cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Rodent-Adapted Filoviruses and the Molecular Basis of Pathogenesis.

Ebola, Marburg, and Ravn viruses, all filoviruses, are the causative agents of severe hemorrhagic fever. Much of what we understand about the pathogenesis of filovirus disease is derived from work with animal models, including nonhuman primates, which are considered the “gold standard” filovirus model since they faithfully recapitulate the clinical hallmarks of filovirus disease. However, rodent models, including the mouse, guinea pig, and hamster, also exist for Ebola, Marburg, and Ravn viruses, and although they may not reproduce all the clinical signs of filovirus disease, thanks to their relative ease of use and low cost, they are often the first choice for initial descriptions of virus pathogenesis and evaluation of antiviral prophylactics and therapeutics. Since filoviruses do not cause significant disease in adult, immunocompetent rodents, these models rely on “rodent-adapted” viruses that have been passaged several times through their host until virulence and lethality are achieved. In the process of adaptation, the viruses acquire numerous nucleotide/amino acid mutations that contribute to virulence in their rodent host. Interestingly, virus protein 24 (VP24) and nucleoprotein (NP) appear to be major virulence factors for ebolaviruses in rodents, whereas VP40 appears to be the major virulence factor for marburgviruses. By characterizing these mutations and understanding the molecular mechanisms that lead to the acquisition of virulence, we can gain better insight into the pathogenic processes that underlie filovirus disease in humans. These processes, and the viral and/or cellular proteins that contribute to them, will make attractive targets for the development of novel therapeutics and counter-measures.
What Is Racial Residential Integration? A Research Synthesis, 1950-2013

In the past two decades, there has been a sharp increase in the number of studies on racial residential integration. However, there is a fair amount of disagreement in this work about how to concep...
shRNA-Induced Gene Knockdown In Vivo to Investigate Neutrophil Function.

Abstract To silence genes in neutrophils efficiently, we exploited the RNA interference and developed an shRNA-based gene knockdown technique. This method involves transfection of mouse bone marrow-derived hematopoietic stem cells with retroviral vector carrying shRNA directed at a specific gene. Transfected stem cells are then transplanted into irradiated wild-type mice. After engraftment of stem cells, the transplanted mice have two sets of circulating neutrophils. One set has a gene of interest knocked down while the other set has full complement of expressed genes. This efficient technique provides a unique way to directly compare the response of neutrophils with a knocked-down gene to that of neutrophils with the full complement of expressed genes in the same environment.
Ancestral Lifeways in Eurasia — The Middle and Upper Paleolithic Records

The origin of modern humans is a hot topic today and, as can be seen from the number of major symposia and volumes devoted to the topic (e.g., Smith and Spencer 1984; Mellars and Stringer 1989; Mellars 1990; Trinkaus 1989), has been such for the last few years when it successfully displaced questions of human origins as the premier paleoanthropological issue. This shift in concern brought with it not only more recent chronological contexts, but also a geographic relocation from Africa to Europe and Asia. What is at issue today is the meaning of the Late Pleistocene record which documents a change both in hominid types and their cultures. In Eurasia this time span — a period between some 100,000 and 30,000 years ago saw anatomically modern humans replace the Neanderthals, and a transition from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic. The significance and synchrony of these changes have been a subject of many recent debates which have focused on two issues: first, what exactly happened at this transition, and second, which hominid types were responsible for the changes noted in the archaeological record. As a perusal of any of the volumes cited above indicates, no consensus has been reached on these questions — a dilemma stemming not only from the ambiguity of the relevant records but also from excessive focus on the question of what happened. Much less attention has been paid to the potentially more enlightening questions about why the changes occurred.
Collection of Biological Samples and Therapy Administration

Publisher Summary The information presented in this chapter is intended to assist the veterinarian in determining the most suitable method to obtain samples for disease diagnosis and to provide systemic therapies in nonhuman primate. Proper collection of fluid and tissue samples with proper administration, and delivery of medications are significant components of maintaining the health of nonhuman primates. Several techniques are used to collect data for biomedical research. The use of specific fluid and tissue collection techniques in the live animal may eliminate the need to kill a nonhuman primate to harvest research samples, thus conserving the number of nonhuman primates used in research. Sterility is maintained for all samples that are obtained for microbiological culture and tissue biopsies. All personnel should take proper safeguards involved in the handling of nonhuman primate fluids and tissues. Anesthesia supplemented with a tranquilizer or analgesic should be used for the well-being of the patient and for the safety of the veterinary staff.
High-Protein Intake during Weight Loss Therapy Eliminates the Weight-Loss-Induced Improvement in Insulin Action in Obese Postmenopausal Women.

