cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of Preexisting Anti-Hemagglutinin Stalk Antibody as a Correlate of Protection in a Healthy Volunteer Challenge with Influenza A/H1N1pdm Virus

ABSTRACT Influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) surface glycoprotein is currently the primary target of licensed influenza vaccines. Recently, broadly reactive antibodies that target the stalk region of the HA have become a major focus of current novel vaccine development. These antibodies have been observed in humans after natural infection with influenza A virus, but the data are limited. Using samples and data from the uniquely controlled setting of an influenza A/H1N1 virus human challenge study of healthy volunteers, we performed a secondary analysis that for the first time explores the role of anti-HA stalk antibody as a human correlate of protection. An anti-HA stalk antibody enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed on samples from 65 participants challenged with a 2009 H1N1pdm virus. Pre- and postchallenge anti-HA stalk titers were then correlated with multiple outcome measures to evaluate anti-HA stalk antibody titer as a correlate of protection. Anti-HA stalk antibody titers were present before challenge and rose in response to challenge in 64% of individuals. Those individuals with higher titers at baseline were less likely to develop shedding, but not less likely to develop symptoms. Similar to the hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) titer, the baseline anti-HA stalk antibody titer did not independently predict a decrease in the severity of influenza disease, while the antineuraminidase (neuraminidase inhibition [NAI]) titer did. As a correlate of protection, the naturally occurring anti-HA stalk antibody titer is predictive of a reduction of certain aspects of disease similar to HAI titer, but the NAI titer is the only identified correlate that is an independent predictor of a reduction of all assessed influenza clinical outcome measures. IMPORTANCE This is the first study to evaluate preexisting anti-HA stalk antibodies as a predictor of protection. We use a healthy volunteer influenza challenge trial for an examination of the role such antibodies play in protection. This study demonstrates that anti-HA stalk antibodies are naturally generated in response to an infection, but there is significant variability in response. Similar to antibodies that target the HA head, baseline anti-HA stalk antibody titer is a correlate of protection in terms of reduced shedding, but it is not a predictor of reduced clinical disease or an independent predictor of disease severity. These results, in the context of the limited data available in humans, suggest that vaccines that induce anti-HA stalk antibodies could play a role in future vaccine strategies, but alone, this target may be insufficient to induce a fully protective vaccine and overcome some of the issues identified with current vaccines.
Detection of prostate cancer lesions using Gallium-68 PSMA-11 PET in men with biochemical recurrence following radical prostatectomy.

236Background: Conventional imaging techniques infrequently detect the site of prostate cancer disease in men with biochemical recurrence following radical prostatectomy (RP). We examine the use of Gallium-68 Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) positron emission tomography (PET) to determine the site of disease recurrence in these men. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed men with persistently detectable prostate specific antigen (PSA) and those with formal biochemical recurrence (PSA ≥ 0.2 ng/mL) following RP who underwent PSMA PET scan under our institution's prospective trials (NCT02918357 & NCT02611882). We assessed the location of detected recurrences, and examined the distribution of recurrence location (prostate bed, pelvic lymph nodes (LN), and extra-pelvic disease) according to PSA at time of PET scan. Results: One hundred and fifty-eight men underwent PSMA PET after RP, 46% of men had previously undergone either adjuvant or salvage radiation therapy. Eleven men (7%) had the scan for persis...
Microplastic abundances in a mussel bed and ingestion by the ribbed marsh mussel Geukensia demissa.

Abstract Human activities have generated large quantities of microplastics that can be consumed by filter-feeding organisms as potential food sources. As a result, organisms may experience marked reductions in growth and/or health. To date there has been no investigations connecting microplastics (MPs) with the critically important ribbed mussel Geukensia demissa. Here we examined MP abundances within a bed of G. demissa in New Jersey. Results indicate that MP densities ranged between 11,000–50,000 pieces/m2. The abundance of larger MPs (5 mm ≥ 1 mm) did not vary among sampling sites while the smaller MPs (
Living Donor Liver Transplantation: Technical Innovations.

Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) has found a place to serve the end-stage liver disease community as the donor safety and recipient suitability has been elucidated. Donor safety is of paramount importance and transplant programs must continue endeavors to maintain the highest possible standards. At the same time, adequacy of grafts based on recipient clinical status via their model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score and volumetric studies to achieve a GRBWR >0.8, along with special attention to anatomic tailoring and portal venous flow optimization are necessary for successful transplantation. Technical innovations have improved sequentially the utility and availability of LDLT.
The unintended consequence of the Indian Child Welfare Act: American Indian trust in public child welfare

