cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Distinguishing body mass and activity level from the lower limb: can entheses diagnose obesity?

Abstract The ability to estimate body size from the skeleton has broad applications, but is especially important to the forensic community when identifying unknown skeletal remains. This research investigates the utility of using entheses/muscle skeletal markers of the lower limb to estimate body size and to classify individuals into average, obese, and active categories, while using a biomechanical approach to interpret the results. Eighteen muscle attachment sites of the lower limb, known to be involved in the sit-to-stand transition, were scored for robusticity and stress in 105 white males (aged 31–81 years) from the William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection. Both logistic regression and log linear models were applied to the data to (1) test the utility of entheses as an indicator of body weight and activity level, and (2) to generate classification percentages that speak to the accuracy of the method. Thirteen robusticity scores differed significantly between the groups, but classification percentages were only slightly greater than chance. However, clear differences could be seen between the average and obese and the average and active groups. Stress scores showed no value in discriminating between groups. These results were interpreted in relation to biomechanical forces at the microscopic and macroscopic levels. Even though robusticity alone is not able to classify individuals well, its significance may show greater value when incorporated into a model that has multiple skeletal indicators. Further research needs to evaluate a larger sample and incorporate several lines of evidence to improve classification rates.
WE‐B‐116‐01: CT Tools and Protocols Available Through AAPM

The AAPM CT Working Group on Nomenclature and Protocols (CT WGNP) was established in 2010; this working group is comprised of AAPM members with considerable CT experience, as well as representatives from each of the major CT manufacturers, ASRT, ACR, DICOM, FDA and Image Gently. The CT WGNP has two charges: 1. To develop consensus protocols for frequently performed CT examinations, summarizing the basic requirements of the exam and giving several model‐specific examples of scan and reconstruction parameters. 2. To develop by consensus a set of standardized terms for use on CT scanners, including all parameters that control the scan acquisition or reconstruction that are programmed by the user, are displayed on the final image or included in a DICOM‐specified tag, or describe a fundamental CT setting that is not always user selectable (such as a beam‐shaping filter). This working group has developed a set of tools for members and the general public that is available on the AAPM website. These tools include a Lexicon to allow users to translate important CT acquisition and reconstruction terms between different manufacturers' systems, thereby improving understanding of scan parameter meanings and decreasing the potential for parameter errors. A set of routine adult CT protocols have been provided that include Brain CT Perfusion, Routine Head, Routine Chest and Routine Abdomen/Pelvis exams. These provide a set of reasonable reference protocols for frequently performed CT examinations, summarizing the basic requirements of the exam and giving several model‐specific examples of scan and reconstruction parameters. These resources directly address the original charges of the working group and continue to be the main focus of effort. Pediatric versions of these protocols are now under development. In addition, the working group has been asked by MITA to develop additional resources specific to CT. The working group provides an excellent venue for discussion of issues that affect each of the primary stakeholders in the CT community.Recommendations were developed regarding default values for use in the CT Dose Check feature that has been incorporated into newer CT systems. Additionally, a set of educational slides specific to radiation dose issues in CT have been made created and made available. Versions of the slides that include manufacturer‐specific information, particularly with respect to radiation dose reduction features available on CT scanners, are under development. These resources will be reviewed during this lecture and directions regarding how to find and utilize this information will be given. Dr. Cody receives ‘in‐kind’ support of research from GE Healthcare.
Parallel simulation of neural networks

We simulate five neural networks on a vector multiprocessor. The training time can be reduced significantly especially when the training data size is large. These five neural networks are: 1) the ART1 network, 2) the ART 2 network, 3) the feedforward network, 4) the recurrent network, and 5) the Hopfield network. The training algorithms are programmed in such a way to best utilize 1) the inherent parallelism in neural computing, and 2) the vector and concur rent operations available on the parallel machine. To prove the correctness of parallelized training algorithms, each neural network is trained to perform a specific function. ART 1 and ART 2 are trained to recognize binary and analog patterns. The feedforward network is trained to perform the Fourier transform, the recurrent network is trained to predict the solution of a delay differential equation, the Hopfield network is trained to solve the traveling salesman problem. The machine we experiment with is the Alliant FX/80.
Tritium Radioactive–Casein and Cheese Ripening

Summary Investigations were concerned with the preparation of casein containing radioactive hydrogen, tritium, suitable for cheese-ripening studies, the properties of the radioactive casein, and the appearance of the radioactive hydrogen of the casein in some nonprotein component of ripened cheese. The addition of tritium to casein was accomplished by the gas-exposure technique, producing a concentration of 6 mc. of tritium per gram of casein. The tritium labelling observed was that of random distribution of the isotopic hydrogen in the various amino acids of the casein. Introduction of the tritiated casein into a cheese system did not affect the ripening process. Cheese prepared with labelled casein showed the same changes in the free amino acids, rate of acid formation, and soluble nitrogen as the unlabelled cheese. An appreciable concentration of tritium was observed in two carbonyls of ripened cheese, pointing to protein as a possible source of these compounds. Tritium labelling was shown applicable in casein-degradation studies and, with certain reservations, may be extended to other compounds of cheese ripening.
Direct analytical solutions to non-uniform beam problems