High-protein (HP) intake during weight loss (WL) therapy is often recommended because it reduces the loss of lean tissue mass. However, HP intake could have adverse effects on metabolic function, because protein ingestion reduces postprandial insulin sensitivity. In this study, we compared the effects of ∼10% WL with a hypocaloric diet containing 0.8 g protein/kg/day and a hypocaloric diet containing 1.2 g protein/kg/day on muscle insulin action in postmenopausal women with obesity. We found that HP intake reduced the WL-induced decline in lean tissue mass by ∼45%. However, HP intake also prevented the WL-induced improvements in muscle insulin signaling and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, as well as the WL-induced adaptations in oxidative stress and cell structural biology pathways. Our data demonstrate that the protein content of a WL diet can have profound effects on metabolic function and underscore the importance of considering dietary macronutrient composition during WL therapy for people with obesity.
Pass transistor designs using pocket implant to improve manufacturability for 256 Mbit DRAM and beyond

Pass transistor designs for scaled 256 Mbit DRAM are studied in this paper. It is shown, for the first time, that a L/sub g/=0.25 /spl mu/m and t/sub ox/=85 /spl Aring/ transistor utilizing a pocket implant together with a light V/sub TN/ implant (pocket-with-V/sub TN/) can satisfy the stringent requirements of subthreshold leakage, diode leakage, V/sub T/ during charging, and a tolerance for L/sub g/ variation of 0.08 /spl mu/m for manufacturability. The success of the pocket-implant device in meeting the above design spec is due to the reduced V/sub T/ roll-off at shorter L/sub g/ and reduced body effect at longer L/sub g/ compared to those of a conventional device. An optimum range of substrate bias is determined to be -1.5 to -2 V. It is also shown that the pocket implant does not degrade the gate oxide integrity nor channel hot-electron reliability. >
Access, equity and quality trends in Latin America’s public universities

Abstract The purpose of this essay is to describe key dimensions of contemporary Latin American Public Universities (LAPUs), especially pertaining to access, equity, and quality. Analyses of LAPUs must be contextualized within the great diversity of organizational models, as well as the accelerated process of economic and institutional expansions and contractions, particularly after the 1950s. Framing LAPUs in their broader economic and socio-historical landscapes, we consider how the notion of “public” evolved in the region’s approach to higher education. We describe the case of the Latin American macro-university, a globally unique model of public higher education, which combines ideals of democratization, very large enrollments and meritocratic models of selection and access. We conclude by discussing the dynamics influencing the distinctive notions of “public” and “publicness” in the Latin American context and its potential applications for other regions of the world.
Pediatric Elbow Fractures

The complete evaluation for pediatric elbow fractures includes determination of open versus closed, neurovascular status, intra-articular versus extra-articular, associated injuries, and stability after reduction.
Implementation of picoSpin Benchtop NMR Instruments into Organic Chemistry Teaching Laboratories through Spectral Analysis of Fischer Esterification Products

1H NMR analysis is an important analytical technique presented in introductory organic chemistry courses. NMR instrument access is limited for undergraduate organic chemistry students due to the size of the instrument, price of NMR solvents, and the maintenance level required for instrument upkeep. The University of Georgia Chemistry Department recently acquired three picoSpin desktop 1H NMR instruments for the undergraduate organic laboratories. These instruments can sit on a standard lab bench, can analyze samples without NMR solvents, and are easily maintained. In this Fischer esterification experiment, students used unknown starting alcohols to synthesize esters through Fischer esterification. Upon completion of the reaction, students identified the unknown starting alcohol via spectral analyses of the products. Over the course of 4 semesters, 704 out of 940 students (75%) correctly identified the starting alcohol and 71% of students surveyed indicated that 1H NMR spectrum was the most helpful identif...
Transdiagnostic emotional vulnerabilities linking obsessive-compulsive and depressive symptoms in a community-based sample of adolescents.

Background : Transdiagnostic emotional vulnerabilities are suspected to underlie psychopathologic comorbidity but have received little attention in adolescent emotional pathology literature. We examined distress tolerance, anxiety sensitivity, and anhedonia as concomitant transdiagnostic mechanisms that account for (i.e., statistically mediate) the covariance between adolescent obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) symptoms. Method Data on MDD, OCD, and the three aforementioned transdiagnostic vulnerabilities were collected from a community-based sample of 3,094 ninth graders in a large metropolitan area and analyzed using mixed effects modeling to evaluate mediation effects. Results Individually and when controlling for each other, all three transdiagnostic vulnerabilities mediated the relation between OCD and MDD symptoms both before and after adjusting for demographics. Conclusions Distress tolerance, anxiety sensitivity, and anhedonia may be unique mechanisms accounting for comorbidity between OCD and MDD symptoms in youth. Longitudinal evaluation of these candidate transdiagnostic emotional vulnerabilities in adolescent OCD-MDD comorbidity is warranted.
Headwater Catchments: Foundation Pillars for Ecosystem Services

Recognizing the multi-functionality of landscapes and forested catchments beyond their ability to provide goods, such as timber, non-wood forest products and minerals, is increasingly more important due to continuous land-use and climate changes. Growing populations have led to increased pressure on land, and diminishing natural resources has forced us to face the fact that land and many of its resources are finite, or regenerate significantly slower than they are being utilized. It is not only about the over-consumption of resources, but impacts on the processes that generate these resources. Although the multi-functionality of landscapes is increasingly acknowledged, the inclusion of ecosystem services in policy and practice has been slow, thus moderating the potential for improved integrated landscape approaches.
Investigating Written Procedures in Process Safety: Qualitative Data Analysis of Interviews from High Risk Facilities

