cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fundamentals of Surgical Hemostasis

This chapter highlights methods for the safe management of blood vessels and for the control of bleeding vessels during traditional open operations. The principles described are the basis for mechanical hemostasis in any operation. They are evidence based in the collective experience of a handful of veteran surgeons.
Behavioral training for post-prostatectomy urinary incontinence

We treated 20 men with persistent post-prostatectomy incontinence by biofeedback-assisted behavioral training procedures. Initially, scheduled 2-hour voiding resulted in a mean 33.1 per cent increase in urge incontinence, a mean 28.5 per cent decrease in stress incontinence and no change in continual leakage. Subsequently, biofeedback was used to teach selective control of the sphincter muscles and/or inhibition of detrusor contractions. Individualized home practice included a voiding schedule, sphincter exercises, active use of the sphincter to prevent urine loss and strategies to manage urgency. After 1 to 5 biofeedback sessions patients with urge incontinence demonstrated an average 80.7 per cent decrease in incontinence, while stress incontinence was decreased an average 78.3 per cent and patients with continual leakage were less successful, with a mean 17.0 per cent improvement. The findings indicate that biofeedback training is an effective intervention for episodic stress or urge incontinence after prostatectomy. However, its usefulness appears to be limited in patients with postoperative incontinence characterized by continual leakage.
Genome-wide maps of distal gene regulatory regions active in the human placenta

Placental dysfunction is implicated in many pregnancy complications, including preeclampsia and preterm birth (PTB). While both these syndromes are influenced by environmental risk factors, they also have a substantial genetic component that is not well understood. Precisely controlled gene expression during development is crucial to proper placental function and often mediated through gene regulatory enhancers. However, we lack accurate maps of placental enhancer activity due to the challenges of assaying the placenta and the difficulty of comprehensively identifying enhancers. To address the gap in our knowledge of gene regulatory elements in the placenta, we used a two-step machine learning pipeline to synthesize existing functional genomics studies, transcription factor (TF) binding patterns, and evolutionary information to predict placental enhancers. The trained classifiers accurately distinguish enhancers from the genomic background and placental enhancers from enhancers active in other tissues. Genomic features collected from tissues and cell lines involved in pregnancy are the most predictive of placental regulatory activity. Applying the classifiers genome-wide enabled us to create a map of 33,010 predicted placental enhancers, including 4,562 high-confidence enhancer predictions. The genome-wide placental enhancers are significantly enriched nearby genes associated with placental development and birth disorders and for SNPs associated with gestational age. These genome-wide predicted placental enhancers provide candidate regions for further testing in vitro, will assist in guiding future studies of genetic associations with pregnancy phenotypes, and aid interpretation of potential mechanisms of action for variants found through genetic studies.
Pediatric Head Injury Guidelines

The Pediatric Head Injury chapter is a poignant depiction of the widely accepted and utilized PECARN clinical decision rules for the patient in two specific age cohorts. Applying these rules can decrease the need for head CT and unnecessary radiation exposure.
Participatory Disaster Recovery Simulation Modeling for Community Resilience Planning

A major challenge in enhancing the resilience of communities stems from current approaches used to identify needs and strategies that build the capacity of jurisdictions to mitigate loss and improve recovery. A new generation of resilience-based planning processes has emerged in the last several years that integrate goals of community well-being and identity into recovery-based performance measurement frameworks. Specific tools and refined guidance are needed to facilitate evidence-based development of recovery estimates. This article presents the participatory modeling process, a planning system designed to develop recovery-based resilience measurement frameworks for community resilience planning initiatives. Stakeholder engagement is infused throughout the participatory modeling process by integrating disaster recovery simulation modeling into community resilience planning. Within the process, participants get a unique opportunity to work together to deliberate on community concerns through facilitated participatory modeling. The participatory modeling platform combines the DESaster recovery simulation model and visual analytics interfaces. DESaster is an open source Python Library for creating discrete event simulations of disaster recovery. The simulation model was developed using a human-centered design approach whose goal is to be open, modular, and extensible. The process presented in this article is the first participatory modeling approach for analyzing recovery to aid creation of community resilience measurement frameworks.
Very High Level Parallel Programming

It is becoming increasingly clear that high level programming languages are a prerequisite for the more widespread use of parallel computers. Can we design high level programming languages that are convenient to program with and also lead to efficient execution? One high level model that is frequently used for algorithm design is the PRAM. While the PRAM has been found to be very convenient to program, it is substantially different from realistic parallel computers. Thus it is possible that efficient algorithms for PRAMs may not necessarily translate to efficient algorithms for realistic machines. One possibility, then, is to base high level languages on a model that is intermediate between the ideal PRAM model and the more realistic, distributed parallel computation models.
Splicing the innate immune signalling in leukaemia.