The direct analytical solution to the vibration of non-uniform beams with and without discontinuities and with various boundary conditions is presented. Results are compared to results from the exact solution for certain cases where the exact solution has been obtained. It is shown that the direct solution converges to the exact solution, in fact, with 'indefinite accuracy' just as Hamilton stated that it would.
Missing agricultural price data: an application of mixed estimation

This article shows the convenience of combining the Country–Product– Dummy (CPD) model and the Theil–Goldberger (TG) mixed estimator to obtain better estimates of missing prices than those obtained by marginal mean imputation. We use the TG estimator to combine aggregate price data for regions of Ecuador with producer-level data (the sample data) to fill-in the missing price observations. Our results show better price estimates for predicting missing data than estimates obtained from using the CPD model on the sample data only. Through this approach, missing data can be replaced with economically meaningful data.
Tendon-derived sections for tissue engineering applications

Nature has evolved a variety of clever ways to create nanoscale entities with remarkable complexity. Many biological specimen have extremely well-defined shapes and chemical activities, such as collagen fibers in tendon, muscle fibers in muscle, cornea, bone, diatoms, wood. Tendon for example, comprises bundles of well-aligned of collagen nanofibers. Recently, we have developed a method for fabricating constructs composed of aligned collagen fibers from decellularized bovine Achilles tendon (Figure 1A). This process involves decellularizing the native tendon, and sectioning the material into thin sheets using a cryomicrotome. Throughout the decellularization process, the collagen maintains its native triple helical structure, providing mechanical strength and nanotopographical cues. These sheets can then be stacked and reoriented, with fibers aligned in multiple directions in adjacent layers, giving the material more transversely isotropic properties. The sheets can also be rolled into tubular structures that could find use in biomedic al applications such as creating tissue engineered blood vessels or conduits for peripheral nerve repair. For nerve repair applications, we show that cells such as rat Schwann cells grow, and align along the tendon sections and also demonstrate that more complex structures, such as chick dorsal root ganglia explants will align well along this material. These results show that tendon sections produced through this process can produce a highly biocompatible material with good mechanical properties, suitable for the growth of a variety of cells.
Bullshitting: Road Lore Among Hitchhikers

This paper explores how people create tall tales to make frustrating activities “engaging“–as Goffman uses that term. The data are the stories hitchhikers tell one another about their travels-what they call “bullshit.“ The analysis of these data suggests that bullshitting provides people with a way of managing their problems. By using difficult situations as bases for heroic autobiographical stories, people can use their problems to produce a positive self-image. Hitchhikers appear to use these stories as partial solutions to their adolescent identity problems.
Conservation Patterns in Angiosperm rDNA ITS2 Sequences

The two internal transcribed spacers (ITS1 and ITS2) of nuclear ribosomal DNA have become commonly exploited sources of informative variation for interspecific-/intergeneric-level phylogenetic analyses among angiosperms and other eukaryotes. We present an alignment in which one-third to one-half of the ITS2 sequence is alignable above the family level in angiosperms and a phenetic analysis showing that ITS2 contains information sufficient to diagnose lineages at several hierarchical levels. Base compositional analysis shows that angiosperm ITS2 is inherently GC-rich, and that the proportion of T is much more variable than that for other bases. We propose a general model of angiosperm ITS2 secondary structure that shows common pairing relationships for most of the conserved sequence tracts. Variations in our secondary structure predictions for sequences from different taxa indicate that compensatory mutation is not limited to paired positions.
The Marshall-Smith syndrome: a review of the laryngeal complications.

The Marshall-Smith syndrome is characterised by a triad of facial dysmorphism, failure to thrive and accelerated osseous maturation. We report a further case of this rare syndrome with the unusual but previously reported complication of laryngeal hypoplasia and review the associated laryngeal anomalies that have been reported to date. Conclusion Severe airway obstruction due to congenital anomalies must be excluded in any dysmorphic child presenting with respiratory distress at birth. Rapid airway assessment will enable early and appropriate intervention and may be important when deciding on the long-term plan for the infant.
Luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) neuroterminals mapped using the push-pull perfusion method in the rhesus monkey