Abstract Written procedures can play an integral role in mitigating risks and hazards in industries such as petrochemical, nuclear, and aviation. However, failure to adhere to procedures has resulted in major incidents. While there have been multiple studies investigating procedures in the aviation and nuclear industries, a comprehensive study of the high-risk industries’ use of written procedures is largely absent. This paper documents one part of a large-scale project that addresses this gap by investigating the issues with procedure forms, usage, adoption, and challenges in a wide range of high-risk industries. A grounded theory approach in qualitative data analysis was used to examine 72 interviews with operators of varying roles and experiences across 6 countries and an offshore drilling vessel. Findings reaffirm previous research, suggesting an explanation for the lack of use of procedures due to the abundance of outdated procedures and procedures plagued by information overload. New findings suggest that frequency of the task and the experience level of the worker would impact workers’ procedure use. Other unintended consequences associated with written procedural systems included reactive organizational behavior surrounding procedures and a general disconnect between the users and the writers of these documents.
The Zone of Influence of the Subducting Slab in the Asthenospheric Mantle

Due to the multi-disciplinary nature of combined geodynamics and shear wave splitting studies, there is still much to be understood in terms of isolating the contributions from mantle dynamics to the shear wave splitting signal, even in a two-dimensional (2D) mantle flow framework. This paper investigates the viscous flow, development of lattice preferred orientation (LPO), and predicted shear wave splitting for a suite of buoyancy driven subduction models to shed light on the nature of the slab driven asthenospheric flow field. The models show that the spatial dimensions of the slab driven zone of influence in the mantle, LPO fabric, and resulting synthetic splitting are sensitive to the slab dip and slab strength, with the maximum LPO fabric development occurring for models with a moderate initial slab dip and weaker slab. The models show that olivine LPO fabric in the asthenosphere generally increases in alignment strength with increased proximity to the slab, but can be transient and spatially variable on small length scales. The results suggest LPO formed during initial subduction may persist into the steady-state subduction regime. The vertical flow fields in the asthenosphere can produce shear-wave splitting variations with back-azimuth that deviate from the predictions of uniform trench-normal anisotropy, a result that bears on the interpretation of complexity in shear-wave splitting observed in real subduction zones. Furthermore, the models demonstrate that the corner flow paradigm should not be equated with a 2D subduction framework.
“Greater Leverage”: Military-Speak for Imperialism

This chapter analyzes the drone’s connection to the wider framework of political-commercial-military expansion. It discusses three long-term prospects for continuity of imperialism/militarism: the creation of a climate of fear, the acceptance of secrecy in the determination of policy choices, and a shrinkage of the political-ideological spectrum on which permissible policy and action occurs and legitimacy is determined and given moral weight.
Selectivity and Mechanism of Fengycin, an Antimicrobial Lipopeptide, from Molecular Dynamics

Fengycin is a cyclic lipopeptide used as an agricultural fungicide. It is synthesized by Bacillus subtilis as an immune response against fungal infection and functions by damaging the target’s cell membrane. Previous molecular dynamics simulations and experiments have led to the hypothesis that the aggregation of fengycins on the membrane surface plays a key role in cell disruption. Here, we used microsecond-scale all-atom molecular dynamics simulations to understand the specificity, selectivity, and structure of fengycin oligomers. Our simulations suggest that fengycin is more likely to form stable oligomers in model fungal membranes (phosphatidylcholine) compared to the model bacterial membranes (phosphatidylethanolamine:phosphatidylglycerol). Furthermore, we characterize the differences in the structure and kinetics of the membrane-bound aggregates and discuss their functional implications.
Trabectome-Initiated Gonioscopy-Assisted Transluminal Trabeculotomy.