Abstract The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) passed in 1978, yet American Indian families remain disproportionately represented in child welfare systems across the United States (US). The current study explores this by examining how historical trauma has impacted American Indian tribes' trust in today's public child welfare agencies. Tribal child welfare workers (N = 146) completed the standardized Mayer and Davis Trust Inventory. Results indicate American Indian-identified tribal child welfare workers have a higher propensity to trust than non-American Indian-identified tribal child welfare workers. Additionally, tribal child welfare workers rate public child welfare workers as more trustworthy than other types of government officials. Findings suggest that despite the overrepresentation of American Indian children in foster care, ICWA may be helping to restore trust between tribal and public systems.
A comprehensive survey of nondestructive sensing technologies for the detection of corn seeds in a closed trench and measuring planting depth to augment the conventional method

Abstract Due to the importance of planting depth on yield potential, we need to measure planting depth to improve planting depth accuracy. A number of pressure-based active planter depth control systems are commercially available. These systems actively control downward pressure on the planter units based on a target pressure setting. The necessary target pressure can change significantly depending on spatial and temporal conditions. However, precision planters are not equipped with subsurface sensors that enable detection and quantification of corn seed depth. The primary objective of this review was to evaluate nondestructive sensing technologies that may be used for corn seed detection, thereby enabling determination of planting depth in a closed trench. The sensors were reviewed in terms of their suitability for the application, operational requirements, and sensor advantages and limitations for soil subsurface detection. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) was recommended as a viable candidate for corn seed depth sensing but there is no single technique that can be conclusively identified as the best technology. A limitation of the available systems is that they do not provide a way to close loop control planting depth. A possible solution could be using sensor-based closed loop controls in respect to the planting depth. These could significantly improve the accuracy of pressure-based active control systems, and significantly improve the potential yield and economic benefits of planter depth control systems.
Using low-cost alcohol sensors to monitor real-time olfactory information during odor-guided navigation

Abstract Olfaction — an evolutionarily conserved chemosensory modality — guides navigation and decision-making in organisms from multiple phyla within the animal kingdom. However, using olfactory cues to guide navigation is a complicated problem. This is because the spread of odor molecules from the source is governed by turbulent and chaotic air currents, resulting in intermittent and spatiotemporally varying sensory cues as odor plumes. Precisely correlating olfactory information with behavior and neurophysiology from freely behaving animals has thus been a challenging avenue due to the dynamic nature of the odor plumes. Current technologies for chemical quantification are cumbersome and not feasible for monitoring the olfactory information at the temporal and spatial scales relevant for plume and odor tracking in animals. Here we present an alternate method for real-time monitoring of olfactory information using low-cost, lightweight sensors that robustly detect common solvent molecules, like alcohols. Paired recordings were made from these ethanol sensors with a Photoionization detector (PID) to precisely controlled ethanol stimuli. The ethanol sensor recordings were then deconvolved using a double exponential kernel, showing robust correlations with the PID recordings at behaviorally relevant time, frequency and spatial scales. Furthermore, the light weight of these sensors allows us to mount them on the heads of freely behaving rodents engaged in odor-guided navigation. Our preliminary experiments in mice show robust behavioral and neurophysiological responses correlated with ethanol plume contacts detected by these sensors.
Crime As Exchange: Retribution

This chapter explores an alternative economic theory of crime based on the work of Richard Adelstein. Unlike the Becker model, it argues that the criminal process operates as part of the “exchange order” of society. The goal of punishment is, therefore, to mediate criminal exchanges, defined to be involuntary transfers of legal rights between offenders and their victims. Within this setting, criminal liability is specifically aimed at “completing the exchange” by imposing proportional punishment on offenders. That is, offenders pay for the crime that they committed, while at the same time the public nature of punishment implicitly compensates society for the moral costs of the crime. The guiding principle of this system is retribution, or corrective justice on a case-by-case basis, rather than deterrence.
Mindfulness-based therapy for psychogenic nonepileptic seizures.

Abstract Background Mindfulness-based therapies (MBTs) are effective in many neuropsychiatric disorders, and represent a potential therapeutic strategy for psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES). Objective The objective of this study was to investigate the clinical effect of a manualized 12-session MBT for PNES in an uncontrolled trial. We hypothesized reductions in PNES frequency, intensity, and duration, and improvements in quality of life and psychiatric symptom severity at treatment completion. Methods Between August 2014 and February 2018, 49 patients with documented PNES (with video electroencephalography [EEG]) were recruited at Brigham and Women's Hospital to participate in the MBT for PNES treatment study. Baseline demographic and clinical information and self-rating scales were obtained during the diagnostic evaluation (T0). Baseline PNES frequency, intensity, and duration were collected at the first follow-up postdiagnosis (T1). Frequency was obtained at each subsequent MBT session and analyzed over time with median regression analysis. Outcomes for other measures were collected at the last MBT session (T3), and compared to baseline measures using linear mixed models. Results Twenty-six patients completed the 12-session MBT program and were included in the analysis. Median PNES frequency decreased by 0.12 events/week on average with each successive MBT session (p = 0.002). At session 12, 70% of participants endorsed a reduction in PNES frequency of at least 50%. Freedom from PNES was reported by 50% of participants by treatment conclusion. Seventy percent reported a 50% reduction in frequency from baseline and 50% reported remission at session 12. By treatment end, PNES intensity decreased (p = 0.012) and quality of life improved (p = 0.002). Event duration and psychiatric symptom severity were lower after treatment, but reductions were not statistically significant. Conclusions Completion of a manualized 12-session MBT for PNES provides improvement in PNES frequency, intensity, and quality of life. The high dropout rate is consistent with adherence studies in PNES. Possible reasons for dropout are discussed. Randomized controlled trials and longer-term outcomes are needed to demonstrate the efficacy of MBT in PNES.
El populismo radical de derecha en Europa : discurso, apropiación de significantes y desplazamiento de significados