In vivo luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) release was measured in conscious, ovariectomized rhesus monkeys using a push-pull cannula inserted into the stalk-median eminence, and the relationship between sampling location and LHRH release was examined. Within an individual animal in which multiple experiments were conducted with different cannula placements, LHRH pulse frequency was consistent. In contrast, LHRH pulse amplitude and mean LHRH release varied with cannula tip location in a pattern which reflected the anatomical distribution of LHRH-immunoreactive fibers described for the rhesus monkey. These results suggest that our push-pull perfusion method is reliable for the in vivo measurement of LHRH and perhaps other neuropeptides and/or neurotransmitters, as well.
Clinical management of early syphilis

Early syphilis therapy was a focus of intense research in the early 20th century with many and varied approaches being used. The development of penicillin and its efficacy in the treatment of syphilis transformed syphilis management for many with and at risk for infection. However, problems such as beta-lactam allergies and the desire for easily administered, alternate therapies have led to evaluation of multiple other drugs, with doxycycline currently recommended as the main alternative. Ceftriaxone and azithromycin have been shown to be effective, however, each has its own difficulties. Follow-up relies on serological testing, leading to concerns when these tests do not decline appropriately. Given concerns about the potential for increased risk for treatment failure, patients with HIV and pregnant women are of particular concern.
Differential inhibition of globin chain synthesis by tosyl-L-lysyl chloromethyl ketone

Abstract Tosyl-L-lysyl chloromethyl ketone (TLCK), added to an incubation of rabbit reticulocytes, inhibits the synthesis of α globin chain more than that of β chain. TLCK has been previously shown to inhibit initiation of translation in a variety of cells. Thus this drug could be used to test for such a differential effect at the level of peptide initiation on the various mRNAs in these cells.
The cannabinoid receptor CB1 inverse agonist AM251 potentiates the anxiogenic activity of urocortin I in the basolateral amygdala

Abstract The basolateral amygdala is reported to play an important role in the neural bases of emotional processing. Previous studies have shown that injections of urocortin I (UcnI) into the basolateral amygdala (BLA) elicit anxiety-like behaviors in animal models. The present study examined the anxiogenic effects of UcnI administered directly into the BLA of male Sprague-Dawley rats. UcnI was administered at doses of 0.1–10.0 pmol and rats were then placed in an elevated plus maze for 10 min. UcnI reliably decreased the percent time spent in the open arms of the elevated plus maze (EPM) as well as open arm entries. This effect was observed across all doses tested, indicating the induction of anxiety-like behavior. In separate groups of rats, the CB1 inverse agonist AM251 was administered systemically (0.03–3.0 mg/kg IP) or directly into the BLA (0.25–25.0 pmol) and EPM performance assessed. Both routes of AM251 administration produced a reduction in open arm entries and in time spent in the open arms. Moreover, when rats were pretreated with AM251 either systemically or directly into the BLA, the anxiogenic effect of UcnI was potentiated. That is, co-administration of AM251 and UcnI produced a greater suppression of percent time spent in the open arms and open arm entries as compared to UcnI alone. Based on these findings, we propose that urocortin and endocannabinoid signaling are part of an integrated neural axis modulating anxiety states within the basolateral amygdala. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled ‘Anxiety and Depression’.
Very Low Birth Weight Infants-Educational Outcome at School Age from Parental Questionnaire

Educational outcome of former very low birth weight infants, greater than or equal to 1250 g., were obtained by a questionnaire mailed to the families' last known address. Fifty-seven infants were known to have survived the first year of life and an address was available for 49 families, 51 infants (two sets of twins). Forty families (82%) responded regarding 42 of the 57 infants (74%). Only one child had a major health problem, cerebral palsy and epilepsy. All the children were in school. Thirty-nine (93%) were in a regular class and three (7%) were in special classes. Twenty-six children (67%) in a regular class did not require special educational assistance, 13 (33%) did. Using the Hollingshead Four Factor Index, socioeconomic status affected outcome P = 0.0068 (Fischer's exact test). There were 20 children in Classes I-III, upper socioeconomic and three children Class IV-V, lower socioeconomic, requiring no special education and six children in Class I-III and eight children in Class IV-V requiring special education. The neonatal risk factors birth weight, gestational age, appropriateness of weight for gestation, Apgar score, time to regain birth weight, and time on mechanical ventilation did not affect outcome. The only neonatal risk which was significantly different between the respondents and nonrespondents was birth weight, P less than 0.020 for the children in a regular class without assistance and P less than 0.005 for children in a regular class with assistance. Overall, 40 percent of the children had repeated a grade.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF JOB LOSS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1970-1980'*