Introduction To introduce a trabectome-initiated gonioscopy-assisted transluminal trabeculotomy (TIGATT) procedure and to report preliminary results. Materials and methods A preliminary case series of eight patients who have undergone the newly proposed TIGATT procedure is presented. TIGATT is a new concept that modifies established techniques by replacing the initial goniotomy incision of gonioscopy-assisted transluminal trabeculotomy (GATT) with an ab interno trabeculectomy ablation utilizing the trabectome. All surgeries were performed by a single surgeon (W.I.K.) between November 2014 and October 2015 in adults with primary open-angle glaucoma. Recorded outcome measures were intraocular pressure (IOP), number of medications, and complications. Results Eight patients with an age range of 63-93 yr underwent TIGATT with at least 3 mo of follow-up. Five of the eight initial patients had follow-up to 2 yr. The mean pre-operative IOP was 25 mmHg (standard deviation [SD] 7.0) on four medications (SD 1.1). The mean post-operative IOP at 3 mo was 14 mmHg (SD 1.8) on two medications (SD 1.3). The average decrease in IOP was 9.9 mmHg (SD 7.5) with an average decrease in medications of two (SD 1.4) at 3 mo. At 2 yr, the mean post-operative IOP was 14 mmHg (SD 3.2) on one medication (SD 1.1). The average decrease in IOP was 7.8 mmHg (SD 3.1) with an average decrease in medications of two (SD 1.8). There were two treatment failures that required further glaucoma surgery and one patient was lost to follow-up. Conclusions The preliminary results and safety profile for TIGATT are promising and appear at least comparable with previously published results for both GATT and trabectome. Initiating the transluminal trabeculotomy with trabectome clearly exposes Schlemm's canal and facilitates threading the microcatheter into the canal. Additionally, if the 360-degree trabeculotomy cannot be completed because of an incompletely patent Schlemm's canal, the patient will at least have a trabectome ablation that can serve as their glaucoma surgery.
Hypertension: The Disease and the Possible Influence of Stress Responses in Its Development

In this final chapter of the book’s first section we shall consider the possible association between heightened cardiovascular reactivity and later cardiovascular disease. This potential association has been a major driving force behind reactivity research in recent years, and a considerable number of publications have addressed this issue in detail. Presented here is a selection of the vast quantity of information relating to the role of stress and reactivity in the development of hypertension.
Culture, bathing and hydrotherapy in labor: An exploratory descriptive pilot study.

Abstract Objective Though bathing (hydrotherapy) is widely used during labor to decrease anxiety and pain and to promote relaxation, the influence of cultural beliefs about bathing by parturients is virtually unknown. This pilot study explored pregnant women's experiences of bathing, bathing in labor, and cultural beliefs about bathing. Design An exploratory, descriptive design. Setting Low risk obstetrical clinics. Participants Healthy Hispanic, Black, White, American-Indian and Asian women (N = 41) at >37 weeks gestation. Methods During a routine prenatal visit women responded to a brief openended questionnaire on the use of bathing. Data was captured using a modified ethnographic method involving observation and note taking with thematic analysis and quantification of percent response rates. Findings Forty-six percent (N = 41) of women used bathing for purposes other than hygiene but only 4.9% (N = 41) of these women bathed during a previous labor. The women described bathing as relaxing, easing, calming, and efficacious for relief of menstrual cramps and labor contractions. Ten percent of women reported cultural beliefs about bathing. Conclusions Women who bathe, report relief of anxiety, menstrual and labor pain and promotion of mental and physical relaxation. The findings do not support the view that bathing is associated with identifiable cultural beliefs; rather, they suggest that bathing is a self-care measure used by women. This practice is likely transmitted from generation to generation by female elders through the oral tradition. Assumptions that race or ethnicity precludes the use of bathing may be faulty. Cautionary instructions should be given to pregnant women who are
Symmetrical and Unsymmetrical Fault Currents of a Wind Power Plant: Preprint

This paper investigates the short-circuit behavior of a wind power plant for different types of wind turbines. Both symmetrical faults and unsymmetrical faults are investigated. The size of wind power plants (WPPs) keeps getting bigger and bigger. The number of wind plants in the U.S. has increased very rapidly in the past 10 years. It is projected that in the U.S., the total wind power generation will reach 330 GW by 2030. As the importance of WPPs increases, planning engi-neers must perform impact studies used to evaluate short-circuit current (SCC) contribution of the plant into the transmission network under different fault conditions. This information is needed to size the circuit breakers, to establish the proper sys-tem protection, and to choose the transient suppressor in the circuits within the WPP. This task can be challenging to protec-tion engineers due to the topology differences between different types of wind turbine generators (WTGs) and the conventional generating units. This paper investigates the short-circuit behavior of a WPP for different types of wind turbines. Both symmetrical faults and unsymmetrical faults are investigated. Three different soft-ware packages are utilized to develop this paper. Time domain simulations and steady-state calculations are used to perform the analysis.
Basic Circuit Theory

An emf is a device that always maintains the same voltage across its terminals regardless of the current passing through it. A steady emf is represented by the symbol shown in Figure 31.1, where the long bar indicates positive voltage (+) and the shorter bar negative voltage (—). The term “dc” is used to indicate a steady or average property; thus the symbol above represents a dc-emf.
Counterexamples to Commonly Held Assumptions on Unit Commitment and Market Power Assessment

This chapter revisits two commonly accepted assumptions about the economics of deregulated electricity markets. It first disproves that, in theory and under the condition of perfect information, decentralized and centralized unit commitment (UC) would lead to the same power quantities traded and the same optimal social welfare. It then shows that a generator owner’s optimum bid sequence for an auction market is generally above marginal cost, even where absolutely no abuse of market power is involved.
Effects of viscosity and solvent deuterium identify multiple partially rate-limiting steps in the kinetics of porcine pepsin.