La presencia en la Europa contemporanea del discurso de la extrema derecha y radical en el espacio del debate politico en general y en el electoral en particular, permite reflexionar sobre las transformaciones surgidas en las formas de hacer politica y los discursos que las acompanan. El desplazamiento del significado, las apropiaciones de los presupuestos y de los valores tradicionales presentes en el discurso del “otro politico” y las diferentes maneras de construir el propio sobre ese postulado, son objeto de este articulo. Los enunciados y acciones derivados son tomados en consideracion con la pretension de evidenciar los medios utilizados, las estrategias presentes en dichas apropiaciones, asi como, los valores usurpados para mostrar las fortalezas y debilidades presentes en el contemporaneo arte de hacer politica.
Construcción y persuasión: El VIII Congreso Panamericano de Arquitectos en México como plataforma política

En las narrativas de la arquitectura moderna latinoamericana, la Ciudad Universitaria de Mexico tiene un lugar fundamental. Academicos y criticos han analizado in extenso las especificidades estilisticas e implicaciones simbolicas de este magno complejo cuyo plan maestro fue disenado por los
Using a Deep Learning Model, Content Features, and Author Metadata to Recommend Research Papers

According to the Canadian Science Publishing, there are approximately 2.5 million scientific papers published each year. The huge volume of publications can be contributed to a substantial increase in the total number of academic journals, including the increasing number of predatory or fake scientific journals, which yield high volumes of poor-quality research work. The effect of this scenario is that there is an obsolete jungle of journals to flip through in searching for high-quality and relevant references for researchers, ranging from the ones who simply look for citations to cite or latest development and knowledge in a specific scientific area of study. Querying existing web search engines and research paper archived websites is not the solution to the problem, since they are m-equipped to suggest high quality publications to meet the users’ information needs. In solving this problem, we propose an elegant research paper recommender, which is unique compared with existing ones, since besides considering the topics and contents of related publications, it also examines the authority and popularity of each publication to ensure its quality. Conducted empirical study shows that our recommender outperforms existing research paper recommenders and contributes to the design of searching relevant publications.
Physical Activity Patterns in People With Inflammatory Arthritis Indicate They Have not Received Recommendation-Based Guidance From Health Care Providers.

OBJECTIVE Objectives of this study were to describe exercise patterns among patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA) in four recommended domains (Aerobic, Resistance, Flexibility, Balance), identify exercise barriers and facilitators, and explore patients' perceptions of interactions with rheumatology providers about exercise. METHODS Patients with IA at a single academic medical center were invited to complete a survey about exercise. Patients were recruited for a paper-based survey prior to appointments or a web-based study through the electronic health record if they had been seen in the practice within the past year. Respondents reporting minimum aerobic exercise plus at least one other domain were categorized as "Active," and the remaining as "Inactive." Survey responses were compared between groups. RESULTS Of 1113 invited, 108 completed the survey. Among these, 60 (56%) reported aerobic exercise, 44 (41%) flexibility, 42 (39%) resistance, and 18 (17%) balance. Forty-three (40%) were categorized as active, 65 (60%) inactive. The active group had lower body mass index, lower reported disease activity, and fewer comorbidities. Active patients reported more self-efficacy, prioritized exercise, improved energy, exercising for weight control, and exercise before arthritis diagnosis (all P < .05). The inactive group cited finances, pain, fatigue, and potentially worsening arthritis as barriers (all P < .05). Most understood the benefits of exercise. Few perceived that exercise recommendations were addressed by their providers. CONCLUSION Approximately half of patients reported regular aerobic exercise; fewer regularly engaged in other types of physical activity. Patients do not perceive they have received exercise guidance from providers, which suggests an opportunity for more prescriptive exercise discussions.
Laser induced graphene for in situ damage sensing in aramid fiber reinforced composites

