cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Attenuated Glycogenolysis Reduces Glycolytic Catabolite Accumulation During Ischemia in Preconditioned Rat Hearts

Prior transient episodes of ischemia (“ischemic preconditioning”) reduce lactate accumulation and attenuate acidosis during a subsequent prolonged ischemic insult. The mechanisms responsible for attenuated glycolytic catabolite accumulation have not been established but may include earlier exhaustion of glycogen stores, slowed glycogenolysis before complete glycogen depletion, and/or inhibition of glycolysis. Simultaneous repeated measures of myocardial glycogen and the rates of glycolysis, glycogenolysis, glucose utilization, and glycolytic ATP production were obtained during total ischemia by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in control and ischemia-preconditioned isolated rat hearts. Both [13C]glycolytic and [13C]glycogenolytic rates were significantly lower during total ischemia in preconditioned compared with control hearts (0.77±0.04 versus 1.06±0.06 μmol/min per gram wet weight [ P <.01] for glycolysis and 0.15±0.07 versus 0.78±0.12 μmol/min per gram wet weight [ P <.001] for glycogenolysis, respectively, at 2.5 minutes of ischemia). Slowed glycolysis was present even during the early minutes of ischemia, when significant amounts of available [13C]glycogen were still present. Importantly, the reduction in the rate of glycogenolysis was larger and out of proportion to the reduction in glycolysis and occurred despite an increase in glucose utilization in preconditioned hearts (2.23±0.15 versus 1.5±0.10 μmol/min per gram wet weight at 1.25 minutes, P <.01). During early ischemia, conversion of glycogen phosphorylase to the a or “active” form was less in preconditioned than in control hearts (29.1±2.6% versus 41.2±9.8%, respectively; P <.05). Taken together, these findings demonstrate that ischemic preconditioning significantly depresses glycolytic catabolite accumulation during sustained ischemia not by more severe glycolytic inhibition or exhaustion of glycogen stores but by depressed glycogenolysis from the onset of ischemia.
A new Stem Cell Investigation.

Stem cell research is an exciting and rapidly moving discipline driven by innovation and creativity in the laboratory and at the bedside. Stem cell research has come a long way since 1951 when researchers first discovered that the bone marrow contains hematopoietic stem cells that can reconstitute ravaged hematopoietic systems. Today, various tissue-specific adult stem cells have been defined, and major progress has been made in our understanding of embryonic stem cells, somatic cell reprogramming, cancer stem cells, and stem cell niche. Stem cell therapy and regenerative medicine hold great potential to revolutionize healthcare. In fact, stem cell research is a broad field that involves science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It is difficult to name another research area that generates so much excitement among scientists and the general public. In an attempt to meet such growing demand from the fast moving field of stem cell research, we are proud to announce the launch of Stem Cell Investigation (SCI), an open access, peer-reviewed scientific journal dedicated to stem cell research and application. SCI will cover basic, translational, and clinical research on all aspects of stem cells. It will contain over ten categories of papers including research articles, reviews, clinical or laboratory protocols, and commentaries on embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, adult tissue-specific stem/progenitor cells, cancer stem-like cells, stem cell niche, stem cell technology, stem cell based drug discovery, and regenerative medicine. SCI is a free access journal because this is the best way to spread knowledge and information, thereby accelerating further research and discovery. The goal of SCI is to rapidly report novel research discoveries related to stem cells. SCI welcomes nascent or controversial data from conference presentations and research-in-progress. In addition, authors are encouraged to submit provocative ideas and findings that may be deemed too “preliminary” or “incomplete” by other major journals. This journal understands that no proof is absolute and no scientific study can be complete as scientific research often leads to more questions than answers. The fast track submission feature of the journal allows authors to submit previously reviewed manuscripts in their original formats, which will greatly accelerate the publication process. We hope SCI will appeal to research investigators and readers from a broad range of medical and scientific backgrounds.
Clinical Trial Evidence of the Antitumor Activity of Topical Imiquimod for Breast Cancer Skin Metastases