The mechanism of porcine pepsin and other aspartic proteinases has been studied for many years; however, the importance of diffusion of reactants to and from the enzyme has not been defined. We have now undertaken viscosity studies to examine the role of diffusion on the rate of catalysis by porcine pepsin. Also, isotope effects have been reported that are difficult to interpret within accepted kinetic mechanisms. Solvent deuterium isotope effect studies were undertaken to show the extent to which proton transfer affects the observed reaction rate and to determine at which step in the reaction proton transfer(s) occur.
Assessment of Credit Management and Loan Repay back Condition of the Client in Micro Finance Institution: In of Case of Eshet and Harbu Micro Finance Institution in Jimma Town

This study investigated with the aim of analyzing the factors that affect micro finances repayment problems, evaluating the loan repayment condition of the clients. The study was conducted in Eshet and Harbu Microfinance institutions,Jimma town. Data were collected through semi-structured interview schedule that were distributed to Eshet and Harbu Microfinance manager, andquestioners to the customer of the micro finance institution. We selected 40 respondents from Eshet and 40 respondents from Harbu micro finance institution, totally 80 respondents were selected. The findings revealed that major factors considered by Eshet and Harbu Microfinance institutions were, loan sizes, interest rate, follow up, business experience, access of training, number of time borrower, age and education. The result was subjected to all statistical computations were made by using SPSS version 20 software. From the findings, it was concluded that Eshet and Harbu Microfinance’s credit collection method was weak since it failed to discriminate between paid and non-paid group especially in the screening of the clients and thus resulting in poor borrower’s loan repayment performance. Based on the research findings, the study recommends the institutions should give attention to give training before and after the loan, it should also give frequent follow up and supervision, The business experience of client should be verified properly by the institutions and an appropriate methodology should be developed to check it and finally short term loan should be encouraged. The government should provide sufficient financial and human resources to cooperative institutions so that it can extend its supportive roles to Eshet and Harbu Microfinance Institutions to make loan delivering time easy.
Chapter 43 – Brachytherapy for Prostate Cancer

This chapter reviews the efficacy and toxicity of prostate brachytherapy (PB) in the treatment of localized disease. Patients are offered radical prostatectomy (RP), external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), or PB as definitive management. PB is a curative treatment option for localized prostate cancer. Modern techniques have a significantly improved outcome and have limited morbidity from this treatment approach. Prostate brachytherapy can be delivered through the placement of permanent radioactive sources (“seeds”) or through a temporary radioactive source delivered through a catheter, typically referred to as high dose rate (HDR) therapy. Biological imaging devices offer additional promise to the treating physicians by allowing the therapeutic ratio to be improved by concentrating the high radiation dose to areas within the gland with the highest tumor burden. Technologic advances coupled with an increased understanding of PB will help in the improvement of treatment outcomes in this disease.
Review of Recent Legacy Airline Mergers in the U.S.: An Empirical Study from Investors’ Perspectives

Since the 2008 financial crisis, three legacy airline mergers have dramatically reshaped the landscape of the U.S. airline industry. Due to the lengthy process involved in an airline merger, it is important to understand whether the investors view the merger favorably. This study examined how investors reacted to the three recent legacy airline mergers in the U.S. by adopting a GARCH-EVT-Copula approach. Our empirical results revealed that positive dependencies between returns and trading volume changes were observed for each merger during various periods, indicating that investors were optimistic about the mergers. Accordingly, implications for future mergers are discussed.
Border matters: A new materialist critique of installation art on the U.S.–Mexico border

Instead of being the product of social sense-making, I argue that borders are “vital assemblages,” acting on and in the world. Analyzing the virtual documentation and response to two border art ins...
Institutional Twitter Usage among U.S. Geography Departments

Twitter provides short messaging updates for fast dissemination along with retweeting and directed-following functionalities for user interaction, which makes it a popular tool for institutional ou...
Precision Integrated GEOgraphical Navigation: Near Space Recovery Technology Team

To design a recovery system to accompany scientific payloads on high altitude balloons. System must be capable of guiding payloads to a user designated “safe” landing zone in order to successfully recover payloads intact, and prevent damage to people and property.
AFRICA, MODERNITY, FREEDOM

The paper is focused on highlighting some choice samplings from modern European philosophical narratives of “emancipation” and showing how they frame Africa, and the world beyond Europe, into a subordinate position in need of “beneficent” conquest. The paper will argue that, to undo this frame the formerly colonized must articulate their own sense of history, in and through which they can enter our contemporary world on their own terms. It will argue this point by articulating what it takes to be a central concern of contemporary African philosophy, i.e., the systematic undermining of Western hegemonic narratives while—and concurrently—formulating a stance cognizant of the varied, incommensurable, historical and cultural actualities that are, and constitute, our shared human existence. The focus of the paper is thus to explore the possible, beyond the demise of colonialism, in the hope of catching-sight-of a truly postcolonial future.
High-Accuracy Multi-Node Ranging For Coherent Distributed Antenna Arrays