Abstract In situ monitoring of strain and damage in fiber-reinforced composites provides critical information regarding the state of the material without requiring the structure to be removed from operation. In order to avoid the use of complex, heavy, and bulky sensor networks to track the state of the structure, recent focus has turned to multifunctional materials with inherent characteristics which enable in situ monitoring. This work investigates laser induced graphene (LIG) integrated within aramid fiber reinforced composites for damage and strain sensing during mechanical loading. The LIG used here fully integrates the sensing material within the composite as the piezoresistive graphene layer is coated directly onto the reinforcing aramid fabric prior to infusing the fibers with the supporting matrix. The sensing element is thus not susceptible to environmental effects and adds no extra weight while also maintaining the specific strength of the material. As strain and damage occur within the composite, the LIG proves capable of tracking strain and detecting plastic deformation in situ. Thus, the result of this work is the integration of a multifunctional component into aramid composites which possesses in situ sensing capabilities. Furthermore, the processes and materials are easily scalable for the large-scale production of multifunctional aramid fiber reinforced composites.
Correlation-Aware Change-Point Detection via Graph Neural Networks.

Change-point detection (CPD) aims to detect abrupt changes over time series data. Intuitively, effective CPD over multivariate time series should require explicit modeling of the dependencies across input variables. However, existing CPD methods either ignore the dependency structures entirely or rely on the (unrealistic) assumption that the correlation structures are static over time. In this paper, we propose a Correlation-aware Dynamics Model for CPD, which explicitly models the correlation structure and dynamics of variables by incorporating graph neural networks into an encoder-decoder framework. Extensive experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets demonstrate the advantageous performance of the proposed model on CPD tasks over strong baselines, as well as its ability to classify the change-points as correlation changes or independent changes.
Abstract 14193: Depression Worsens Cardiovascular Health: A Population-based Cohort Study (NHANES, 2015-16)

Introduction: Depression increases cardiovascular risk, but associations between depression and cardiovascular risk profiles have had limited investigation. We hypothesized that depression is assoc...
The Death of Daniel Prude - Reflections of a Black Neurosurgeon.

The Death of Daniel Prude Mental health conditions are ubiquitous, and it is critical to seek help for them. For Black people, however, help comes with substantial risk. One manifestation of this r...
Computer-assisted catalyst development via automated modelling of conformationally complex molecules: application to diphosphinoamine ligands

Simulation of conformationally complicated molecules requires multiple levels of theory to obtain accurate thermodynamics, requiring significant researcher time to implement. We automate this workflow using all open-source code (XTBDFT) and apply it toward a practical challenge: diphosphinoamine (PNP) ligands used for ethylene tetramerization catalysis may isomerize (with deleterious effects) to iminobisphosphines (PPNs), and a computational method to evaluate PNP ligand candidates would save significant experimental effort. We use XTBDFT to calculate the thermodynamic stability of a wide range of conformationally complex PNP ligands against isomeriation to PPN (ΔGPPN), and establish a strong correlation between ΔGPPN and catalyst performance. Finally, we apply our method to screen novel PNP candidates, saving significant time by ruling out candidates with non-trivial synthetic routes and poor expected catalytic performance.
Abstract PS6-09: An AI-digital breast cancer risk discrimination platform (PreciseDx) using a representative H&E image and selected clinical variables accurately categorized patients with oncotype Dx low risk recurrence scores (RS)

Background: Clinical practice guidelines emphasize the critical importance of grading and stage in breast cancer treatment. Although histologic grade is subjective, non-quantitative, skill-dependent, and oftentimes inaccurate it remains an independent prognostic feature and therefore plays a direct role in patient management including neoadjuvant therapy vs surgery, and interpretation of genomic studies. We developed an AI-based platform which combines digital HE reviewed by two pathologist for tumor content and quality prior to image analysis and feature extraction. Support vector machine learning models were used for initial feature performance and final models generated. Positive predictive value (PPV), sensitivity (S) and likelihood ratios (LR) were used for performance. Results: 391 patients: mean age 57 years, 100% Stage I/II, 59% Grade 2, and 6% LN+ve 0-3; 97% IDC, 100% ER+ve, 94% PR+ve, 0% Her2 amplified; median follow-up 61 months; 323 (83%) low risk ( 25). There were 23 events (6%) and 13 (56%) were locoregional recurrence. PreciseDx model with age, and PR levels combined with imaging features reflective of mitotic activity and nuclear characteristics (clinical grade not selected) correctly identified LR RS categorization: PPV of 91%, [95CI 0.87-0.94], Se 92% [0.86-0.95] and positive / negative likelihood ratio : 6.8, and 0.5, respectively. Conclusions: Application of an AI-digital breast cancer risk assessment platform using only the HE 2020 Dec 8-11; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PS6-09.
Resultant Radius of Curvature of Stylet-and-Tube Steerable Needles Based on the Mechanical Properties of the Soft Tissue, and the Needle

Steerable needles have been widely researched in recent years, and they have multiple potential roles in the medical area. The flexibility and capability of avoiding obstacles allow the steerable needles to be applied in the biopsy, drug delivery and other medical applications that require a high degree of freedom and control accuracy. Radius of Curvature (ROC) of the needle while inserting in the soft tissue is an important parameter for evaluation of the efficacy, and steerability of these flexible needles. For our Fracture-directed Stylet-and-Tube Steerable Needles, it is important to find a relationship among the resultant insertion ROC, pre-set wire shape and the Young’s Modulus of soft tissue to characterize this class of steerable needles. In this paper, an approach is provided for obtaining resultant ROC using stylet and tissue’s mechanical properties. A finite element analysis is also conducted to support the reliability of the model. This work sets the foundation for other researchers to predict the insertion ROC based on the mechanical properties of the needle, and the soft tissue that is being inserted.
Three-dimensional printed guides for screw placement in equine navicular bones.