Components of the spliceosome are frequently mutated in haematopoietic malignancies. Identification of mis-spliced genes promoting transformation will uncover novel targeted therapies. Now, a long isoform of IRAK4 is shown to be upregulated in a subset of acute myeloid leukaemia patients, conferring susceptibility for IRAK4 inhibition therapy.
Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus Patients With a Negative Antinuclear Antibody Meeting the American College of Rheumatology and/or Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics Criteria for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

Objective Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a disorder that is heterogeneous and can be difficult to diagnose. One hallmark of the disease is the presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANAs), a feature that has been incorporated into multiple classification criteria over the years. In this study, we used a database of patients with cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) to determine how many had a negative ANA and met criteria for SLE using the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and/or Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) criteria. Methods We used a database of 301 biopsy-proven CLE patients that contained information including ANA status and the presence of features of SLE. The database was searched for patients who had a negative ANA result and whether or not they met SLE criteria using the ACR and/or SLICC criteria. Results Of the 301 patients with biopsy-proven CLE and a known ANA, 111 had a negative ANA test (36.9%) and 27 had an ANA test that fluctuated (33.3%). In all, 20 ANA-negative patients met SLE criteria (18.0%), and 12 patients with a fluctuating ANA test met SLE criteria (44.4%). Of all patients who had either a negative or fluctuating ANA result and who met criteria for SLE (n = 32), 27 patients had involvement of ≥1 organ system other than skin (84.4%), and 13 patients had involvement of ≥2 organ systems other than skin (40.6%). Conclusion Our results show that an ANA is not always present in patients with systemic disease. This fact should be taken into consideration when devising SLE classification criteria to be used for clinical trials.
Growing Evidence for Successful Care Management in Children With Medical Complexity.

* Abbreviations: CARE — : Coordinating All Resources Effectively CMC — : children with medical complexity The last decade has heralded strategies to identify the population of children with medical complexity (CMC),1–3 quantify the striking magnitude of CMC health care costs,2,4–7 and document8–12 and address8,12,13 their unmet needs. Although dedicated programs designed to better coordinate CMC care (ie, “complex care”) have materialized rapidly,14 the rate of program growth has outpaced the generation of evidence for their effectiveness. Observational and uncontrolled studies have consistently suggested that complex care may lower costs by reducing hospital use15–18; however, 2 randomized controlled trials have yielded mixed results.19,20 The discrepancies in these randomized controlled trials introduce uncertainty about the anticipated cost savings from complex care programs around the country, whereas the array of distinct complex care program models creates ambiguity about how health systems and policymakers should promote implementation. In this month’s issue of Pediatrics , Bergman et al21 report findings from the Coordinating All Resources Effectively (CARE) learning collaborative, which … Address correspondence to Ryan J. Coller, MD, MPH, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 600 Highland Ave, Madison, WI 53792. E-mail: rcoller{at}pediatrics.wisc.edu
Evaluating how licensing-law strategies will impact disparities in tobacco retailer density: a simulation in Ohio

Objectives To assess tobacco licensing-law strategies (eg, restricting the sale of tobacco near schools, banning the sale of tobacco in pharmacies) in terms of the equity of their impact and ability to correct existing disparities in tobacco retailer density. Methods We geocoded all 11 392 tobacco retailers in Ohio, categorised neighbourhoods based on their demographic characteristics and calculated current disparities in tobacco retailer density. We next simulated the four main types of licensing-law strategies (capping-based, declustering-based, school-based and pharmacy-based), as well as strategy combinations. Finally, using statistical methods that account for residual spatial dependence, we evaluated how each strategy would impact density disparities. Findings The most impactful licensing-law strategy depended on the type of community. School-based reductions were equitable for low-income, African–American and urban neighbourhoods (eg, eliminating retailers from 1000 feet of all schools produced a 9.2% reduction in the log retailer rate for neighbourhoods with a low prevalence of African–Americans and a 17.7% reduction for neighbourhoods with a high prevalence of African–Americans). Conversely, capping-based reductions were equitable for rural neighbourhoods. Pharmacy-based reductions demonstrated inequitable impacts. Conclusion Licensing-law strategies could be a central tobacco control effort that benefits both the overall population and vulnerable communities. Policymakers will need to consider their community’s characteristics when selecting licensing-law strategies to correct (rather than inadvertently widen) density disparities. But when matched with the appropriate strategy, high-risk communities could remove over 20% of their tobacco retailers.
Gut Microbiome Associated with the Psychoneurological Symptom Cluster in Patients with Head and Neck Cancers