Many analysts have asserted that recent interregional shifts in investment and jobs in manufacturing are the product of variations in the socioeconomic characteristics of geographic regions. Conventional industrial location theorists tend to point to the market potential, physical characteristics, and human capital endowments of geographic regions. In contrast, neoMarxist and business climate theorists typically cite political-economic explanations related to the strength and cost of labor, the level of taxation, and the extent of social welfare provisions. Using state level data, I evaluate the relative empirical utility of these various explanations in predicting changes in employment in manufacturing between 1970 and 1980. The results provide partial support for the political-economic explanation and no support for conventional industrial location theories. In particular, the empirical evidence points to the importance of labor organization in promoting the relocation of manufacturing employment. Few transformations in the American economy over the past 15 years have received greater attention than the interregional migration of industries and jobs from the traditional industrial belt to new locations within the United States. Though many analysts assert that this rapid movement of capital and jobs is the product of variations in the socioeconomic characteristics of geographic regions (Bluestone and Harrison, 1982; Weinstein and Firestine, 1978), there is little agreement over which characteristics are the most important for investment or disinvestment decisions. Conventional industrial location theorists tend to point to the human capital, physical, and market-size endowments of geographic areas as the leading determinants of plant location (Miller, 1977). Neo-Marxist and business climate theorists tend to emphasize political-economic factors associated with the presence of labor unions and wage costs (Peet, 1983; Storper and Walker, 1983), the level of state taxation (Kieschnick, 1981), and the extent of social welfare benefits (Bluestone and Harrison, 1982; Piven and Cloward, 1982). In this paper I use state-level data to evaluate the relative utility of these explanations as they relate to
False belief and sentence complement performance in children with specific language impairment

Background: Children with specific language impairment (SLI) have language abilities not commensurate with other cognitive abilities. This pattern makes the SLI population of interest when investigating the relationship between language and theory of mind. One view regarding this relationship is that theory of mind develops independently of language, but certain language skills are required to meet the demands of tasks used to measure theory of mind, such as false belief. Another view is that language development facilitates theory of mind development, and specifically, that mastery of sentence complement structures is necessary for false belief.Aims: The study asked (1) if children with SLI can succeed on false belief, despite their language deficits, when the linguistic demands of the false belief task are low, and (2) if performance on sentence complement structures predicts false belief performance.Methods & Procedures: Fifteen children with SLI, 15 children matched for age and 15 children matched for...
Treatment of Gancyclovir Resistant Cytomegalovirus with Foscarnet: a Report of Two Cases Occurring After Bone Marrow Transplantation

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is common in patients who undergo allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Gancyclovir is useful in treating CMV infections. Resistance to gancyclovir is rare and has, thus far, not been reported in the setting of BMT. Two patients with CMV infections unresponsive to gancyclovir were successfully treated with foscarnet. 10–15% of CMV infections are resistant initially or develop resistance to gancyclovir. Both patients had an adequate trial of gancyclovir and resistance developed over time. While we did not document resistance in the laboratory there was dramatic clinical improvement with foscarnet.
ASPeak: an abundance sensitive peak detection algorithm for RIP-Seq

Summary: Unlike DNA, RNA abundances can vary over several orders of magnitude. Thus, identification of RNA–protein binding sites from high-throughput sequencing data presents unique challenges. Although peak identification in ChIP-Seq data has been extensively explored, there are few bioinformatics tools tailored for peak calling on analogous datasets for RNA-binding proteins. Here we describe ASPeak (abundance sensitive peak detection algorithm), an implementation of an algorithm that we previously applied to detect peaks in exon junction complex RNA immunoprecipitation in tandem experiments. Our peak detection algorithm yields stringent and robust target sets enabling sensitive motif finding and downstream functional analyses. Availability: ASPeak is implemented in Perl as a complete pipeline that takes bedGraph files as input. ASPeak implementation is freely available at https://sourceforge.net/projects/as-peak under the GNU General Public License. ASPeak can be run on a personal computer, yet is designed to be easily parallelizable. ASPeak can also run on high performance computing clusters providing efficient speedup. The documentation and user manual can be obtained from http://master. dl.sourceforge.net/project/as-peak/manual.pdf.
Arousal at encoding, arousal at retrieval, interviewer support, and children's memory for a mild stressor

The relations among children's physiological arousal at encoding and retrieval, interviewer-provided social support and children's memory for a mild stressor were examined in 109 five- and six-year-olds. The children came to a research laboratory and watched a fear eliciting video clip. A week later, their memory for the video clip was tested by either a supportive or nonsupportive interviewer. While watching the video and completing the memory interview, children's heart rate was monitored. Increased heart rate at encoding was associated with fewer incorrect responses. In contrast, increased heart rate at retrieval was associated with poorer memory, but only when the interviewer was nonsupportive. Heart rate was unrelated to memory when the interviewer was supportive. Results suggest that arousal at encoding and retrieval have different implications for children's memory for a mild stressor, particularly in nonsupportive interview contexts. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Language: en
The Agricultural Revolution in Nineteenth-Century France

