cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
TCTAP C-146 A Patient Saved by Bailout Using the Mini Crush Technique for Guiding Catheter-induced Spiral Dissection from the LMT to the LAD and LCx Peripheral Segments

### Patient initials or identifier number 00031072 ### Relevant clinical history and physical exam The patient was a 76-year-old woman with a history of atrial fibrillation and cerebral infarction. On March 7, 2016, she was admitted to our hospital’s orthopedicsurgery ward to undergo surgery
Levels of Matrix-Degrading Enzymes and Lubricin in Patients With Degenerative Joint Disease Requiring Arthroplasty:

Total joint arthroplasty (TJA) of the hip or knee (THA and TKA) is the primary surgical intervention for individuals with degenerative joint disease (DJD). Although it is commonly thought that shear force on the joint causes the degradation of articular cartilage, it is possible that there are other factors that contribute to the progression of DJD. It is plausible that specific enzymes that degrade the joint are upregulated, or conversely, there is downregulation of enzymes critical for joint lubrication. The aim of this study is to profile collagenase-1, elastase, heparanase, and lubricin levels in patients undergoing TJA in order to determine potential preexisting dysregulation that contributes to the pathogenesis of DJD. Deidentified blood samples were obtained from patients undergoing TJA 1 day pre- and 1 day postoperatively. Plasma samples were analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits for elastase, collagenase-1, heparanase, and lubricin. In comparison to healthy controls, there were significant increases in circulating collagenase-1, elastase, and lubricin levels in both the preoperative and postoperative samples. There were no significant differences in heparanase levels in the preoperative or postoperative samples. Comparing the preoperative versus postoperative patient samples, only lubricin demonstrated a significant change. The results of this study confirm that patients undergoing TJA have preexisting alterations in the levels of matrix-degrading enzymes and lubricin. The alterations observed in this study may provide insight into the pathogenesis of DJD.
Lineage tracing aged mouse kidneys shows lower number of cells of renin lineage and reduced responsiveness to RAAS inhibition

Blocking the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) remains a mainstay of therapy in hypertension and glomerular diseases. With the population aging, our understanding of renin-producing cells...
Abstract P184: Meat Cooking Methods and Risk of Hypertension: Results From Three Prospective Cohort Studies

Background: The role of open-flame and/or high-temperature cooking (grilling/barbequing, broiling, or roasting) and doneness preferences (rare, medium, or well-done) in the association between meat consumption and risk of hypertension remains unknown. This study aimed to examine cooking methods for meats (red meats, chicken, or fish) in relation to hypertension risk among men and women who consumed meat regularly (≥2 servings/week). Methods: Study population consisted of 32,925 women from the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS 1996-2012), 53,852 women from the NHSII (2001-2013), and 17,104 men from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS 1996-2012), who were free of hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer at baseline. Results: We documented 37,123 incident hypertension cases during 1.06 million person-years of follow-up. After multivariate adjustments of covariates including total consumption of red meats, chicken, and fish, a higher frequency of open-flame and/or high-temperature cooking and a preference for higher meat doneness level were both independently associated with an increased hypertension risk. When comparing open-flame and/or high-temperature cooking >15 times/month with P trend P trend P trend P trend P trend P trend P trend Conclusions: Our results suggest that, independent of the amount of meat consumption, open-flame and/or high-temperature cooking and high doneness level for both red meats and white meats are associated with an increased risk of hypertension.
Factors Associated with HIV-Testing among African Americans: Analysis of the 2016 National Health Interview Survey

African-Americans represent 12% of the total United States population, but account for more recent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) diagnoses (44%), people estimated to be living with HIV disease (40%), and HIV-related deaths (44%) than any other racial/ethnic group in the United States. This paper examines the prevalence of HIV testing and its correlates among African Americans during the pre-exposure HIV prophylaxis era. Secondary analysis of the 2016 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data was carried out using descriptive and logistic regression analyses to determine the prevalence of recent HIV testing and factors associated with HIV testing. Of the 33,028 individuals included in the Sample Adult Core, 3,777 (11.43%) were African Americans, the sample for this study. Among them, an estimated 2,050 respondents (54.3%) reported to have ever tested for HIV. Respondents aged 25 to 34 years of age were more likely to have ever tested for HIV compared to individuals aged 25 years or younger (OR: 2.47, P<0.001). Respondents who had a paid employment were more likely to have ever tested for HIV compared to those who were unemployed (OR: 1.74, P<0.05). There was no difference in HIV testing among the marital status categories. Since HIV testing is critical to improve prevention efforts, more research is needed to understand the characteristics of individuals who get tested for HIV to inform the design of innovative interventions to motivate younger adults and individuals from different marital status categories to seek HIV testing.
Endovascular aneurysm repair in patients over 75 is associated with excellent 5-year survival, which suggests benefit from expanded screening into this cohort.