Cancer patients experience a cluster of co-occurring psychoneurological symptoms (PNS) related to cancer treatments. The gut microbiome may affect severity of the PNS via neural, immune, and endocrine signaling pathways. However, the link between the gut microbiome and PNS has not been well investigated in cancer patients, including those with head and neck cancers (HNCs). This pilot study enrolled 13 patients with HNCs, who reported PNS using the Patient-Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAEs). Stool specimens were collected to analyze patients' gut microbiome. All data were collected pre- and post-radiation therapy (RT). Associations between the bacterial abundances and the PNS clusters were analyzed using the linear discriminant analysis effect size; functional pathway analyses of 16S rRNA V3-V4 bacterial communities were conducted using Tax4fun. The high PNS cluster had a greater decrease in microbial evenness than the low PNS cluster from pre- to post-RT. The high and low PNS clusters showed significant differences using weighted UniFrac distance. Those individuals with the high PNS cluster were more likely to have higher abundances in phylum Bacteroidetes, order Bacteroidales, class Bacteroidia, and four genera (Ruminiclostridium9, Tyzzerella, Eubacterium_fissicatena, and DTU089), while the low PNS cluster had higher abundances in family Acidaminococcaceae and three genera (Lactococcus, Phascolarctobacterium, and Desulfovibrio). Both glycan metabolism (Lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis) and vitamin metabolism (folate biosynthesis and lipoic acid metabolism) were significantly different between the high and low PNS clusters pre- and post-RT. Our preliminary data suggest that the diversity and abundance of the gut microbiome play a potential role in developing PNS among cancer patients.
Outcome of Sacropelvic Resection and Reconstruction Based on a Novel Classification System

BACKGROUND Sacral tumor resections require a multidisciplinary approach to achieve a cure and a functional outcome. Currently, there is no accepted classification system that provides a means to communicate among the multidisciplinary teams in terms of approach, osseous resection, reconstruction, and acceptable functional outcome. The purpose of this study was to report the outcome of sacral tumor resection based on our classification system. METHODS In this study, 196 patients (71 female and 125 male) undergoing an oncologic en bloc sacrectomy were reviewed. The mean age (and standard deviation) was 49 ± 16 years, and the mean body mass index was 27.2 ± 6.4 kg/m. The resections included 130 sarcomas (66%). The mean follow-up was 7 ± 5 years. RESULTS Resections included total sacrectomy (Type 1A: 20 patients [10%]) requiring reconstruction, subtotal sacrectomy (Type 1B: 5 patients [3%]) requiring reconstruction, subtotal sacrectomy (Type 1C: 104 patients [53%]) not requiring reconstruction, hemisacrectomy (Type 2: 29 patients [15%]), external hemipelvectomy and hemisacrectomy (Type 3: 32 patients [16%]), total sacrectomy and external hemipelvectomy (Type 4: 5 patients [3%]), and hemicorporectomy (Type 5: 1 patient [1%]). The disease-specific survival was 66% at 5 years and 52% at 10 years. Based on the classification, the 5-year disease-specific survival was 34% for Type 1A, 100% for Type 1B, 71% for Type 1C, 65% for Type 2, 57% for Type 3, 100% for Type 4, and 100% for Type 5 (p < 0.001). Tumor recurrence occurred in 67 patients, including isolated local recurrence (14 patients), isolated metastatic disease (31 patients), and combined local and metastatic disease (22 patients). At 5 years, the local recurrence-free survival was 77% and the metastasis-free survival was 68%. Complications occurred in 153 patients (78%), most commonly wound complications (95 patients [48%]). Following the procedure, 154 patients (79%) were ambulatory, and the mean Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS93) score was 60% ± 23%. CONCLUSIONS Although resections of sacral malignancies are associated with complications, they can be curative in a majority of patients, with a majority of patients ambulatory with an acceptable functional outcome considering the extent of the resection. At our institution, this classification allows for communication between surgical teams and implies a surgical approach, staging, reconstruction, and potential functional outcomes. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Exploring the Utility of Gini Coefficients as a Measure of Temporal Variation in Public Transit Travel Time

Travel times by public transit vary dramatically throughout the day. However, these variations are not the same for all commutes. If one commute origin and destination are connected by high frequen...
How to Recommend a Book: A Guide for Mental Health Clinicians

You have at least one shelf of books in your office, don’t you? And you are forever referring clients to books like An Unquiet Mind or When Panic Attacks or Daring Greatly, aren’t you? You expect the book to inform your client about interpersonal skills, relationships, or mental health issues. You hope it will validate your client’s experiences and help him or her understand other people’s circumstances. Maybe it will add a dimension to your future sessions together or else serve as a take-away when the client’s allotted sessions are ending. If you can introduce the book in a way that is really interesting to your client, all of these hopes and expectations are more likely to come true. Here are three methods for delivering tantalizing book recommendations: 1. Introduce the reader to a friend in the book. 2. Build up the story. 3. Go ahead and tell the ending.
Unbiased Clustering of Molecular Dynamics for Spatially Resolved Analysis of Chemically Heterogeneous Surfaces.