The literature on French economic history generally dates the onset of the agricultural revolution in France from the midnineteenth century. However, the available empirical evidence on national agricultural trends, brought together in 1961 by Toutain, shows that the rapid, sustained growth in both total and per capita agricultural production comes earlier, during the period from 1815–24 to 1865–74. This article explores the sources of this rapid national growth by assembling and analyzing previously unutilized regional data on production and hectares of major field crops. The southern diffusion of mixed farming is identified as the change in the productive process which may account for the French agricultural revolution.
Enhanced in vivo lipid peroxidation at elevated plasma total homocysteine levels

An elevated plasma total homocysteine level (tHcy) is considered an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis. The mechanisms by which hyperhomocysteinemia induces atherosclerosis are only partially understood, but promotion of LDL oxidation and endothelial injury have been suggested. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that a high plasma tHcy is associated in men with increased in vivo lipid peroxidation, as measured by plasma F2-isoprostane concentrations. We investigated this association in a subset of the participants in the Antioxidant Supplementation in Atherosclerosis Prevention (ASAP) study. Of 256 male participants, a subsample of 100 consecutive men was selected for F2-isoprostane assays. The mean tHcy was 11.0 micromol/L, and the mean F2-isoprostanes was 29.6 ng/L. The simple correlation coefficient for association between tHcy and F2-isoprostane was 0.40 (P<0.001). In a linear regression model, the variables with the strongest associations with F2-isoprostane were tHcy (standardized coefficient 0.33, P<0.001), serum triglycerides (0.21, P=0.042), carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (0.15, P=0.132), and plasma lipid-standardized alpha-tocopherol (-0.11, P=0.252) (R2=0.24, P<0. 001 for model). Plasma F2-isoprostane levels increased linearly across quintiles of tHcy (P<0.001). The unadjusted mean (95% confidence interval) F2-isoprostanes was 47.5% greater in the highest tHcy quintile (37.4, 31.1 to 43.6 ng/L) than in the lowest quintile (25.3, 21.3 to 29.3 ng/L). Adjustment for the strongest other determinants of F2-isoprostane reduced this difference to 28. 2% (P=0.010). Our present data suggest that elevated fasting plasma tHcy is associated with enhanced in vivo lipid peroxidation in men.
A Design of a Hydrofoil Family for Current-Driven Marine-Hydrokinetic Turbines

The natural kinetic motion of oceans, rivers, and other bodies of water is a promising resource for sustainable power production. Rotor-based marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) turbines generate electricity from river, tidal, and other water currents, operating analogously to wind turbines in air. An MHK rotor designer can draw upon a vast body of general purpose and wind power specific airfoils, but application specific hydrofoils can more optimally meet the needs of MHK power. We present the MHKF1 family of hydrofoils, designed upon experience drawn from wind turbine airfoils and incorporating hydro-specific considerations. The MHKF1 hydrofoils were developed to balance the following design objectives: (1) basic hydrodynamic performance with lift to drag ratio (l/d) as a key metric, (2) limited sensitivity to soiling because of biofouling concerns and the high cost of maintenance in the marine environment, (3) sufficient thickness for structural efficiency, (4) good stall characteristics, (5) hydrodynamic and geometric compatibility such that the different hydrofoils of the family can be applied on the same rotor blade, (6) low susceptibility to cavitation, and (7) low susceptibility to singing. While the first five criteria are common to wind turbine airfoil design, the last two are specific to operation in water. Cavitation, the formation of bubbles within a fluid, can have numerous detrimental effects including erosion of impinged surfaces, degraded performance, vibration, and noise. The minimum surface pressure of the MHKF1 hydrofoils were managed to reduce the likelihood of cavitation. Singing, a hydroacoustic/hydroelastic phenomenon of the trailing edge of hydrofoils, results in noise and vibration. To suppress singing, trailing edge thicknesses were increased and hydrofoil variants were designed with “anti-singing” profiles. The MHKF1 hydrofoils were developed with a combination of inverse and direct design methods using XFOIL and various routines for parameterizing hydrofoil geometries and surface velocity distributions. Performance was further evaluated with OVERFLOW, a Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes computational fluid dynamics code.Copyright © 2012 by ASME
Matrix Gla protein (MGP) and bone morphogenetic protein-2 in aortic calcified lesions of aging rats

The vitamin K-dependent protein, matrix Gla protein (MGP) is a binding protein for bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2). Here we present additional evidence that the Ca2+-induced conformer of the vitamin K-dependent Gla region in MGP is involved in BMP-2 binding. Recombinant BMP-2 binds to the Gla-containing region of MGP in the presence of Ca2+. Immunohistochemistry showed that calcified lesions in the aortic wall of aging rats contained elevated concentrations of MGP that was poorly gamma-carboxylated and did not bind BMP-2. In contrast, we were able to identify glandular structures in the mucosa of the rat nasal septum that gave bright fluorescent signals with both antigens; confocal microscopy confirmed their colocalization. These results demonstrate that the BMP-2/MGP complex exists in vivo, consistent with a role for MGP as a BMP-2 inhibitor. Age-related arterial calcification may be a consequence of under-gamma-carboxylation of MGP, allowing unopposed BMP-2 activity.
Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections

Necrotising soft tissue infection (NSTI) presents unique challenges in diagnosis and management. The key to a successful outcome is a high index of suspicion in appropriate clinical settings. Type II NSTI tends to occur on an extremity in younger, healthier patients with a history of known trauma, and to be monomicrobial. Type I NSTI tends to occur on the trunk of older, less healthy patients without an obvious history of trauma, and tends to be polymicrobial. Other, rarer types exist as well. The pathophysiology of both types involves superantigen acticivty, as well as a number of microbial byproducts which collectively decrease the viscosity of pus, facilitating its spread along deep tissue planes and ultimately causing diffuse deep thrombosis and aggressive systemic sepsis. The most important physical finding is tenderness to palpation beyond the area of redness, and the lack of crepitus should not be seen as a reassuring sign. Suspected cases should undergo early surgical exploration for diagnosis, which may be performed at bedside through a small incision. Most imaging techniques are not sufficiently specific to warrant a delay in surgical exploration. The Laboratory Risk Indicator for Necrotising Fasciitis (LRINEC) shows promise as a tool for excluding suspected cases. Successful outcomes in cases of NSTI require early and aggressive serial debridement and a multidisciplinary critical care approach.
Identification of child maltreatment using prospective and self-report methodologies: a comparison of maltreatment incidence and relation to later psychopathology.

Objectives One of the greatest methodological problems in the study of childhood maltreatment is the discrepancy in methods by which cases of child maltreatment are identified. The current study compared incidents of maltreatment identified prospectively, retrospectively, or through a combination of both methods.
Consensus and Constraint: Ideas and Capital Mobility in European Monetary Integration

The critical foundation for European monetary integration is the neoliberal economic policy convergence that occurred across the majority of the European governments beginning in the mid-1970s and solidifying in the 1980s. While capital mobility determines the conditions under which international monetary agreements can be sustained, political leaders’ policy ideas or shared normative and causal beliefs about monetary policy are necessary to explain whether states choose to meet those conditions. These ideational factors are critical in part because of the high degree of uncertainty over the distributional effects of exchange rate and monetary co-operation, ambiguity which mutes both mass political debate and sectoral interest-group activity. A template of ideational change is thus proposed to explain the path of European monetary integration.
Outcome of pancreatic ascites in patients with tropical calcific pancreatitis managed using a uniform treatment protocol

Pancreatic ascites or internal pancreatic fistula is a known complication of chronic pancreatitis. This condition is associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. The management approach of pancreatic ascites in tropical calcific pancreatitis is infrequently reported owing to the low incidence of this condition. Between December 2005 and June 2007, 11 patients with pancreatic ascites with tropical calcific pancreatitis (male:female 7:4, mean age 29.5 [14.2] years) were treated. A retrospective analysis of patients who underwent endotherapy and surgery for this condition based on an institutional protocol was performed. The end point was resolution of pancreatic ascites and relief of symptoms. All patients had pancreatic ascites, and one patient also had pancreatic pleural effusion. Endoscopic transpapillary stenting was possible in nine patients (81%). Identification of site of leak and placement of an endoscopic stent across the PD disruption was possible in five (45%) patients. All these patients had relief of ascites. Mean number of endotherapy sessions required before control of ascites was 1.8. Among the remaining four (36.6%) patients who had ERCP, placement of stent across the leak was unsuccessful; however stenting helped stabilize the general condition and nutritional status. These four patients and two patients who failed ERP underwent lateral pancreatojejunostomy surgery. Morbidity was observed in three patients who underwent surgery and one patient died due to sepsis and hemorrhage. All patients who had surgical drainage had complete relief of ascites and symptoms. In patients with pancreatic ascites in tropical calcific pancreatitis endotherapy and transpapillary stenting helps in resolution of ascites in nearly half of the patients. In the remaining patients preliminary conservative management followed by surgical pancreatic ductal drainage provides good relief of symptoms.
Multimorbidity and healthcare utilisation among high-cost patients in the US Veterans Affairs Health Care System