Abstract Background Endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) has decreased the perioperative mortality for patients undergoing abdominal aortic aneurysm repair and has increased the rates of elective aneurysm repair in the elderly. However, Medicare will not cover abdominal aortic aneurysm screening for beneficiaries over 75 years of age. Consequently, abdominal aortic aneurysm treatment in this population depends on incidental detection. Targeted coverage for screening in this population, however, might be beneficial for a subgroup of patients. Methods To identify a subset of elderly patients who would potentially benefit from an expanded screening policy, we reviewed all patients greater than 75 years old undergoing elective EVAR in the Vascular Quality Initiative between 2003 and 2016. We used Cox regression with multivariable fractional polynomials to construct a risk model for 5-year survival in elderly patients to identify a subpopulation who might benefit the most from screening and performed internal validation using the bootstrapping technique. Results We identified 10,676 patients greater than 75 years old undergoing elective EVAR. Although perioperative mortality varied with age, it was only 2.1% in the oldest group of patients (>85 years). Significant predictors included in our final risk model for 5-year survival in the elderly included age, aortic diameter, hemoglobin, current smoking, white race, body mass index, renal function, congestive heart failure, statin use, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and ejection fraction. The risk model produced risk scores ranging from a possible −2 to 33. The mean and median risk score were 6.9 and 6.0, respectively, with a right skew. We categorized the risk scores into four groups: −2 to 4 points, 5-8 points, 9-13 points, and more than 13 points, with associated 5-year survivals of 88%, 79%, 68%, and 49%, respectively. The model showed adequate discrimination and calibration, with a C-statistic of 0.69 and a calibration score of 0.99 (predicted 5-year survival of 0.78 compared with an observed 5-year survival of 0.77) and a Brier score of 0.15. Internal validation demonstrated an optimism-corrected C-statistic of 0.69 and a calibration slope of 1.0. Conclusions Elective EVAR in elderly patients chosen to undergo repair is associated with acceptable perioperative mortality. Our risk score can be used to define optimal patients for expanded screening into all but the highest risk group based on expected postoperative 5-year survival to justify removing this Medicare coverage restriction.
GPU age-aware scheduling to improve the reliability of leadership jobs on Titan

In 2015, OLCF's Titan supercomputer experienced a significant increase in GPU related job failures. The impact on jobs was serious and OLCF decided to replace ~50% of the GPUs. Unfortunately, jobs using more than 20% of the machine (i.e., leadership jobs) continued to encounter higher levels of application failures. These jobs contained significant amounts of both the low-failure rate and high-failure rate GPUs. The impacts of these failures are more adversely felt by leadership jobs due to longer wait times, runtimes, and higher charge rates. In this work, we have designed techniques to increase the use of low-failure GPUs in leadership jobs through targeted resource allocation. We have employed two complementary techniques, updating both the system ordering and the allocation mechanisms. Using simulation, the application of these techniques resulted in a 33% increase in low-failure GPU hours being assigned to leadership jobs. Our GPU Age-Aware Scheduling has been used in production on Titan since July of 2017.
A Legendre polynomial nodal model for 2-D diffusion problems

Abstract A polynomial nodal model which uses Legendre expansions was developed for the multigroup diffusion equation in 2-D. The development depends upon a least-squares minimization of the trial functions over a 2-D node. Analytical expressions were developed for the polynomial coefficients. Diffusion theory interface and boundary conditions have been applied as averaged conditions over one half node. Sample problem results were compared to the IAEA LWR benchmark problem and a five-group IAEA benchmark problem for a research reactor. The results compared favorably.
A Model-to-Monitor Evaluation of 2011 National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment (NATA).

Environmental research has widely utilized the ambient concentrations of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) modeled by the National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) program; however, limited studies have evaluated the model’s performance. This study aims to evaluate the model-to-monitor agreement of the 2011 NATA data with the monitoring data reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Air Quality System (AQS). Concentrations of 27 representative HAPs measured at 274 sites in the U.S. in 2011 were merged with NATA data by census tract. The comparison consisted of two steps for each HAP: first, the model-monitor difference at each site was compared with the limit of quantitation (LOQ); second, the modeled annual average was compared to the 95% confidence interval of the monitored annual average. Nationally, NATA could predict national medians of most HAPs well; however, it was unable to capture high concentrations. At individual sites, a large portion of model-monitor differences was below the LOQs, indicating they were unquantifiable. Model-to-monitor agreement displayed inconsistent patterns in terms of chemical groups or EPA regions and was strongly impacted by the comparison methods. The substantial non-agreements of NATA predictions with monitoring data require caution in environmental epidemiology and justice studies that are based on NATA data.
Critical Perspectives on Intervention