TO THE EDITOR: Henriques et al recently published a case report demonstrating successful treatment of refractory breast cancer skin metastases with topical imiquimod added to systemic therapy. Application of imiquimod, a Toll-like receptor 7 agonist, resulted in partial regression of the skin metastases. The authors state in their introduction that a literature review only revealed a “single case report describing the use of topical imiquimod . . . to successfully treat breast cancer skin metastasis.” In 2012, we published a phase II trial of topical imiquimod in the treatment of breast cancer skin metastasis which included extensive correlative studies in tumor biopsies and blood. Imiquimod was applied five times per week as in the regimen approved for the treatment of superficial basal cell carcinoma and used in the previous case report of breast cancer. Similar to the report by Henriques et al, patients in the trial had the option to continue receiving a systemic regimen concurrently (if no previous response in skin was seen). The results of our prospective study showed that imiquimod treatment in women with heavily pretreated and refractory breast cancer skin metastases achieved a response rate of 20% (partial response in two of 10 patients). Changes in the tumor microenvironment of the responders were strongly suggestive of an immune-mediated response. We observed an induction of a Th1-polarized immune response as well as a reduction of a preexisting immunosuppressive milieu. Our results from a prospective trial demonstrate that imiquimod can be effective in patients with breast cancer that is metastatic to skin. However, the majority of tumors did not regress, which has important implications for future research. Combinatorial approaches should be tested to increase local response and to induce a more powerful antitumor immune response that is capable of controlling systemic metastases, as visceral disease ultimately causes the patient’s death. Preliminary evidence of systemic disease control has been observed in two patients from the imiquimod trial who experienced long-lasting complete remissions after immuno-endocrine therapy, accompanied by treatment-induced priming and boosting of tumor antigen–specific T cells, detectable ex vivo (manuscript submitted for publication). To inform clinical studies, our group and others have studied and identified synergistic combinations in murine models of mammary carcinoma. In the TSA murine model of breast cancer with cutaneous involvement, the combination of topical imiquimod and local radiotherapy induced complete regression of the treated lesions and improved systemic tumor control, leading to enhanced survival. Improved antitumor efficacy and prolonged survival was also observed in neu transgenic mice, in which topical imiquimod was combined with antibodies against interleukin-10. Clinical trials are ongoing to study these and other combinations (NCT01421017 and NCT00821964).
Discontinuous Galerkin methods for coupled flow and reactive transport problems

Primal discontinuous Galerkin methods with interior penalty are proposed to solve the coupled system of flow and reactive transport in porous media, which arises from many applications including miscible displacement and acid-stimulated flow. A cut-off operator is introduced in the discontinuous Galerkin schemes to treat the coupling of flow and transport and the coupling of transport and reaction. The uniform positive definitiveness and the uniform Lipschitz continuity are established for the commonly used dispersion-diffusion tensor. Interestingly, the polynomial degrees of approximation for the flow and the transport equations need to be in the same order in order to maintain the convergence of DG applied to the coupled system. Optimal or nearly optimal convergences for both flow and transport are obtained when the same polynomial degrees of approximation are chosen for flow and transport. That is, error estimate in L2(H1) for concentration is optimal in h and nearly optimal in p with a loss of 1/2; error estimates in semi-L∞C(H1) for pressure and in L∞(L2) for velocity establish optimality in h and sub-optimality in p by 1/2; error estimates for concentration jump and pressure jump are optimal in both h and p.
Attenuation of postganglionic sympathetic nerve activity by L-dopa.