A technique is described for resolving and interpreting molecular interactions with a chemically heterogeneous surface. Using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy, dynamic single molecule trajectories were accumulated simultaneously for fluorescently labeled fatty acid (interacting primarily via hydrophobic interactions) and dextran (interacting via hydrogen-bonding interactions) probe molecules at the interface between an aqueous solvent and a photopatterned solid surface with distinct regions of amine-terminated and poly(ethylene glycol) self-assembled monolayers. Using dynamic properties of the probe molecules (adsorption rate, surface diffusion coefficient, residence time), an unsupervised Gaussian mixture model algorithm was used to identify areas of the surface that were chemically related to each other, and the dynamic behaviors of the probe molecules were studied statistically on these distinct regions. The dynamic data were compared to data from homogeneous surfaces of known chemistr...
Vertical distribution, flight behaviour and evolution of wing morphology in Morpho butterflies

1. Flight is a key innovation in the evolution of insects that is crucial to their dispersal, migration, territoriality, courtship and predator avoidance. Male butterflies have characteristic territoriality and courtship flight behaviours, and females use a characteristic flight behaviour when searching for host plants. This implies that selection acts on wing morphology to maximize flight performance for conducting important behaviours among sexes. 2. Butterflies in the genus Morpho are obvious components of neotropical forests, and many observations indicate that they show two broad categories of flight behaviour and flight height. Although species can be categorized as using gliding or flapping flight, and flying at either canopy or understorey height, the association of flight behaviour and flight height with wing shape evolution has never been explored. 3. Two clades within Morpho differ in flight behaviour and height. Males and females of one clade inhabit the forest understorey and use flapping flight, whereas in the other clade, males use gliding flight at canopy level and females use flapping flight in both canopy and understorey. 4. We used independent contrasts to answer whether wing shape is associated with flight behaviour and height. Given a single switch to canopy habitation and gliding flight, we compared contrasts for the node at which the switch to canopy flight occurred with the distribution of values in the two focal clades. We found significant changes in wing shape at the transition to canopy flight only in males, and no change in size for either sex. A second node within the canopy clade suggests that other factors may also be involved in wing shape evolution. Our results reinforce the hypothesis that natural selection acts differently on male and female butterfly wing shape and indicate that the transition to canopy flight cannot explain all wing shape diversity in Morpho. 5. This study provides a starting point for characterizing evolution of wing morphology in forest butterflies in the contexts of habitat selection and flight behaviour. Further, these observations suggest that exploring wing shape evolution for canopy and understorey species in other insects may help understand the effects of habitat destruction on biological diversity.
Scaffold-based articular cartilage repair

Future prospects wedding gene therapy and tissue engineering. In this article, current clinical procedures for articular cartilage repair are reviewed in the context of the contributions that tissue engineering approaches can make in improving the outcome. Specific attention is directed toward the promising effects of growth factors and the potential advantages of employing gene therapy techniques in combination with three-dimensional (3-D) scaffolds. New data are presented to demonstrate the utility of nonviral transfection methods for the transfer of genes to cells in order to induce the synthesis of'desired growth factors. The combination of genes and tissue engineering scaffolds for a sustained localized production of growth factors at cartilage defects is a promising advance that could further improve the outcome of cartilage repair procedures in the future.
Why There Was No Cartoon Controversy in the United States

The publication of cartoons insulting the prophet Mohammed created a far greater controversy in Europe than it did in the United States. In the paper, I attempt to trace this difference to broader differences in the way Americans and Europeans think about offensive speech. While Americans have developed a language of "libertarian regret," which allows them to criticize speech that they nevertheless concede the legal system must protect, Europeans are much more concerned about the threat posed by acts of intolerance. As a result, Europeans tended to view Muslim protests against the cartoons as a potential harbinger of totalitarianism. By contrast, most American commentators - while defending the right of the Danish paper to run the cartoons - were more likely to trace the Muslim opposition to the cartoons to religious sensitivities. In a concluding section of the paper, I link this to the European fears that Muslims will undermine secular norms.
Protease Substrate Profiling

Originally published in: Enzyme Assays. Edited by Jean-Louis Reymond. Copyright © 2006 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA Weinheim. Print ISBN: 3-527-31095-1 The sections in this article are Introduction Functional Protease Profiling – Peptide Substrate Libraries Solution-based Peptide Substrate Libraries Solid Support-based Synthesis and Screening of Peptide Libraries Genetic Approaches to Identifying Protease Substrate Specificity Identification of Macromolecular Substrates Genetic Approach to the Identification of Macromolecular Substrates Proteomic Approaches to Identifying Protease Substrates Conclusions Keywords: enzyme assays; enzyme fingerprinting; protease substrate profiling; functional protease profiling peptide substrate libraries; identification of macromolecular substrates
The Sketching Complexity of Pattern Matching