The continuing question is, in today’s Global Village, regarding intervention, whether international law will simply bless existing intervention patterns of global power and practice, unilateral or collectively authorized. Or, whether as a legal system it will define norms to meet its responsibility to foster the progressive development of international law towards a better international community, based on greater sharing and protection of human rights values, minimization of conflict, and greater cooperation towards protecting human dignity. Has international law ceased to reflect and bless the raw patterns of power, domination, subordination and race that it did structure and uphold for some four centuries, prior to confirming the formal illegality of European and other colonialism in the mid-twentieth century? Colonial conquest represents the first pertinent global model of intervention, which in turn led to claims of authority to intervene as a global dynamic generally moving from North to South. The necessary questions do not go to the obvious presence of formal international law, but rather to how authority, jurisprudence and process are to be globally allocated, controlled by whom, regarding decisions and influence about the formation of international law on intervention-related issues. Such questions are especially pertinent in UN Charter interpretations, including those allowing “humanitarian intervention” with unilateral use of force, and those claiming that the Caroline Case doctrine appropriately limits unilateral uses of force under the Charter. “Intervention” is a wide and ambiguous term. This article will discuss it regarding the power of human rights; American interventions against Southern democracies and the importance of the Nicaragua case; the critical importance of the decolonization movement and its insufficiency to prevent the march of colonial aims into post-colonial international law; counterterrorism, global policy, failed states, and intervention as claimed self defense; the UN Security Council as an international lawgiver, the need to interrogate its decision process as a bulwark of Northern racializing of law, and its authority over regional organizations; the Responsibility to Protect (R2P); and a final proposal addressing the issue of R2P, imminently catastrophic situations, and unilateral military intervention.
Using a custom mobile application for change management in an electronic health record implementation.

Objectives Institutions cite managing the modification in infrastructure, technical support, and process change as substantial barriers to a successful electronic health record (EHR) implementation. In an effort to organize and centralize the complex scheduling, task completion and communication needs of a "big-bang" EHR go-live, we developed a unified communication system with the goal of improving implementation process efficiency. Our goal was to create a platform that would work across the medical enterprise. Materials and Methods We employed an agile process to design the application, called Hubbl, based on initial requirements and iteratively obtained stakeholder user. The final feature set included role-specific organization, integrated communication, task and content management tooling, and embedded project information retrieval, all embedded into the end user's day to day activities. Results User enrollment continually increased from launch in February of 2017 through go-live day. During the pre-go-live period, usage increased from an average of 7.37 events/user/day to 18.65 events/user/day with over 97 communications sent across all periods. 5400 unique users accessed tip sheets and information retrieval tools averaged 28.84 searches/user/day during the go-live period with an average high of 46.33 searches/user/day 5 days post-go-live. User access during go-live and post-go-live averaged 12.82 accesses/user/day and decreased from 20.42 average accesses on day one of go live to 14.07 averaged accesses on day 60 of post-go-live with over 727 tasks monitored to completion during all periods. Conclusion Hubbl was an essential component of our communication, task coordination, and change management strategy, for our EHR go live. Institutions that choose a unified mobile and web-based platform during a substantial IT (information technology) implementation can feasibly ensure task completion, project coordination, and timely information dissemination.
Temporal Responses of Microbial Communities to Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation

Anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD) is an organic amendment-based management tool for controlling soil-borne plant diseases and is increasingly used in a variety of crops. ASD results in a marked decrease in soil redox potential and other physicochemical changes, and a turnover in the composition of the soil microbiome. Mechanisms of ASD-mediated pathogen control are not fully understood, but appear to depend on the carbon source used to initiate the process and involve a combination of biological (i.e., release of volatile organic compounds) and abiotic (i.e., lowered pH, release of metal ions) factors. In this study, we examined how the soil microbiome changes over time in response to ASD initiated with rice bran, tomato pomace, or red grape pomace as amendments using growth chamber mesocosms that replicate ASD-induced field soil redox conditions. Within 2 days, the soil microbiome rapidly shifted from a diverse assemblage of taxa to being dominated by members of the Firmicutes for all ASD treatments, whereas control mesocosms maintained diverse and more evenly distributed communities. Rice bran and tomato pomace amendments resulted in microbial communities with similar compositions and trajectories that were different from red grape pomace communities. Quantitative PCR showed nitrogenase gene abundances were higher in ASD communities and tended to increase over time, suggesting the potential for altering soil nitrogen availability. These results highlight the need for temporal and functional studies to understand how pathogen suppressive microbial communities assemble and function in ASD-treated soils.
Sternoclavicular Joint Instability: Symptoms, Diagnosis And Management