OBJECTIVE To determine the influence of a custom 3D-printed guide for placement of cortical bone screws in the equine navicular bone. STUDY DESIGN Ex vivo study. SAMPLE POPULATION Eight pairs of normal adult equine forelimbs. METHODS A 3.5 × 55 mm cortical screw was placed in the longitudinal axis of each intact navicular bone. Screws were placed with a 3D-printed guide (3D) in one bone and with a traditional aiming device (AD) in the contralateral bone within each pair. Duration of surgery and the number of fluoroscopy images were compared between techniques. Screw placement was subjectively evaluated by gross examination and scored by three boarded veterinary surgeons. RESULTS The use of a 3D-printed guide reduced the duration of surgery by 6.6 min (±1.5 min) compared to traditional screw placement (20.7 min ± 4.8 min, p < .01). Fewer peri-operative fluoroscopic images were obtained when the 3D guide was used (18 images ± 2.6 images vs. 40 images ± 5.1, p < .01). No difference was detected in navicular screw placement. CONCLUSION The use of a 3D guide decreased the time required to place screws and the number of intraoperative images taken without affecting screw placement in intact navicular bones. CLINICAL RELEVANCE 3D-printed guides can aid in the study, practice, and execution of surgical procedures reducing surgical time and radiation exposure throughout the operative period achieving similar results to those obtained with a conventional approach.
Extracting postmarketing adverse events from safety reports in the vaccine adverse event reporting system (VAERS) using deep learning.

OBJECTIVE Automated analysis of vaccine postmarketing surveillance narrative reports is important to understand the progression of rare but severe vaccine adverse events (AEs). This study implemented and evaluated state-of-the-art deep learning algorithms for named entity recognition to extract nervous system disorder-related events from vaccine safety reports. MATERIALS AND METHODS We collected Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) related influenza vaccine safety reports from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) from 1990 to 2016. VAERS reports were selected and manually annotated with major entities related to nervous system disorders, including, investigation, nervous_AE, other_AE, procedure, social_circumstance, and temporal_expression. A variety of conventional machine learning and deep learning algorithms were then evaluated for the extraction of the above entities. We further pretrained domain-specific BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) using VAERS reports (VAERS BERT) and compared its performance with existing models. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Ninety-one VAERS reports were annotated, resulting in 2512 entities. The corpus was made publicly available to promote community efforts on vaccine AEs identification. Deep learning-based methods (eg, bi-long short-term memory and BERT models) outperformed conventional machine learning-based methods (ie, conditional random fields with extensive features). The BioBERT large model achieved the highest exact match F-1 scores on nervous_AE, procedure, social_circumstance, and temporal_expression; while VAERS BERT large models achieved the highest exact match F-1 scores on investigation and other_AE. An ensemble of these 2 models achieved the highest exact match microaveraged F-1 score at 0.6802 and the second highest lenient match microaveraged F-1 score at 0.8078 among peer models.
Comment on “Stepped pressure profile equilibria in cylindrical plasmas via partial Taylor relaxation” [J. Plasma Physics (2006), vol. 72, part 6, pp. 1167–1171]

In an early study of the properties and capabilities of the multiregion, relaxed magnetohydrodynamic model, Hole, Hudson & Dewar claim that they are able to construct a multiregion stepped pressure cylindrical equilibrium which does not require the existence of surface currents. We present a brief argument showing that this claim is incorrect, and clarify the meaning of their statement. Furthermore, even with the statement clarified, we demonstrate that it is not possible to find solutions to reproduce the equilibrium corresponding to the parameters given in the article. We invite the authors to provide a corrigendum with the correct values of the equilibrium they constructed.
Clinical Decision-Making for Radioactive Iodine Therapy for Hyperthyroidism: A Group Learning Exercise for Residents