Objectives To investigate the relationship between multimorbidity and healthcare utilisation patterns among the highest cost patients in a large, integrated healthcare system. Design In this retrospective cross-sectional study of all patients in the U.S. Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System, we aggregated costs of individuals’ outpatient and inpatient care, pharmacy services and VA-sponsored contract care received in 2010. We assessed chronic condition prevalence, multimorbidity as measured by comorbidity count, and multisystem multimorbidity (number of body systems affected by chronic conditions) among the 5% highest cost patients. Using multivariate regression, we examined the association between multimorbidity and healthcare utilisation and costs, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, marital status, homelessness and health insurance status. Setting USA VA Health Care System. Participants 5.2 million VA patients. Measures Annual total costs; absolute and share of costs generated through outpatient, inpatient, pharmacy and VA-sponsored contract care; number of visits to primary, specialty and mental healthcare; number of emergency department visits and hospitalisations. Results The 5% highest cost patients (n=261 699) accounted for 47% of total VA costs. Approximately two-thirds of these patients had chronic conditions affecting ≥3 body systems. Patients with cancer and schizophrenia were less likely to have documented comorbid conditions than other high-cost patients. Multimorbidity was generally associated with greater outpatient and inpatient utilisation. However, increased multisystem multimorbidity was associated with a higher outpatient share of total costs (1.6 percentage points per affected body system, p Conclusions Multisystem multimorbidity is common among high-cost VA patients. While some patients might benefit from disease-specific programmes, for most patients with multimorbidity there is a need for interventions that coordinate and maximise efficiency of outpatient services across multiple conditions.
ANERGY AND CYTOKINE-MEDIATED SUPPRESSION AS DISTINCT SUPERANTIGEN-INDUCED TOLERANCE MECHANISMS IN VIVO

Recombinant-activating gene 2 (RAG-2−/−) T cell receptor–transgenic mice repeatedly injected with the superantigen staphylococcal enterotoxin A entered a tolerant state in which splenic CD4+ T cells produced little interleukin (IL)-2, interferon γ, or IL-4. This state resulted from a combination of both clonal anergy and cytokine-mediated immunosuppression. The anergy persisted for at least 3 wk and could be distinguished from the suppression by a decrease in IL-2 production per cell, a block in the activation of early response kinases, and a failure to be reversed with anti–transforming growth factor (TGF)-β. Full suppression lasted for only 1 wk and involved both IL-10 and TGF-β, but required additional unknown molecules for optimal effect. These experiments show that complex in vivo interactions of multiple peripheral tolerance mechanisms can now be dissected at both the cellular and molecular levels.
Applying Csiszár's I-divergence to blind sparse channel estimation

Compressed sensing (CS) has renewed interest in sparse channel estimation. Herein, a semi-blind, iterative, sparse channel estimation method is proposed. The new method is based on minimizing Csiszar's I-divergence using Schulz & Snyder's iterative deautocorrelation algorithm. First, it is shown that the desired methods can be adapted to the problem of interest. The proposed semi-blind method accurately estimates the significant tap locations of a sparse channel, and their corresponding magnitudes. A method for determining the channel coefficients up to a phase ambiguity is presented. The simulation results show that although limited pilots are used, the proposed semi-blind iterative algorithm achieves performance comparable to that of training-based compressed sensing methods.
RBFOX2 Promotes Protein 4.1R Exon 16 Selection via U1 snRNP Recruitment

The erythroid differentiation-specific splicing switch of protein 4.1R exon 16, which encodes a spectrin/actin-binding peptide critical for erythrocyte membrane stability, is modulated by the differentiation-induced splicing factor RBFOX2. We have now characterized the mechanism by which RBFOX2 regulates exon 16 splicing through the downstream intronic element UGCAUG. Exon 16 possesses a weak 5′ splice site (GAG/GTTTGT), which when strengthened to a consensus sequence (GAG/GTAAGT) leads to near-total exon 16 inclusion. Impaired RBFOX2 binding reduces exon 16 inclusion in the context of the native weak 5′ splice site, but not the engineered strong 5′ splice site, implying that RBFOX2 achieves its effect by promoting utilization of the weak 5′ splice site. We further demonstrate that RBFOX2 increases U1 snRNP recruitment to the weak 5′ splice site through direct interaction between its C-terminal domain (CTD) and the zinc finger region of U1C and that the CTD is required for the effect of RBFOX2 on exon 16 splicing. Our data suggest a novel mechanism for exon 16 5′ splice site activation in which the binding of RBFOX2 to downstream intronic splicing enhancers stabilizes the pre-mRNA–U1 snRNP complex through interactions with U1C.
SMART: scalable and modular augmented reality template for rapid development of engineering visualization applications

The visualization of civil infrastructure systems and processes is critical for the validation and communication of computer generated models to decision-makers. Augmented Reality (AR) visualization blends real-world information with graphical 3D models to create informative composite views that are difficult to create or replicate on the computer alone. This paper presents a scalable and extensible mobile computing framework that allows users to readily create complex outdoor AR visual applications. The technical challenges of building this reusable framework from the software and hardware perspectives are described. SMART is a generic and loosely-coupled software computing framework for creating AR visual applications with accurate registration algorithms and visually credible occlusion effects. While SMART is independent of any specific hardware realization, ARMOR is built as a hardware implementation of SMART to test its algorithm correctness and its adaption to engineering applications. In particular, ARMOR is a modular mobile hardware platform designed for user position and orientation tracking, as well as augmented view display. The framework has been validated in several case studies, including the visualization of underground utilities for excavator control and collision avoidance to demonstrate SMART’s rapid creation of complex AR visual applications.
Abortion, Potential, and Value