Sternoclavicular joint (SCJ) instability is a rare condition and results from either a traumatic high energy impact, such as a motor vehicle crash or contact sports injury, or non-traumatically as a result of structural pathology. The infrequency of this injury has contributed to its diagnosis being missed as well as the paucity of literature on treatment and outcomes. Patients with SCJ instability often report diminished range of motion as well as shoulder girdle pain. The presentation of instability in the sternoclavicular joint can vary in severity and anterior or posterior directionality. Variation in severity of the instability changes the course of treatment regarding either operative or non-operative interventions to stabilize the SCJ. In general, anterior instability of the SCJ (the medial clavicle is displaced anterior to the sternum) is less urgent and generally manageable by symptom alleviation and rehabilitation, although some anterior instability cases require surgical intervention. In the case of posterior SCJ instability (the medial clavicle is displaced posterior to the sternum), patients require prompt joint reduction as they are at the greater risk of life-threatening injury due to the location of critical structures of the mediastinum posterior to the SCJ. Computed tomography visualization is useful to confirm dislocation or subluxation direction to better formulate a proper treatment plan. The purpose of this review is to report the clinical presentation and management of SCJ instability including pertinent symptoms, the diagnostic approaches to evaluating SCJ instability, as well as operative and non-operative management of the joint instability.
Personalization improves the biomechanical efficacy of foot progression angle modifications in individuals with medial knee osteoarthritis

Abstract Objectives The goal of this study was to evaluate the importance of personalization when selecting foot progression angle modifications that aim to reduce the peak knee adduction moment in individuals with medial knee osteoarthritis. Design One hundred seven individuals with medial knee osteoarthritis walked on an instrumented treadmill with biofeedback instructing them to toe-in and toe-out by 5° and 10° relative to their self-selected foot progression angle. We selected individuals’ personalized foot progression angle as the modification that maximally reduced their larger knee adduction moment peak. Additionally, we used lasso regression to identify which secondary changes in kinematics made a 10° toe-in gait modification more effective at reducing the first knee adduction moment peak. Results Sixty-six percent of individuals reduced their larger knee adduction moment peak by at least 5% with a personalized foot progression angle modification, which is more than (p Conclusions Personalization increases the proportion of individuals with medial knee osteoarthritis who may benefit from modification of their foot progression angle.
What do residential lotteries show us about transportation choices

Credibly identifying how the built environment shapes behaviour is empirically challenging, because people select residential locations based on differing constraints and preferences for site ameni...
Mobilization of arsenic from coal fly ash in the presence of dissolved organic matter

Abstract In this study, we examined the influence of dissolved organic matter (humic and fulvic acids) on arsenic (As) mobilization from two Class F coal fly ashes under oxic and anoxic conditions. Batch leaching experiments were conducted to examine As leaching behavior and changes in As aqueous and solid phase speciation after exposure to humic and fulvic acids for up to 4 weeks (ash/buffer ratio = 0.01 g/mL). Under oxic conditions, mobilized As concentrations increased compared to the organic-free controls and were positively correlated with percent aliphatic carbon and oxygen/carbon ratio of the humic and fulvic acids, suggesting both non-specific hydrophobic association of the organic matter with the surface of the fly ash particles and competitive desorption between negatively charged organic functional groups and As anions adsorbed to mineral surfaces. Under anoxic conditions, organic matter enhanced the reductive dissolution of As-bearing iron oxides such as hematite, resulting in increased As mobilization. X-ray absorption spectroscopy indicated that the majority of As in the leached and unleached fly ash was As(V) (≥90%), with As(V)-ferrihydrite precipitation occurring under all leaching conditions tested. Our results demonstrated that humic and fulvic acids are capable of mobilizing As from fly ash under both oxic and anoxic conditions, though redox appeared to be a larger driver of As mobilization compared to dissolved organic matter (DOM). DOM is a parameter which should be considered in risk assessment strategies for fly ash that is exposed to water (e.g., subsurface infiltration) or released to aquatic systems.
An educational history of the future

The importance of active, “experiential” learning, and the belief that schools and colleges need to engage the world outside their walls in new ways in order to equip students for the rapidly chang...
Immobilization of Cyanines in DNA Produces Systematic Increases in Fluorescence Intensity.

Cyanines are useful fluorophores for a myriad of biological labeling applications, but their interactions with biomolecules are unpredictable. Cyanine fluorescence intensity can be highly variable due to complex photoisomerization kinetics, which are exceedingly sensitive to the surrounding environment. This introduces large errors in Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based experiments where fluorescence intensity is the output parameter. However, this environmental sensitivity is a strength from a biological sensing point of view if specific relationships between biomolecular structure and cyanine photophysics can be identified. We describe a set of DNA structures that modulate cyanine fluorescence intensity through the insertion of adenine or thymine bases. These structures simultaneously provide photophysical predictability and tunability. We characterize these structures using steady-state fluorescence measurements, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), and time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL). We find that the photoisomerization rate decreases over an order of magnitude across the adenine series, which is consistent with increasing immobilization of the cyanine moiety by the surrounding DNA structure.
State Update: California Cries for Help: Domestic Violence Restraining Orders in Orange County

This Article examines domestic violence court files from Orange County, California from 1977. It portrays the voices of domestic violence survivors. The Article covers four topics: (1) the parties’ reactions to the legal system; (2) why the victims sought (or refused to seek) protection; (3) the causes and cycles of violence; and (4) the role of the law enforcement agencies.
Diversity and Evolutionary History of Iron Metabolism Genes in Diatoms