1129 Objectives: In this educational exhibit, we present a 45-60 minute group learning exercise that aims to help learners become more confident in image interpretation, radioactive iodine uptake analysis, and radioactive iodine dose determination in patients with hyperthyroidism. By the end of the group learning session, the learner will be able to: Identify on thyroid scan: Grave’s disease, toxic multinodular goiter, toxic adenoma, Hashimoto’s disease, and subacute thyroiditis. Interpret the radioactive iodine uptake in relation to the scan. Synthesize uptake, scan, and clinical picture to reach a diagnosis. Present the patient’s case to the group, including recommendations for specific dose of radioactive iodine therapy. Methods: In this exhibit, materials and methods for the group learning exercise will be provided. This will include electronic handouts and teaching files outlining scan and uptake interpretation and radioactive iodine dose determination that can be reviewed in 20 to 30 minutes by learners prior to the group learning exercise. Cases will be provided for groups of 3 to 4 residents, with individual learner roles within the group being specified so that the group can come up with a clinical presentation and recommendation regarding radioactive iodine therapy for hyperthyroidism. Group facilitator instruction for leading the case-based group learning exercise will be provided. Materials and methods for the group learning exercise follow modern pedagogical practice. Results: After viewing this exhibit, educators will have a resource that can be utilized as is, modified as desired per individual institution requirements, or built upon for further resident education regarding nuclear medicine and hyperthyroidism therapy. Conclusions: Group learning exercises can be valuable learning tools, particularly in medicine, where different levels of learners can help each other solve case-based problems as a team. We propose an easily implemented, short group learning exercise about hyperthyroidism that may be useful in your academic practice.
Approach to an Arteriovenous Access with a Faint Thrill

An arteriovenous fistula (AVF) remains the preferred access for providing maintenance hemodialysis therapy. An AVF is commonly created in the forearm or the upper arm using native vessels, and it generally matures over a 2–3-month period. A dysfunctional AVF due to primary maturation failure is a common problem encountered in clinical practice. The skills needed to perform a thorough and accurate physical examination of an AVF can be easily learned by everyone involved in the care of a dialysis patient. A thrill is produced because of the turbulence generated by the high-pressure arterial blood flowing across the anastomosis into a low-pressure thin-walled vein. A faint thrill is an indicator of pathology in the inflow segment of the AVF, and the algorithm to identify the abnormality within the dialysis access circuit is discussed here.
Distribution of neptunium and plutonium in New Mexico lichen samples ( Usnea arizonica ) contaminated by atmospheric fallout

The concentrations of 237Np, 239Pu and 240Pu were determined in lichen samples (Usnea arizonica) that were collected from ten locations in New Mexico between 2011 and 2013 using isotope dilution inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ID-ICP-MS). The observed isotopic ratios for 237Np/239Pu and 240Pu/239Pu indicate trace contamination from global and regional fallout (e.g. Trinity test and atmospheric testing at the Nevada Test Site). The fact that actinide contamination is detected in recent lichen collections suggests continuous re-suspension of fallout radionuclides even 50 years after ratification of the Limited Test Ban Treaty.
An eddy-current decay technique for low-temperature resistivity measurements

The eddy-current decay technique developed by Bean for resistivity determination is well suited for material characterization studies. The technique is shown to be an excellent method for determining the terminal solid-solution phase boundary in aluminum-gold (Al-Au), for following age hardening in dilute Al-Au alloys, and for detecting anisotropic electrical resistivity in cold-worked aluminum. Rapid and highly accurate resistivities are measured with a basic circuit arrangement incorporating a digital oscilloscope.
Radioactive phosphorus as an indicator of the rate of phospholipide formation in patients with liver disease.

Summary Studies of experimentally produced liver disease in animals have demonstrated that a pathologic picture similar to that of portal cirrhosis in human beings may be produced by various means. In certain instances, the use of lipotropic factors is of prophylactic and therapeutic value. This beneficial effect is attributed largely to stimulation of the phospholipide formation. In normal persons, the rate of phospholipide turnover measured after an injection of radiophosphorus shows considerable variation between individuals. In patients with advanced portal cirrhosis the values for phospholipide turnover fall in the lower range of the normal controls. When the determinations of phospholipide turnover in these patients are repeated after a prolonged period of therapy, no significant differences are noted even though clinical improvement has occurred. In two untreated patients with cirrhosis, an increase in plasma phospholipide turnover was demonstrated following a single large dose of choline or methionine. No such effect was apparent after these patients had been treated with methionine. It is suggested that a definite increase in phospholipide turnover following a single large dose of choline or methionine may indicate fatty infiltration of the liver, and perhaps provide an indication of the need for treatment with lipotropic substances.
H/sup /spl infin// control of chaos