The design and experimental implementation of a waveform for high-accuracy inter-node ranging in a coherent distributed antenna array is presented. Based on a spectrally-sparse high-accuracy ranging waveform, the presented multi-frequency waveform enables high-accuracy ranging between multiple nodes in an array simultaneously, without interference. The waveform is based on a unique time-frequency duplexing approach combining a stepped-frequency waveform with different step cycles per node pair. The waveform also inherently includes beneficial disambiguation properties. The ambiguity function of the waveform is derived, and theoretical bounds on the ranging accuracy are obtained. Measurements were conducted in software-defined radio-based nodes in a three-element distributed array, demonstrating high-accuracy unambiguous ranging between two slave nodes and one master node.
Improper Car Seat Use Leading to Spinal Cord Injury, Neurogenic Shock, and Death

Introduction: Pediatric spinal cord injuries cause significant morbidity and mortality. They are often caused by MVCs and are preventable with proper car seat use. This is a case of an improperly restrained child presenting with spinal cord injury and refractory neurogenic shock after MVC. Case Report: A 14-month-old previously healthy female presented after being the improperly restrained backseat passenger in an MVC. First-responders found the patient pulseless in her forward-facing car seat. ROSC was obtained after 1 minute of CPR. The patient had a GCS of 3 with dilated and …
Nutritional risk and nutrition support in hospitalized patients in general surgery department in Shanghai

Objective To determine the prevalence of nutritional risk and application of nutrition support in hospitalized patients in the department of general surgey,and to evaluate the relationship between nutrition support and clinical outcome as well as between nutritional risk and clinical outcome.Methods Hospitalized patients in the department of general surgery were enrolled from September 2009 to April 2010.The patients were screened using Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 ( NRS 2002) on admission.Data were collected on the application of nutrition support within 2 weeks,complication rate,length of stay,and hospital charges.Results Altogether 3000 patients were included in the present study.The overall prevalence of nutritional risk was 18.5％,in which gastric cancer patients showed the highest prevalence (48.3％ ).The proportion of patients receiving nutrition support was 44.1％ in those with nutritional risk and 14.3％ in those without nutritional risk.The ratio of parenteral nutrition to enteral nutrition was 1.2:1.The patients with nutritional risk had higher complication rate,longer length of stay,and higher hospital charge [24.1％ vs.14.2％,(11.1 ±4.8) daysvs.(9.6±3.7) days,(12891.5±4831.2) yuan vs.(9982.7 ±3996.4) yuan,all P=0.0000].Among the gastric cancer,colorectal cancer,and hepato-biliopancreatic cancer patients with nutritional risk,the complication rate,length of stay,and hospital charge were significantly lower in the patients receiving nutrition support than those in the patients receiving no nutrition support ( all P ＜ 0.05 ).Conclusions A number of inpatients in general surgery department are at nutritional risk.The prevalence of nutritional risk is considerably high in gastric cancer patients.Nutritional risk is correlated with the clinical outcome of the patients.Nutrition support may improve the clinical outcome of gastric cancer,colorectal cancer,and hepato-bilio-pancreatic cancer patients. Key words: Nutritional risk; Nutrition support; Nutritional Risk Screening 2002; Clinical outcome; Inpatients
Development of a heterogeneous nanostructure through abnormal recrystallization of a nanotwinned Ni superalloy

Abstract This work explores the development of a heterogeneous nanostructured material through leveraging abnormal recrystallization, which is a prominent phenomenon in coarse-grained Ni-based superalloys. Through synthesis of a sputtered Inconel 725 film with a heterogeneous distribution of stored energy and subsequent aging treatments at 730°C, a unique combination of grain sizes and morphologies was observed throughout the thickness of the material. Three distinct domains are formed in the aged microstructure, where abnormally large grains are observed in-between a nanocrystalline and a nanotwinned region. In order to investigate the transitions towards a heterogeneous structure, crystallographic orientation and elemental mapping at interval aging times up to 8 h revealed the microstructural evolution and precipitation behavior. From the experimental observations and the detailed analysis of this study, the current methodology can be utilized to further expand the design space of current heterogeneous nanostructured materials.
Rapid Diagnosis of Altered Mental Status in Home Parenteral Nutrition Patient

This report describes the application of a routine lab test to confirm a diagnosis of hypernatremia suspected to be secondary to an error in parenteral nutrition compounding. The novel aspect of this case is the use of the "urine electrolytes" laboratory test to verify that the electrolyte concentration of the mixture is consistent with what was printed on the bag label.
Investigation of Shear Strength and Temperature Cycling Performance of Bi-doped Sn-Ag-Cu Solder Joints