We address the problems of pattern matching and approximate pattern matching in the sketching model. We show that it is impossible to compress the text into a small sketch and use only the sketch to decide whether a given pattern occurs in the text. We also prove a sketch size lower bound for approximate pattern matching, and show it is tight up to a logarithmic factor.
Collection of Bile and Urine Samples for Determining the Urinary and Hepatobiliary Disposition of Xenobiotics in Mice

One of the most simple and informative method commonly used by researchers in the field of xenobiotics metabolism and disposition to investigate the fate of chemicals in living organisms involves identification and/or quantitation of metabolites in excreta such as urine and bile. This method can be performed on dogs and larger rodents such as rats and hamsters rather easily. However, many investigators find it difficult to collect bile samples from mice. This unit describes, in detail, how to collect urine and bile samples from a mouse for further metabolite analysis.
Agricultural Payments and Land Concentration: A Semiparametric Spatial Regression Analysis

Over the last twenty years, both crop production and agricultural payments have shifted toward larger operations. This study examines whether payments from federal farm programs contributed to increased concentration of cropland and farmland. Using zip code—level data constructed from the microfiles of the 1987–2002 agriculture censuses we examine the association between government payments per acre and subsequent growth in land concentration. A semiparametric generalized additive model (GAM) controls for location and historical concentration, sales per acre, and ratio of cropland area to zip code area. Findings indicate, both with and without nonparametric controls, government payments are strongly associated with subsequent concentration growth. Copyright 2008, Oxford University Press.
Direct measurements of basal bone resorption in microphthalmic mice in vivo.

Microphthalmic mice and their normal littermates were prelabeled extensivelyin utero with3H-tetracycline and3H-proline, or with45Ca alone. The loss of3H-tetracycline and3H-collagen from whole femur was measured from birth to 24 days of age at weekly intervals to determine bone resorption of mineral and matrixin vivo. The ratio of blood45Ca specific activity to that of bone (blood/bone ratio) was used to reflect the inter-relationship between bone, blood, and dietary calcium, as well as bone resorption. There was little, if any, loss of3H-tetracycline and3H-collagen from bones of the microphthalmic mutants whereas there was a marked and continuous loss (67 and 51%, respectively) from bones of the normal littermates due to normal bone modeling. Blood/bone ratio was much lower in the mutants (42–70%) compared with the normals, suggesting that blood calcium is maintained by diet. These data provide direct evidence that basal bone resorption in growing microphthalmic mice was almost completely inhibited.
Brominated flame retardants in the atmosphere of the East-Central United States.

Air samples were collected at five sites (urban, semiurban, agricultural, and remote) from Lake Michigan through the U. S. Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico every 12 days during 2002−2003 using high-volume samplers so that we could study the spatial trends of brominated flame retardants (polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs), and 1,2-bis(2,4,6-tribromophenoxy)ethane (TBE)). The mean ΣPBDE atmospheric concentration was 100 ± 35 pg/m3 at the Chicago site, which was 3−6 times higher than that at the other sites. The ΣPBDE atmospheric concentrations at the Chicago site were significantly higher than previous measurements made in 1997−1999. Unlike these former measurements, BDE-209 is now relatively abundant. Lower BDEs (tri- through hex-BDEs) were detected in both the particle and the gas phases, and the partitioning of these compounds between phases was highly dependent on atmospheric temperature. Higher BDEs (hepta- through deca-BDEs) were mostly detected in the particle phase....
WT1 expression in endocrine mucin-producing sweat gland carcinoma: a study of 13 cases.

Background Endocrine mucin-producing sweat gland carcinoma (EMPSGC), a low-grade sweat gland carcinoma with a predilection for the eyelids, often shows areas of benign eccrine cysts, atypical intracystic proliferation and associated mucinous carcinoma, suggesting tumor progression. Wilms tumor 1 (WT1) protein, a transcription factor, is overexpressed in many tumors and plays a role in oncogenesis. Methods A computer-based search for tumors diagnosed between 1989 and 2009 was conducted. Clinical data were obtained from pathology reports and patient records. Biopsies were reviewed for histologic features. Immunostaining was performed for WT1, chromogranin, synaptophysin, estrogen receptor (ER), epithelial membrane antigen (EMA), polyclonal carcinoembryonic antigen (P-CEA), cytokeratin 7 (CK7), cytokeratin 20 (CK20) and MIB-1. Results Eight women and five men (mean age: 61.2 years; range: 40–77 years) presented with slow-growing eyelid nodules. Cases of EMPSGC were characterized by the presence of dermal nodules with various growth patterns. Adjacent eccrine cysts were present in five patients, atypical epithelial proliferation within the cyst wall in four patients, and an associated mucinous carcinoma in one patient. All tumors were positive for WT1, CK7, ER, P-CEA and EMA and negative for CK20. Tumors were positive for synaptophysin in 12 cases and chromogranin in nine cases. The MIB-1 proliferation index was low in most cases. No WT1 staining was observed in the overlying epidermis, adnexal structures or areas of benign eccrine cyst. WT1 expression was observed in areas of atypical epithelial proliferation, and the neoplastic cells. Conclusions The present study shows WT1 expression in the neoplastic epithelial cells of EMPSGC, areas of atypical intraductal proliferations, and mucinous carcinoma. The absence of WT1 expression in areas of benign eccrine cyst and cutaneous sweat glands suggests WT1 upregulation plays a role in tumor cell proliferation and progression of EMPSGC.
PAD: Performance Anomaly Detection in Multi-server Distributed Systems