Ferroproteins arose early in Earth’s history, prior to the emergence of oxygenic photosynthesis and the subsequent reduction of bioavailable iron. Today, iron availability limits primary productivity in about 30% of the world’s oceans. Diatoms, responsible for nearly half of oceanic primary production, have evolved molecular strategies for coping with variable iron concentrations. Our understanding of the evolutionary breadth of these strategies has been restricted by the limited number of species for which molecular sequence data is available. To uncover the diversity of strategies marine diatoms employ to meet cellular iron demands, we analyzed 367 newly released marine microbial eukaryotic transcriptomes, which include 47 diatom species. We focused on genes encoding proteins previously identified as having a role in iron management: iron uptake (high-affinity ferric reductase, multi-copper oxidase, and Fe(III) permease); iron storage (ferritin); iron-induced protein substitutions (flavodoxin/ferredoxin, and plastocyanin/cytochrome c6) and defense against reactive oxygen species (superoxide dismutases). Homologs encoding the high-affinity iron uptake system components were detected across the four diatom Classes suggesting an ancient origin for this pathway. Ferritin transcripts were also detected in all Classes, revealing a more widespread utilization of ferritin throughout diatoms than previously recognized. Flavodoxin and plastocyanin transcripts indicate possible alternative redox metal strategies. Predicted localization signals for ferredoxin identify multiple examples of gene transfer from the plastid to the nuclear genome. Transcripts encoding four superoxide dismutase metalloforms were detected, including a putative nickel-coordinating isozyme. Taken together, our results suggest that the majority of iron metabolism genes in diatoms appear to be vertically inherited with functional diversity achieved via possible neofunctionalization of paralogs. This refined view of iron use strategies in diatoms elucidates the history of these adaptations, and provides potential molecular markers for determining the iron nutritional status of different diatom species in environmental samples.
Role of Government in Water Resource Development

The expanding role of government in water resources management requires new and more refined criteria of choice among investment opportunities. Multiple-purpose, comprehensive, and incremental planning represent three approaches to a solution to this problem. Incremental planning has the advantages of: (1) adaptability to change; (2) focusing on feasible projects; (3) increasing the range of choice over time; and (4) easing adjustment to uncertainty. Water resources planning policy must be adapted to produce effective decisions in six areas: (1) adjustment between the requirements of regions and those of the entire United States; (2) coordination among the various units of government; (3) integration of development investments in the public and private sectors of the economy; (4) coordination among the federal water resource agencies; (5) scheduling and establishing priorities among the purposes of the water resources planning unit; and (6) coordination between the water resource agencies and the legislative branch of government. To achieve these objectives, further research in the social sciences, both in resource agencies and research institutions, is needed to support the physical designs for water resource development.
Musical training, individual differences and the cocktail party problem

Are musicians better able to understand speech in noise than non-musicians? Recent findings have produced contradictory results. Here we addressed this question by asking musicians and non-musicians to understand target sentences masked by other sentences presented from different spatial locations, the classical ‘cocktail party problem’ in speech science. We found that musicians obtained a substantial benefit in this situation, with thresholds ~6 dB better than non-musicians. Large individual differences in performance were noted particularly for the non-musically trained group. Furthermore, in different conditions we manipulated the spatial location and intelligibility of the masking sentences, thus changing the amount of ‘informational masking’ (IM) while keeping the amount of ‘energetic masking’ (EM) relatively constant. When the maskers were unintelligible and spatially separated from the target (low in IM), musicians and non-musicians performed comparably. These results suggest that the characteristics of speech maskers and the amount of IM can influence the magnitude of the differences found between musicians and non-musicians in multiple-talker “cocktail party” environments. Furthermore, considering the task in terms of the EM-IM distinction provides a conceptual framework for future behavioral and neuroscientific studies which explore the underlying sensory and cognitive mechanisms contributing to enhanced “speech-in-noise” perception by musicians.
A component-based performance comparison of four hypervisors

Virtualization has become a popular way to make more efficient use of server resources within both private data centers and public cloud platforms. While recent advances in CPU architectures and new virtualization techniques have reduced the performance cost of using virtualization, overheads still exist, particularly when multiple virtual machines are competing for resources. We have performed an extensive performance comparison under hardware-assisted virtualization settings considering four popular virtualization platforms, Hyper-V, KVM, vSphere and Xen, and find that the overheads incurred by each hypervisor can vary significantly depending on the type of application and the resources assigned to it. We also find dramatic differences in the performance isolation provided by different hypervisors. However, we find no single hypervisor always outperforms the others. This suggests that effectively managing hypervisor diversity in order to match applications to the best platform is an important, yet unstudied, challenge.
Improvement in estimated glomerular filtration rate in patients with chronic kidney disease undergoing catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation.