The shear strength, shear fracture mode, and interfacial reaction of Bi-doped SnAgCu solder ball under thermal aging at 150°C and 175°C for up to 250h were investigated in this study. Five different combinations of solder balls and substrate finishes were fabricated and tested including: SAC405Ni005-Bi and SAC105Ni005 on organic solderability preservative (OSP); SAC405Ni005-Bi, SAC305, and SAC302 on electrolytic NiAu (eNiAu). The interfacial intermetallic compound (IMC) of SAC105Ni005 on Cu-OSP, SAC305 on eNiAu, SAC405Ni005-Bi on Cu-OSP, SAC305 on eNiAu, SAC405Ni005-Bi on Cu-OSP and eNiAu are identified as (Cu, Ni)6Sn5, which confirms that Bi atom is not involved in the interfacial reaction. Whereas the IMC of SAC302 on eNiAu is identified as (Ni, Cu)3Sn4, which significantly differs from the other combinations. In addition, the formation of second phase IMC Cu3Sn and (Ni, Cu)3Sn4 were further observed on SAC405Ni005-Bi with Cu-OSP and eNiAu after thermal aging for 250h, respectively. The result of ball shear test at 600 um/sec shear speed showed that as-assembled SAC405Ni005-Bi gives approximately 70% bulk strength increase as compared to SAC305 and SAC302, which confirms the strengthening effect of Bi addition. Furthermore, the shear test after thermal aging indicated that the interfacial shear strength of SAC405Ni005-Bi on Cu-OSP is approximately 40% greater than SAC405Ni005-Bi on eNiAu, which confirms that IMC combination of (Cu, Ni)6Sn5 and Cu3Sn is more robust than that of (Cu, Ni)6Sn5 and (Ni, Cu)3Sn4 to resist interfacial shear stressing. As a result, temperature cycling is performed to validate the performance of Bi-doped solder alloy.
Surgical outcomes of obstructive mechanical valve thrombosis, risk factors, and comorbidity analysis

Background Obstructive mechanical valves thrombosis is a life-threatening complication associated with high morbidity and mortality. Although thrombolytic therapy has gained a lot of popularity in recent years, yet the treatment of choice is still controversial. Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of patients who underwent redo valve surgery for obstructive mechanical valve thrombosis. Patients and methods Outcomes of 380 patients who underwent emergency redo surgery for obstructive mechanical valve thrombosis at our institute during a 5-year period (January 2012 to December 2017) were reviewed retrospectively. Clinical symptoms and transthoracic echocardiography were the mainstay in diagnosis. Fluoroscopy was used in the presence of dilemma regarding diagnosis. All patients were treated on an emergency basis. Postoperative outcomes were analyzed to determine risk factors and comorbidities affecting mortality rates in this high-risk group of patients. Results Number of patients was 380, with prevalence of female sex being 268 (70.52%). Mean age was 32.65 ± 10.70 years. Associated comorbidities were hypertension in 96 (25.26%), diabetes mellitus in 32 (8.42%), elevated liver enzymes in 32 (8.42%), elevated creatinine in 44 (11.57%), and preoperative cardiac arrest in eight (2.10%). Overall mortality was seen in 52 (13.68%) patients. Risk factors influencing mortality rates were preoperative hemodynamic instability, increased NYHA class, renal dysfunction, low left ventricular ejection fraction, and right ventricle dysfunction. Moreover, mortality was significantly affected by repetition of redo surgery, long bypass and cross-clamp time, high postoperative cardiac support, duration of mechanical ventilation, and ICU stay. Conclusion Prosthetic valve thrombosis is a life-threatening situation associated with substantial risk regardless of treatment modality. Late presentation with hemodynamic instability, increased NYHA class, low left ventricular ejection fraction, and severe right ventricle dysfunction carry worst prognosis in surgically treated patients.
Investment - Cash Flow Sensitivity Is Not Caused by Financial Constraint: New Evidence from a Randomized SEC Experiment

The sensitivity of firm’s investment to cash flows is one of the grand unresolved puzzles of corporate finance that has significant implications for corporate and securities laws. This sensitivity could be caused by a firm’s financing constraints (and therefore reveal imperfections in capital markets), by agency problems, or by non-problematic factors. Prior papers have not been able to disentangle these causal relationships because the firm’s financing constraints, investment, and cash flows are endogenous. This paper investigates this question using a unique randomized experiment as identification. In 2005-2007, the US Securities and Exchange Commission ran a randomized trial: it randomly selected 1000 firms from the list of Russell 3000 and exempted them from the regulation of short selling, making it easier to short-sell securities of those firms. The exempted firms can be thought of as “treated” (by the experiment), and the non-exempted firms as “control”. First, I show that “treated” firms raised significantly more equity during the treatment period than control firms, consistent with the view that short selling improves pricing accuracy and makes outsiders more willing to buy equity. That is, the SEC experiment provides an exogenous random shock to the firm’s financial constraint. Next, I ask whether treated firms that were more financially constrained before the treatment raised more equity during the treatment period than less financially constrained treated firms. The answer is no. Third, I ask whether treated firms whose investment was more sensitive to cash flows before treatment raised more equity during treatment than firms whose investment was less sensitive to cash flows. The answer is also no. Finally, I ask whether treated firms that had higher pre-treatment cash flows raised less equity during treatment. The answer is again no – they raised more capital than treated firms with lower pre-treatment cash flows. This evidence is consistent with the view that cash-flow-investment sensitivity is not caused by financial constraints. These results indicate that firm-level investment distortions can be best addressed through adjusting rules governing managers’ choices of investment policies (i.e., corporate law), rather than through rules governing capital raising. This produces prescriptions for corporate and securities laws and economic policy.
CORNEAL TATTOOING TO TREAT GLARE SYMPTOMS FOLLOWING RADIAL KERATOTOMY