Multi-server distributed systems are becoming increasingly popular with the emergence of cloud computing. These systems need to provide high throughput with low latency, which is a difficult task to achieve. Manual performance tuning and diagnosis of such systems, however, is hard as the amount of relevant performance diagnosis data is large. To help system developers with performance diagnosis, we have developed a tool called Performance Anomaly Detector (PAD). PAD combines user-driven navigation analysis with automatic correlation and comparative analysis techniques. The combination results in a powerful tool that can help find a number of performance anomalies. Based on our experience in applying PAD to the Orleans system, we discovered that PAD was able to reduce developer time and effort detecting anomalous performance cases and improve a developer's ability to perform deeper analysis of such behaviors.
Phorbol Ester Enhancement of Neurotransmitter Release from Rat Brain Synaptosomes

Neurotransmitter release from rat brain synaptosomes was measured following pretreatment with various phorbol esters. Ca2+-dependent, evoked neurotransmitter release was increased by phorbol esters that were active in stimulating protein kinase C. Protein kinase C activation was demonstrated by increased incorporation of 32P into 87-kilodalton phosphoprotein, a specific substrate for that kinase. Inactive phorbol esters had no effect on neurotransmitter release or on the phosphorylation of 87-kilodalton phosphoprotein. The increased release was observed in either crude cortical synaptosomal fractions (P2) or purified cortical synaptosomal fractions. The enhancement was found for all neurotransmitters (norepinephrine, acetylcholine, gamma-aminobutyric acid, serotonin, dopamine, and aspartate), all brain regions (cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and corpus striatum), and all secretagogues (elevated extracellular K+ level, veratridine, or A23187) examined. It was also observed at all calcium concentrations present during stimulation of release. The phorbol ester enhancement of Ca2+-dependent release occurred whether or not calcium was present during pretreatment. These results indicate that stimulation of protein kinase C leads to an enhanced sensitivity of the stimulus-secretion coupling processes to calcium within the nerve terminal. The results support the possibility that presynaptic activation of protein kinase C modulates nerve terminal neurotransmitter release in the CNS.
Random search on the 8‐queens problem or a simple solution for a simple problem

Certain principles of practical program development lead to a different approach to the 8-queens problem: Do not re-invent the wheel, solve the simple problem first, and worry about efficiency only when the program works and is needed often.
Nerve Transfer From Triceps Medial Head and Anconeus to Deltoid for Axillary Nerve Palsy

Purpose To report our results with reconstruction of the axillary nerve by transferring the branch to the triceps lower medial head and anconeus to the anterior division of the axillary nerve. Methods This study included 9 patients with isolated injury of the axillary nerve. Their average age ± SD was 35 ± 9 years, and the mean interval ± SD between injury and surgery was 6.6 ± 2.6 months. Through a posterior arm approach, the radial nerve branch to the lower triceps medial head and anconeus was transferred to the anterior division of the axillary nerve. We observed patients for a mean of 34 ± 7 months. At final evaluation, we measured range of shoulder motion, shoulder abduction and elbow extension strength, and abduction endurance. Patients were assessed via the deltoid extension lag test and abduction-in-internal-rotation test. Results All patients recovered deltoid function and maintained full active elbow extension. Seven of 9 patients recovered from lagging abduction in internal rotation. Abduction strength improved from approximately 40% that of the normal side at 90° of abduction preoperatively to 60% of normal strength postoperatively. There was improved endurance in abduction from approximately 25% to 65% that of the normal side, which was sufficient to eliminate all reports of shoulder pain or fatigability. Conclusions Transfer of the radial nerve branch for the lower triceps medial head and anconeus to the anterior division of the axillary nerve proved to be an effective method of deltoid reinnervation. Type of study/level of evidence Therapeutic IV.
Uterine epithelial cell secretion of interleukin-1 alpha induces prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and PGF2 alpha secretion by uterine stromal cells in vitro.