An H/sup /spl infin// method for dynamic control of chaotic systems is introduced. The method addresses the control of chaos in the same conceptual framework as the Ott-Grebogi-Yorke approach (1990). However, the novelty here is the introduction of H/sup /spl infin// techniques. The method has been tested on representative systems, specifically the logistic map. >
Regulation of synthesis of ribonucleotide reductase and relationship to DNA replication in various systems.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the nature of ribonucleotide reductase enzyme and reaction. Ribonucleotide reductase is a central and crucial enzyme in all cells. It catalyzes an irreversible step, the first in the only de novo pathway to deoxyribonucleotides, and it follows a large number of enzymes that form pyrimidine and purine ribonucleotide precursors. The classical ribonucleotide reductase is the ribonucleoside diphosphate reductase of aerobically grown Escherichia coli . The biosynthesis of the subunits of ribonucleotide reductases in several diverse systems is examined and their controls are described and compared in the chapter. Escherichia coli present a sophisticated combination of systems regulating the initiation of ribonucleotide reductase and tying its activity to the cell cycle. In prokaryotic cells, many genes may be expressed in a coordinated manner on single, multigenic transcripts. Although mouse nrdA and nrdB genes are on separate chromosomes, in some conditions the expression of the two genes or the formation of their protein products appears to be coordinated. Numerous links between cell cycle-specific factors and the regulatory sequences of the nrd genes are evident.
Query optimization in encrypted database systems

To ensure the privacy of data in the relational databases, prior work has given techniques to support data encryption and execute SQL queries over the encrypted data. However, the problem of how to put these techniques together in an optimum manner was not addressed, which is equivalent to having an RDBMS without a query optimizer. This paper models and solves that optimization problem.
Attorney Decision Making in an Employment Discrimination Dispute Involving Personnel Selection

ion associated with behaviors in the criterion domain is used to determine which type of evidence is most appropriate (Cascio & Aguinis, 2005, Chapter 7). Contentrelated evidence is most appropriate for observable behaviors (e.g., job knowledge, work sample performance) whereas construct-related evidence is most appropriate for more abstract behaviors (e.g., personality traits, cognitive ability). The Uniform Guidelines
Transfer of Stimulus Pretraining to Motor Paired-Associate and Discrimination Learning Tasks

Publisher Summary There has been widespread interest in the past decades in studying the effects of various kinds of verbal pretraining on subsequent performance in motor paired-associate or discrimination learning tasks. Certain hypotheses have been presented concerning the role of verbal cues in mediating transfer in these situations, while other hypotheses suggest that part or perhaps all of the transfer can be explained in terms of perceptual orienting responses. Much of the more recent research in this area has been done with children, who seem to be particularly suitable subjects for studying verbal mediation in relatively simple situations. This chapter: (1) reviews some of the hypotheses concerning the role of both verbal and perceptual orienting responses in transfer situations, including certain methodological problems associated with evaluating the hypotheses; (2) describes in some detail the relevant experiments that have used children as subjects; and (3) examines these findings in terms of the implications which can be drawn from them concerning the usefulness of the various hypotheses.
Elementary Control Systems

The preceding chapters discussed the various control elements or units, and how they function with different types of energy. The next four chapters will consider the application of these units to form combinations or “control systems” for the control of HVAC. (The word “system” becomes somewhat overworked here, applying as it does to both “control systems” and “HVAC systems.” The difference is always clear in context.) This chapter will consider only small segments of the larger overall systems. Each of these is a complete control system within itself, and all large systems are made up of complexes of these elementary systems.
ESTIMATING LEVELS OF GENE FLOW IN NATURAL POPULATIONS

The results from a simulation model of selection, mutation and genetic drift in a geographically subdivided population are presented. The infinite-alleles mutation model of Kimura and Crow (1964) is asumed, and both advantageous and deleterious mutations are considered. It is shown that the average frequency of an allele conditioned on the number of local populations it appears in—the conditional average frequency—is approximately independent of both the selection intensity and mutation rates assumed, but depends strongly on the overall level of gene flow. This result justifies the use of the conditional average frequency to obtain a rough estimate of the level of gene flow in a subdivided population. Data from 16 species are presented and discussed. There are large differences in the conditional average frequencies of different species, although there is some consistency within taxa. Some species apparently have high levels of gene flow and others, particularly salamanders, have low levels. Alternative explanations for the patterns found in the data are considered.
The role of triple therapy with protease inhibitors in hepatitis C virus genotype 1 naïve patients.

With the introduction of direct-acting oral antiviral agents we are on the verge of a new era that will transform the treatment landscape. This review discusses recent developments in drug discovery for hepatitis C protease inhibitors. First generation protease inhibitors will offer higher sustained viral response rates in naive populations when combined with standard pegylated interferon and ribavirin. However, these dramatic gains will be partially offset by new challenges in viral resistance and increased adverse events.
Comparison of measured and estimated creatinine clearance in patients with advanced HIV disease.