Radial keratotomy (RK) may be complicated by postoperative glare and night vision may be compromised when parts of RK incisions fall within the boundary of the dilated pupil. Surgical pigmentation of the cornea has been used to treat glare symptoms caused by corneal trauma and iris loss. In this study, corneal tattooing was performed in a patient who had undergone 16-incision RK and 6-incision astigmatic keratotomy (AK) elsewhere. With one eye covered, the patient in this study was shown a white spot projected onto a visual acuity screen and asked to draw the image on a Night Vision Recording chart before and after tattooing. Sterile iron oxide powder was suspended in sterile saline to approximate the patient’s iris color. Using a 69 Beaver blade, Sinskey hook, and 30-gauge needle, the wounds were reopened and pigment deposited. The procedure was repeated twice. The patient studied reported marked decrease in glare symptoms following tattooing. Postoperative drawings of the projected spot image showed significant regression of halation. Focal areas of pigment dispersion required retreatment, which improved symptoms to a lesser degree. From this result it is concluded that tattooing procedures can be used to pigment radial keratotomy scars in patients who complain of glare. The material best suited for this purpose has yet to be determined. Iron oxide suspensions have been successful, though pigment migration out of the scars seems to have contributed to recurrence of symptoms.
Higher Order Bifurcation near Equilibrium

Most of the discussion in the previous chapters on dynamics have centered around the case where the unperturbed autonomous equation is a bifurcation point of degree one. In particular, for any equilibrium point, this implies that the linear variational equation must either have only zero as a simple eigenvalue and no other eigenvalue on the imaginary axis or have only a pair of simple complex eigenvalues on the imaginary axis. Generically, the first alternative corresponds to a saddle-node bifurcation and the second alternative to the generic Hopf bifurcation. When the bifurcation point has degree greater than one, there can be more eigenvalues on the imaginary axis. In this chapter, we discuss situations where this occurs. As we shall see, the behavior of solutions of the perturbed equation near such a bifurcation point depends upon more global concepts; for example, homoclinic orbits can occur as well as all of the bifurcations encountered in the previous chapters. The method of investigation is to scale variables in such a way as to “blow up” the neighborhood of the equilibrium point in order to see the fine structure of the flow.
“Reasons for concern” (about climate change) in the United States

Article 2 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change commits its parties to stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that “would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.” Authors of the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2001a, b) offered some insight into what negotiators might consider dangerous by highlighting five “reasons for concern” (RFC’s) and tracking concern against changes in global mean temperature; they illustrated their assessments in the now iconic “burning embers” diagram. The Fourth Assessment Report reaffirmed the value of plotting RFC’s against temperature change (IPCC 2007a, b), and Smith et al. (2009) produced an unpated embers visualization for the globe. This paper applies the same assessment and communication strategies to calibrate the comparable RFC’s for the United States. It adds “National Security Concern” as a sixth RFC because many now see changes in the intensity and/or frequency of extreme events around the world as “risk enhancers” that deserve attention at the highest levels of the US policy and research communities. The US embers portrayed here suggest that: (1) US policy-makers will not discover anything really “dangerous” over the near to medium term if they consider only economic impacts that are aggregated across the entire country but that (2) they could easily uncover “dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system” by focusing their attention on changes in the intensities, frequencies, and regional distributions of extreme weather events driven by climate change.
Age-associated effect of freeze-dried grape powder on inflammatory markers and physical activity in adults with knee osteoarthritis (1025.8)

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disease among US adults, leading to pain and disability. Treatment ranges from symptom management to joint replacement, leading many to seek natural dietary approaches. Grapes, rich in anti-inflammatory polyphenols may aid in management of OA symptoms. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of grape consumption on physical activity, biochemical markers of inflammation (IL1-β) and cartilage metabolism (COMP). A total of 72 men and women with knee OA were recruited and randomized. Group 1 (n=28, 21 female) consumed 47 grams of freeze-dried grape powder (FDGP) daily for four months. Group 2 (n=28, 21 female) consumed 47 grams of a comparable placebo. Self-reported physical activity and serum specimens were obtained at baseline and at four months. There was a significant decrease in very hard activity in the placebo group. However, a 70 % increase was seen in very hard activity for those 65 yr. reported a signifi...
Orthogonal polynomials based hybrid coded-modulation for multi-Tb/s optical transport

Orthogonal polynomials based single-carrier hybrid coded-modulation is proposed as multi-Tb/s enabling technology while employing the commercially available electronics. The proposed scheme can simultaneously solve the problems related to limited bandwidth and high energy consumption of information infrastructure.