Uterine epithelial cells (UEC) were isolated from cycling mice and cultured on Matrigel-coated nitrocellulose filters to determine their ability to secrete interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1 alpha) in response to ovarian steroids and induce prostaglandin (PG) secretion by uterine stromal cells (USC). UEC cultured in a polarized manner secreted IL-1 alpha with an 8- to 10-fold apical vs. basal preference, as determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. There was no effect of 17 beta-estradiol, progesterone, or 17 beta-estradiol plus progesterone on IL-1 alpha secretion by UEC. The mean total IL-1 alpha secreted to the apical and basal secretory compartments over the 24-h incubation period was 0.8 +/- 0.16 and 0.07 +/- 0.05 ng/2 x 10(5) cells, respectively. Cytokine bioactivity, as determined by [3H]thymidine incorporation into D10 cells in response to UEC-conditioned medium, paralleled the pattern of IL-1 alpha secretion observed using the immunoassay. In addition to the in vitro secretion of IL-1 alpha by p...
The impact of accreditation on safety and cost of bariatric surgery

Abstract Background The objective of this study was to examine how much of the impact of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' national coverage decision (NCD) on bariatric surgery was driven by the restriction of reimbursements to Centers of Excellence (COE). We used inpatient care data of those with employer-sponsored insurance plans across United States using the MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounter Database (2003–2009). Methods We performed a retrospective cohort study evaluating the impact of the accreditation on subjects with a difference-in-difference approach (removing the temporal changes occurring in non-COEs) on rates of inpatient mortality, 90-day reoperations, complications, readmissions, and total payments. Results A total of 30,755 patients (43.9±11.0 years; 79.9% women) had bariatric surgery. A total of 17,896 patients underwent procedures at sites that became COEs (8455 pre-NCD and 9441 post-NCD, [+10.4%]) compared with 12,859 at non-COEs (6534 pre-NCD and 6325 post-NCD, [−3.3%]). Of the total number of bariatric procedures, laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and laparoscopic adjustable band procedures increased from 42.9% and 3.1% pre-NCD to 64.5% and 19.7% post-NCD, respectively. In the COEs, there were reductions in inpatient mortality (.3% to .1%; P = .02), 90-day reoperations (.8% to .5%; P = .006), complications (36.4% to 27.6%; P P P = .9). After distinguishing from temporal trends and differences occurring at non-COEs, 90-day reoperation (−.8%; P = .02) and complication rates (−2.7%; P = .01) were lower at the COEs after the NCD. Conclusions The accreditation-based NCD in bariatric surgery was associated with lower rates of reoperations and complications. Such policies may become a powerful tool to improve surgical safety and quality.
Design and development of a system to measure ambient levels of hydrogen sulfide and lower mercaptans from a mobile platform

Abstract Hydrogen sulfide and other reduced sulfur gases are released into the atmosphere during oil recovery operations. Little is quantitatively known concerning total sulfur flux due to these fugitive emissions. A mobile atmospheric research laboratory (MARL) was constructed to furnish facile, self contained access to oil field operations. An automated instrument that can continuously measure low levels of hydrogen sulfide with good time resolution (limit of detection 0.2 ppbv for a sampling time of 2.5 min) was developed and deployed on the MARL. Meteorological instrumentation and chemical instrumentation to monitor other gas and aerosol species along with information on meteorological conditions were also installed. Initial field data show a strong diurnal pattern of H2S concentrations.
Alkaline extraction of non-histone proteins from rat liver chromatin

Abstract The dissociation of non-histone proteins from chromatin by alkaline pH was studied using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. A significant degree of selectivity of dissociation was observed. This selectivity may provide a new method for fractionating non-histone proteins.
On the anisotropic elastic properties of hydroxyapatite

Experimental measurements of the isotropic elastic moduli on polycrystalline specimens of hydroxyapatite and fluorapatite are compared with elastic constants measured directly from single crystals of fluorapatite in order to derive a set of pseudo single crystal elastic constants for hydroxyapatite. The stiffness coefficients thus derived are given. The anisotropic and isotropic elastic properties are then computed and compared with similar properties derived from experimental observations of the anisotropic behavior of bone.
56 INFANT CARE-CACHE OR CARRY?

To test the hypothesis that a single infant care pattern pre-vailed during human evolution, contemporary hunter-gatherers(H&G) were examined. Since hunting and gathering in the tropics sustained humans for more than 99% of the species' history, the few surviving groups provide the best available indication of the care to which the human infant was adapted. All tropical H&G (n=10) in Murdock & White's Standard Cross-Cultural Sample of linguistically, historically and geographically representative societies were analyzed. Numerically coded measures of infant care from Barry & Paxson's Cross-Cultural Codes revealed a consistent pattern. Among H&G (all or with a single exception), mothers were the principal caregivers, slept in the same room or bed as the infant and breastfed for 2 years or longer. Infants were held or carried most of the day in close body contact and had complete freedom of movement when not held. Care was consistently affectionate with immediate nurturant response to crying. Nonetheless, in most groups, children achieved early independence and by 2-4 years spent more than half time away from the mother. In the U.S. this pattern of carrying that endured for 1-3 million years has been replaced by one resembling nesting or caching. Infants spend little time in body contact with caregivers and their movements are restricted by playpens, highchairs or cribs. Of the minority who are breastfed, half are weaned within a few weeks. Separate sleeping arrangements and delayed response to crying are regularly recommended. These recent remarkable transformations may alter infant development and maternal involvement.
A comparison of speech training methods with deaf adolescents: spectrographic versus noninstrumental instruction.