AF Ablation and eGFR Introduction Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and atrial fibrillation (AF) often coexist. We studied the association of CKD with atrial fibrosis and the effect of AF ablation on kidney function. Methods AF patients who had a pre- and postablation serum creatinine and who completed a late gadolinium enhancement cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; LGE-MRI) prior to ablation were included. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated and CKD was staged using the National Kidney Foundation guidelines. Patients with eGFR <30 mL/min/1.73 m2 were excluded. LGE-MRI was used to quantify atrial fibrosis. Patients were followed for recurrence and change in eGFR. Results A total of 392 patients were included in the study. A total of 118 (30.2%) had CKD stage 1, 198 (50.4%) CKD stage 2, 56 (14.3%) CKD stage 3A, and 20 (5.1%) CKD stage 3B. Patients with advanced CKD were more likely to be male and to have cardiovascular disease. Atrial fibrosis was not significant different between included CKD stages: 15.8 ± 8.8%, 16.6 ± 12.1%, 17.1 ± 10.4%, and 16.5 ± 8.4% for CKD stage 1, 2, 3A, and 3B, respectively (P = 0.476). At a median of 115 days following ablation, eGFR increased significantly in CKD stage 2 (74 ± 9 to 80 ± 23; P = 0.04), 3A (53 ± 5 to 69 ± 24; P < 0.001), and 3B (40 ± 4 to 71 ± 28; P < 0.01) and decreased in CKD stage 1 (109 ± 18 to 82 ± 28; P < 0.001). Arrhythmia recurrence was associated with atrial fibrosis (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.04, P < 0.01) and persistent AF (HR = 1.5; P = 0.04) but not with CKD stage (HR = 0.98; P = 0.89). Conclusions Restoring sinus rhythm with ablation leads to significant improvement of renal function in patients with chronic kidney disease.
Parity-time symmetry breaking and amplifier-absorber transitions in plasmonic nanoparticles

Abrupt transitions in the scattering response of parity-time (PT)-symmetric nanoparticles is discussed. Based on the closed-form analytical solution of a complex scattering problem, we show that material imbalance can generate strong absorbing or amplifying scattering states above PT threshold.
Scanning electron microscopy of cristispira species in chesapeake bay oysters.

Scanning electron microscopy was employed to observe the physical interactions between Cristispira spp. and the crystalline style of the Chesapeake Bay oyster (Crassostrea virginica Gmelin 1791). Cristispira organisms were found associated with both the inner and outer layers of the posterior two-thirds of the style. The spirochetes possessed blunt-tipped ends, a cell diameter range of 0.6 to 0.8 μm, and distended spirochetal envelopes which followed the contour of the cells. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the distension of the envelope was probably due to the containment of numerous axial filaments. In addition, they were found to possess two distinct spiral shapes which were dependent on whether their location was inside or on the surface of the style. Images
User perceptions towards an ERP system: Comparing the post-implementation phase to the pre-implementation phase

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how key users’ perceptions (capability, value, timing, and acceptance) toward an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system change from the pre-implementation to the post-implementation phase. The paper also examines how this change differs with varying levels of user involvement in the implementation process and users’ positions in the company. Design/methodology/approach – The authors survey the employees of a major aircraft manufacturing company in the Midwest and analyze the data using repeated measures ANOVA. The authors use time as a within-subject independent variable, and involvement/position at the company as between-subject independent variables. Findings – The results reveal a significant drop in users’ perceptions regarding the capability, value, and implementation timing of the ERP system. However, the perception of acceptance did not change significantly. Furthermore, there were more significant interactions of users’ perceptions with employee...
Effects of two low-dose oral contraceptives on serum lipids and lipoproteins: differential changes in high-density lipoprotein subclasses.

Abstract Oral contraceptives containing dl-norgestrel or norethindrone with ethinyl estradiol were administered by random assignment to 21 menstruating women, matched for anthropometric measurements, age, diet, alcohol consumption, smoking, and exercise habits. Pretreatment and 7-week treatment blood samples were obtained and assayed for serum cholesterol, triglyceride high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and total high-density lipoprotein (HDL), HDL 2a , HDL 2b , and HDL 3 subclasses by analytic ultracentrifugation. Subjects using the norethindrone oral contraceptive had a significant increase in HDL-C: baseline, 46 mg/dl; 7 weeks, 51 mg/dl. Values for the subjects using the norgestrel oral contraceptive were not significantly changed; 46 and 44 mg/dl, respectively. Users of the norethindrone oral contraceptive had significant elevations of total HDL and HDL 3 , while norgestrel oral contraceptive users demonstrated no significant changes. HDL 2b increased with the norethindrone oral contraceptive and declined with the norgestrel oral contraceptive. The changes in HDL 2b from baseline to treatment were not significant (p > 0.05), but the change with the norethindrone oral contraceptive did differ significantly from that with the norgestrel oral contraceptive (p
A model of behavioral intention to buy domestic versus imported products in a Confucian culture