Study Objective. To assess the accuracy of five creatinine clearance equations in predicting measured creatinine clearance in hospitalized patients with human immunodeficiency viral (HIV) infection. Design. Prospective evaluation over a 6-month period. Setting. Erie County Medical Center, a 550-bed teaching institution. Patients. Forty-seven HIV-positive patients (39 men, 8 women) who were admitted for a variety of HIV-related illnesses and judged clinically to have stable renal function. Of the 47 original patients, 44 were evaluable based on exclusion criteria. Interventions. Serum creatinine and 24-hour measured creatinine clearance were performed in each patient. Measurements and Main Results. The estimated creatinine clearance from each of the equations (Cockcroft-Gault, two Jeliffe equations, Mawer et al, and Hull et al) was compared with the measured creatinine clearance. Statistical analysis of these comparisons was performed and all of the equations were found to overestimate the measured creatinine clearance (mean error 34–45%). Conclusions. Many HIV-infected patients have a decreased creatinine clearance despite a serum creatinine concentration within the normal range. Each of the equations overestimated the measured creatinine clearance.
Integrating neuromuscular and cyber systems for neural control of artificial legs

This paper presents a design and implementation of a cyber-physical system (CPS) for neurally controlled artificial legs. The key to the new CPS system is the neural-machine interface (NMI) that uses an embedded computer to collect and interpret electromyographic (EMG) signals from a physical system that is a leg amputee. A new deciphering algorithm, composed of an EMG pattern classifier and finite state machine (FSM), was developed to identify the user's intended lower limb movements. To deal with environmental uncertainty, a trust management mechanism was designed to handle unexpected sensor failures and signal disturbances. Integrating the neural deciphering algorithm with the trust management mechanism resulted in a highly accurate and reliable software system for neural control of artificial legs. The software was then embedded in a newly designed hardware platform based on an embedded microcontroller and a graphic processing unit (GPU) to form a complete NMI for real time testing. Our preliminary experiment on a human subject demonstrated the feasibility of our designed real-time neural-machine interface for artificial legs.
No Three Element Set is Ruinous

The group F was invented in the 1960's by Richard Thompson. Geoghegan then asked the question of whether or not F is an example of a finitely presented nonamenable group which has no free subgroup on two generators. It has been shown that the existence of a ruinous set implies the nonamenability of F. In this paper, we show that no three element set is ruinous.
Mechanical Properties of the Chick Embryo Spinal Cord

Determining the mechanical properties of the spinal cord are useful to identify its response to sub-injurious loading experienced during normal motion, to evaluate the biomechanics of spinal cord injury (SCI) [1], and to understand the role of the changing mechanical environment in growth and development. While an array of studies have focused on the mechanical properties of adult spinal cords, those properties may not be the same as pediatric spinal cords, which undergoes significant changes during development. Additionally, during embryonic and fetal development, axon growth and neural precursor differentiation into neurons are at their peak.© 2007 ASME
Reflection on Adverse Event Disclosure in the Postsurgical Hospital Context

Surgeons are most likely to fill the role of communicating adverse outcomes following surgery and nearly two-thirds are faced with conveying the news of death during surgery. However, surgeon-patient communication research focuses primarily on presurgery issues such as recommendations and decision making rather than improvement of postsurgical communication. Several studies have examined the consequences of avoiding adverse event disclosure, but as yet, there is no conceptual framework for understanding why these interactions are difficult. In this reflection, we propose that 3 dimensions (relational distance, information-poor environment, and physical harm to patients) distinguish the adverse event context from other physician-patient encounters. We conclude by offering recommendations for educational and research efforts, drawing attention to empathy in the surgical context and barriers to empathic disclosure more broadly.
Comprehensive Information Retrieval in the Field of Water Resources

The ages-old and ever-growing need for communication and information retrieval among scientists has found expression in the development of indexes, abstracts, reviews and combinations or variations of such. A short review of such efforts is followed by a discussion of efforts along these lines in the new field of water resources science and technology. Such undertakings as the Information Retrieval System of the American Society of Civil Engineers and of the U.S. Water Resources Research Office are compared with that of the American Water Resources Association.
Highly Efficient Non‐Precious Metal Electrocatalysts Prepared from One‐Pot Synthesized Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks

A facile synthesis of non-PGM ORR electrocatalysts through thermolysis of one-pot synthesized ZIF is demonstrated. The electrocatalysts exhibit excellent activity, with a maximum volumetric current density of 88.1 A cm(-3) measured at 0.8 V in PEFC tests. This approach not only makes ZIFs-based electrocatalysts easy to scale up, but also paves the way for the tailored synthesis of electrocatalysts.
EELRU: simple and effective adaptive page replacement

Despite the many replacement algorithms proposed throughout the years, approximations of Least Recently Used (LRU) replacement are predominant in actual virtual memory management systems because of their simplicity and efficiency. LRU, however, exhibits well-known performance problems for regular access patterns of size larger than the main memory. In this paper we present Early Eviction LRU (EELRU): an adaptive replacement algorithm based on the principle of detecting when the LRU algorithm underperforms (i.e., when the fetched memory pages are often the ones evicted lately). In simulations, EELRU proves to be quite effective for many memory sizes and several applications, often decreasing paging by over 30% for programs with large-scale reference patterns and by over lOSo for programs with small-scale patterns. Additionally, the algorithm is very robust, rarely underperforming LRU. Our experiments are mostly with traces from the recent research literature to allow for easy comparison with previous results.