The effects of speech training with real-time spectrographic displays (SDs) were examined and compared to the effects of noninstrumental (NI) instruction (i.e., training without computerized displa...
Adsorption of biologically inhibitory compounds as a process control mechanism in biological reactors

Abstract An innovative reactor design that decouples biological removal mechanisms from physical removal mechanisms has demonstrated promise for the treatment of wastewaters containing high concentrations of inhibitory compounds. Inhibition and toxicity prevent treatment of such wastewaters in conventional biological reactors. The reactor design consists of a high-rate biological reactor with a granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorber inserted into the recycle line of the biological reactor. Partial replacement of GAC from the GAC adsorber provides a mechanism for controlling the concentration of inhibitory compounds in the biological reactor. As a process control parameter, GAC replacement can be used to maintain the concentration of inhibitory compounds in a range optimal for growth and acclimation. GAC replacement is also varied in response to changes in the influent loading and can be used to provide rapid recovery from shock loadings. Agreement between isotherm studies and experimental data from pilot-scale systems was observed when the average GAC particle residence was greater than 3.75 days. Isotherm studies may be used to design the GAC adsorber and predict optimal operating conditions. The concept of using an adsorption process to optimize biological removal provides an environmentally sound treatment alternative for many high-strength wastewaters.
Effects of thermal residual stresses on effective elastoplastic behavior of metal matrix composites

Abstract During the fabrication processes of particle-reinforced metal-matrix composites, thermal residual stresses are normally developed due to the difference of the coefficients of thermal expansion between the matrix and the reinforcement. The effect of thermal residual stresses is analytically investigated on the elastoplastic behavior of the composites. Micromechanical stress and strain fields are calculated due to the combination of applied external loads and prescribed thermal mismatch eigenstrains. Ensemble-volume averaging procedures are then employed to derive the effective yield function of the composites. It is shown that the residual stresses result in a combined kinematic hardening and isotropic hardening effect. Comparisons between the analytical predictions and experimental data are performed to illustrate the capability of the proposed model.
Design of an Air Pressure-Assisted Centrifugal Dewatering Method for Fine Particle Suspensions

An air pressure-assisted centrifugal dewatering unit was designed and fabricated for the dewatering of fine particles (−150 μm), such as clay, silica, and talc. The aim of this filtration unit is to increase the filtration rate during the drainage cycle and, hence produce drier filter cakes, which in turn could reduce the cost and emission problems of thermal dryers in the preparation plants. Several dewatering parameters, including applied pressure, centrifugal force (G-force), spin time, and cake thickness were tested to optimize the processing conditions. Test results showed that at higher air pressure and centrifugal force, the cake moisture reduction was more than 60% depending on the experimental conditions. As a result, it can be concluded that the novel filtration unit effectively works on the dewatering of fine particles and can open up new opportunities in the field.Copyright © 2011 by ASME
Advertising and sales promotion in electricity

Pooled firm data for 1959–68 provide the first evidence that both advertising and sales promotion have been statistically significant in increasing residential electric demand. The results indicate that advertising is principally informational, that new customers are most likely to be influenced, and that the effectiveness of a given expenditure in stimulating average per customer demand decreases with the number of customers to be reached. Finally, the findings are consistent with a theory of optimal advertising-sales ratios. The Dorfman-Steiner Rule does not hold, but the evidence is that it should not be ruled out in some modified form.
Bulimia nervosa: a four- to six-year follow-up study.

A consecutive series of 45 female bulimic patients treated by one of us was followed four to six years after termination of treatment. Thirty-five (78 %) were successfully followed, six refused to participate in the study and four were untraced. At least seven (16%) had diagnosable bulimia nervosa at follow-up, and at least another seven had a subclinical form of the disorder during the six months prior to follow-up. Relapse into anorexia nervosa was uncommon, and the severity of the bulimic features had improved even among those still diagnosable as having the disorder. Affective disturbances were common among those who were bulimic. The findings were discussed in terms of the intermediate term outcome of the disorder and its identity as a clinical entity.
Techniques of anterior cervical plating

Several pathological processes affecting the cervical spine ultimately require management with rigid internal fixation of the vertebral column. The use of anterior cervical screw-plate systems for fixation has been associated with improved fusion, greater postoperative comfort, and a more expedient return to work compared with patients who do not receive these implants. Five cervical screw-plate systems are discussed: four are widely available, and the fifth system is completing final stages of a clinical trial before its commercial release. We describe the preferences and techniques that have evolved at our institution for successful cervical fusion and fixation procedures and compare the features of the different plating systems.