This study examines the predictors of Korean consumers’ behavioral intention to buy imported and domestic products, based on Lee’s revised Fishbein model. The revised model incorporated two salient Confucian concepts – face saving and group conformity. There were two phases to the study, qualitative (focus group interviews) and empirical (experimental survey design). From the focus group data, parallel self‐report mail survey instruments were developed and sent to Korean students studying temporarily at a large midwestern university in the USA. Instruments were randomly assigned to subjects using a between‐subject experimental design. Findings indicate that there is a positive relationship between Korean consumers’ attitudes toward a product and their product evaluation. Further, there is a positive relationship between their attitudes and their intention to buy either domestic or imported products. The components of cultural pressure, face saving and group conformity have a weaker influence on attitudes than product evaluation, and they are significant predictors for domestic products but not for imported products. Finally, managerial implications and marketing strategies are discussed for multinational and domestic marketers.
Pressure control for reduced microbubble formation

Microbubbles in leading-edge photoresist materials create a challenge to the demanding yield requirements of today's shrinking circuit designs. When microbubbles are dispensed onto a wafer surface, they can act as an additional lens in the exposure path, ultimately distorting the pattern and affecting yield. Proper filter selection, filter priming, and dispense settings chosen during process startup are critical to reducing microbubbles, but certain chemistries can continue to cause problems even if the process has been optimized. This paper presents the results of applying a small amount of positive pressure on the chemistry before the dispense nozzle to reduce microbubbles in top anti-reflective coating (TARC). A two-stage technology dispense system was utilized to adjust the pressure on the chemistry in the dispense line while an in-line optical particle counter monitored the microbubbles generated during the dispense process.
Harnessing the Power of the Endosome to Regulate Neural Development

Endocytosis and endosomal trafficking play a multitude of roles in cellular function beyond regulating entry of essential nutrients. In this review, we discuss the cell biological principles of endosomal trafficking, the neuronal adaptations to endosomal organization, and the role of endosomal trafficking in neural development. In particular, we consider how cell fate decisions, polarity, migration, and axon outgrowth and guidance are influenced by five endosomal tricks: dynamic modulation of receptor levels by endocytosis and recycling, cargo-specific responses via cargo-specific endocytic regulators, cell-type-specific endocytic regulation, ligand-specific endocytic regulation, and endosomal regulation of ligand processing and trafficking.
Beware of Averages: A Response to John Nolt's ‘How Harmful are the Average American's Greenhouse Gas Emissions?’

In ‘How harmful are the average American's greenhouse gas emissions?’ John Nolt (2011) correctly points out that the claim that an individual's contribution to total atmospheric greenhouse gas leve...
The Indian Empire and Peasant Production of Opium in the Nineteenth Century

IN the post-1857 decades of the nineteenth century, the British rulers of India controlled the vast territory and population of the Indian subcontinent (of the size and cultural diversity of Western Europe) under nearly ideal conditions of peace, stability and order. By this time as well, they could count on the active cooperation and loyalties of both old and new major indigenous elites in urban and rural India. The annual and decennial assessments of the ‘Moral and Material Progress of the Peoples of India’ recited to Parliament the areas in which appreciable progress had been made.On the material side, British policy makers in the latenineteenth century concentrated imperial or state resources in agricultural development. Their simultaneous, often conflicting, goals were soto improve the security and efficiency of food-crop production that they could eliminate or at the very least sharply diminish periodic drought-inspired dearth and famine mortality in the countryside. The other major goal was to develop substantial export crops—wheat, cotton,sugar, indigo, tea, coffee, opium, etc.—as income producers for thepeasant, the landlord and for the regime. To meet both objectives the Government of India directed its major resources into capital investment in public works: immense canal systems designed to improve andextend cultivation; railroads, to draw production from remote areas to the seacoast; breakwaters, warehousing, docks, navigational aids at the great port terminii to increase the speed and security and reduce the costof sea-borne exports. These public enterprises meshed with intricate structures of agency houses, export brokers, and commission agents,both British and Indian, who jointly penetrated to the most distant centers of cash crop production.
High Pressure Cracking of n -Hexane Over H-ZSM-5

The cracking of n-hexane over H-ZSM-5 has been studied at pressures from 0.03 to 137 bar, between 558 and 633 K, for application to endothermic reforming. The rates showed the effects of saturated adsorption for n-hexane in the zeolite, with the reaction being first-order at low pressures and zeroth-order at high pressures. The activation energy also changed with increasing pressure by an amount equal to the heat of adsorption of n-hexane in ZSM-5, going from 90 to 170 kJ/mol. The selectivity for C-7+ products varied only with temperature and conversion. Turnover frequency of n-hexane cracking over H-ZSM-5 from 0.03 to 137 bar: (●) 558 K, (□) 568 K, (▼) 573 K, (△) 588 K, (⋆) 633 K, (×) 673 K, (▲) 698 K, (+) 723 K, (■) 748 K
Female Basketball Participation Negotiating the Conflation of Peer Status and Gender Status from Childhood through Puberty