This article challenges an important argument in the abortion debate, according to which at least early abortions are acceptable because they do not terminate the actual existence of something of moral significance (i.e., a ‘person’), but rather prevent a potentially significant entity from becoming actual, which happens whenever one uses contraceptives. This article argues that insofar as we see something as morally significant or valuable, we tend to think it wrong to deliberately terminate its actual existence and to deliberately prevent a corresponding potential entity from becoming actual, a principle I call the ‘Inverse Proportional Value Principle’. After defending this principle and showing it to oppose the idea that abortion is acceptable since it simply prevents the existence of something of moral worth or value, I show this principle to sanction some abortions, given that the entity which stands to result from a pregnancy is sufficiently lacking in value.
Doctor-Patient Communication Styles: A Comparison Between the United States and Three Asian Countries

This article compares the doctor-patient communication styles of the United States with those of three Asian countries: Pakistan, Japan, and Thailand. Based on intercultural comparisons drawn between those countries, this analysis reveals that, overall, the United States has very little in common with the philosophical, cultural, societal, and communicative approaches to the traditional doctor-patient communication styles used in these three Asian nations. However, major similarities have been found across all three Asian nations. Although the doctor-patient relationship has been studied extensively in the United States and most of the Western world, rarely do those studies integrate, concurrently within their doctor-patient communication framework, dimensions such as power distance, individualism-collectivism, and communication styles. These are three important concepts in this analysis; they improve our understanding of what constitutes effective doctor-patient communication across dissimilar cultures.
Systems Change: A Case Study

This article describes a systems change model developed by the University of Washington's Inservice Training and Program Development Systems in cooperation with local school districts. The systems change model, a participatory, problem-solving model, consists of five phases through which an agency proceeds to institute change: entry, mobilization, planning, implementation, and review. The model stresses dispersal of hierarchical control and emphasizes organizational members' skills and problem-solving abilities to identify and implement changes and generate local policies. The article presents a case study in which the systems change model is applied in a specific organizational setting. It provides examples of activities that occurred during each phase of the model and the kinds of changes identified and implemented by members of the organization.
GROUNDWATER FLOW SYSTEM ANALYSIS IN LAKE ENVIRONMENTS, WITH MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING IMPLICATIONS

. Evaluation of lakes as they are related to groundwater flow systems is of special concern prior to efficient development and planning operations. Both naturally occurring and artificially created lakes are being developed rapidly as recreational and residential areas. Simultaneously, field verification of theoretical groundwater flow system behavior has progressed to the point where hydrogeologists trained to understand basic concepts of flow-system analysis can begin to broaden their research and service base, and to work closer with planners, developers, and engineers. It is suggested that particular efforts be directed toward a greater evaluation of physical, chemical, and biological aspects of potentially developable lake sites to aid in selecting use patterns in accord with these factors. Many lake developments are not in harmony with the physical environment. The resulting misuse of resources is often expressed as accelerated eutrophication of lakes, or by quality degradation of shallow groundwater flow systems contiguous to them. Lakes can no longer be considered as separate entities. Methodology for investigating the interchange of surface and near-surface water is adequate however, the application of known interchange relationships is inadequate. .
Divergent Selection for Aerobic Capacity in Rats as a Model for Complex Disease

SYNOPSIS. Based upon ideas about evolution, we put forth the argument that the capacity to transfer energy via aerobic metabolism is such a central feature of mammalian biology, that it must also be the primary determinant of complex disease. From this, we hypothesized that artificial selection on low and high capacity for aerobic exercise would create lines that can be used to define the divide between health and disease. In 1996 we began large-scale divergent selection for aerobic treadmill running capacity in a widely heterogeneous stock of rats (N:NIH). By ten generations we developed lines of low capacity runners (LCR) and high capacity runners (HCR) that on average differed by 317%. As a correlated trait, body mass increased at each generation in the LCR while the body mass decreased in the HCR. The lines also separated for key factors of systemic oxygen transport capacity such as maximal oxygen consumption (VO 2max), tissue perfusion, capillary density, and oxidative enzyme activity (citrate synthase and B-HAD). We also tested our hypothesis that differences in aerobic energy transfer would produce rats that contrast for risk factors associated with complex disease. Indeed, the lines separated for cardiovascular risk factors including differences in blood pressure, cardiac contractility, visceral adiposity, plasma free fatty acids, and triglycerides. The decrease in aerobic capacity was also associated with low amounts of several proteins required for mitochondrial function.