Open Locating Dominating Sets

As a result of specific constructs and features, many graphs do not admit OLD-sets. We extend the traditional OLD-set definition by relaxing the dominating property. Instead of requiring all nodes to be covered by an OLD-set, we seek what we call a maximum covering OLD-set. Every graph has a maximum covering OLD-set. Furthermore, maximum covering OLD-sets allow an exploration of the tradeoff between the number of sensors placed and the number of nodes covered.