The adolescent transition is characterized by heightened social pressure to conform to gender expectations from peers and increased female sports attrition. However, few studies examine how gender shapes physical activity participation in peer contexts. Through qualitative life-history interviews with high school basketball players, this study explores female sports participation and attrition throughout adolescence. To what extent do pre- and post-pubertal sporting experiences differ for girls? Results indicate that before and after puberty, girls' peer statuses and gender statuses are conflated. Female popularity (peer status) often contradicted (high status) basketball player. At both time points, girls had to renegotiate a tension between popularity (peer status) and athleticism. However, a postpubertal failure to emphasize femininity and/or downplay skills led peers to question girls' heterosexuality. Therefore, homophobia may be complicit in female sports attrition. Modifiable social processes in pe...
A Bad Case of ‘Peanut Envy’: Concessions Markets and Monopoly Power at Chicago’s United Center

In recent decades, sports franchises have exploited their privileged relationship to the state in order to expand the scope of their local monopoly powers. This article examines efforts by the owners of the United Center, the home arena of the Chicago Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks, to eliminate competition from local peanut vendors. The owners benefited from court rulings rejecting the legitimacy of government intervention in local markets at the same time that they successfully lobbied municipal politicians to intervene on their behalf by passing anti-vendor legislation. This story not only offers a case study in how teams’ monopolistic privilege has extended to concessions markets, but also contributes to a broader understanding of how the neoliberal state works to minimize risk and maximize profitability for large-scale real estate investments like sports arenas. The methodological approach is interdisciplinary, drawing on legal and business history, urban geography and sociology, and radical political ...
Children's changing attitudes regarding alcohol: a cross-sectional study.

A drug and alcohol related questionnaire was distributed to the fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students in an urban school district in Pennsylvania. Based on the responses to the questionnaire, it was concluded that the sixth-grade students were significantly more advanced than the fourth- or fifth-grade students, in terms of conformity to peer pressure and positive attitudes toward the use of drugs and alcohol. It was recommended that prior to the sixth-grade, use of drug and alcohol education curriculum may be useful. Beginning at the sixth-grade and continuing on through high school, sole reliance on drug and alcohol education curriculum as a means of dealing with drug and alcohol use was not expected to produce positive results.
The ExaVolt Antenna: A large-aperture, balloon-embedded antenna for ultra-high energy particle detection

Abstract We describe the scientific motivation, experimental basis, design methodology, and simulated performance of the ExaVolt Antenna (EVA) mission, and planned ultra-high energy (UHE) particle observatory under development for NASA’s suborbital super-pressure balloon program in Antarctica. EVA will improve over ANITA’s integrated totals – the current state-of-the-art in UHE suborbital payloads – by 1–2 orders of magnitude in a single flight. The design is based on a novel application of toroidal reflector optics which utilizes a super-pressure balloon surface, along with a feed-array mounted on an inner membrane, to create an ultra-large radio antenna system with a synoptic view of the Antarctic ice sheet below it. Radio impulses arise via the Askaryan effect when UHE neutrinos interact within the ice, or via geosynchrotron emission when UHE cosmic rays interact in the atmosphere above the continent. EVA’s instantaneous antenna aperture is estimated to be several hundred m 2 for detection of these events within a 150–600 MHz band. For standard cosmogenic UHE neutrino models, EVA should detect of order 30 events per flight in the EeV energy regime. For UHE cosmic rays, of order 15,000 geosynchrotron events would be detected in total, several hundred above 10 EeV, and of order 60 above the GZK cutoff energy.
Motion Perception as a Partnership: Exogenous and Endogenous Contributions

terpersonal contexts, Journal of Personality and So cial Psychology, 57, 426-441 (1989). 8. M.H. Bazerman, C.F. Loewenstein, and S.B. White, Psychological determinants of utility in com petitive contexts: The impact of el ?citation proce dure, Administrative Science Quarterly, 37, 220 240(1992). 9. M.H. Bazerman, H. Schroth, P. Pradhan, K. Diekmann, and A. Tenbrunsel, Inconsistent prefer ences in job acceptance: The role of social compar ison processes and procedural justice, Organiza tional Behavior and Human Decision Processes (in press). 10. These three effects can be found in the fol lowing three papers, respectively: D. Lowenthal, Reversals of preference in candidate choice, unpub lished manuscript, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh (1993); D. Kahneman and I. Ritov, De terminants of stated willingness to pay for public goods: A study of the headline method, Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 9, 5-38 (1994); and C.K. Hsee, Elastic justification: Affective influences on monetary decision making, unpublished manu script, University of Chicago, Chicago (1993).