In anesthetized dogs and cats, intravenous L-dopa reduced the increase in mean blood pressure in response to bilateral carotid occlusion by 77.5% (P<0.01). In the presence of a dopa decarboxylase inhibitor (Ro 4·4602), this effect was absent. Transmission across the superior cervical sympathetic ganglion in the cat was unaltered by the administration of L-dopa. Carotid artery infusion in the dog of 20% of the effective intravenous dose of L-dopa or dopamine failed to inhibit the response to bilateral carotid occlusion. The pressor response to intravenous tyramine in the dog was potentiated (P<0.05) by L-dopa. In the dog, the increase in femoral vascular resistance to lumbar sympathetic nerve stimulation was attenuated (P<0.05) by L-dopa while the response to intra-arterial norepinephrine was unchanged. Thus, inhibition of postganglionic sympathetic nerve activity is a possible mechanism by which L-dopa impaired the carotid sinus reflex.
Communication and Care in an Acute Cancer Center: The Effects of Patients' Willingness to Communicate About Health, Health-Care Environment Perceptions, and Health Status on Information Seeking, Participation in Care Practices, and Satisfaction

This study investigated the role of willingness to communicate about health (WTCH) among older patients in a state-of-the-art cancer center. Specifically, relationships were examined between patients' WTCH and their information seeking, perceptions of coping activities the center offered, and satisfaction with the center. The study also explored how those relationships may be mediated by patients' perceptions of the health-care environment and their health status. The results indicated that WTCH may play an important role in predicting information-seeking behaviors, perceived helpfulness of center-sponsored activities, and overall satisfaction with care received at the center. Evidence also was found that perceptions of the health-care environment mediated cancer patients' WTCH. The implications of these findings for communication theory and application, as well as limitations and future directions for research, are discussed.
Ethereal fire: antecedents of radiology and radiotherapy.

OBJECTIVE. The objective is to explore the events that led to the implementation of X-radiation for medical purposes within months of its discovery.CONCLUSION. The century-long experience with electrotherapeutics and the concurrent adoption of ultraviolet light therapy, facilitated the swift inclusion of X-radiation into medical practice.
A Numerical Study of Flow and Heat Transfer Enhancement Using an Array of Delta-Winglet Vortex Generators in a Fin-and-Tube Heat Exchanger

This work is aimed at assessing the potential of winglet-type vortex generator (VG) "arrays" for multirow inline-tube heat exchangers with an emphasis on providing fundamental understanding of the relation between local flow behavior and heat transfer enhancement mechanisms. Three different winglet configurations in common-flow-up arrangement are analyzed in the seven-row compact fin-and-tube heat exchanger: (a) single-VG pair; (b) a 3VG-inline array (alternating tube row); and (c) a 3VG-staggered array. The numerical study involves three-dimensional time-dependent modeling of unsteady laminar flow (330≤ Re < 850) and conjugate heat transfer in the computational domain, which is set up to model the entire fin length in the air flow direction. It was found that the impingement of winglet redirected flow on the downstream tube is an important heat transfer augmentation mechanism for the common-flow-up arrangement of vortex generators in the inline-tube geometry. At Re=850 with a constant tube-wall temperature, the 3VG-inline-array configuration achieves enhancements up to 32% in total heat flux and 74% in j factor over the baseline case, with an associated pressure-drop increase of about 41%. The numerical results for the integral heat transfer quantities agree well with the available experimental measurements.
Permeability of Vitamin B-12 in Chitosan Membranes. Effect of Crosslinking and Blending with Poly(vinyl alcohol) on Permeability

The permeability and diffusion results using the time lag technique suggest that the diffusion coefficient D of vitamin B-12 for both crosslinked and blended chitosan membranes depends solely upon the equilibrium swelling ratio Q of the material in water. The functional dependence of D on Q was obtained from the data. The partition coefficients calculated for vitamin B-12 in all membranes studied were nearly constant. The results are shown to be consistent with the pore type transport mechanism for vitamin B-12 in these membranes.
Performance evaluation of the quadrics interconnection network

In this paper we present an in-depth description of the Quadrics interconnection network (QsNET) and an experimental perfor- mance evaluation on a 64-node AlphaServer cluster. We explore several performance dimensions and scaling properties of the network by using a collection of benchmarks, based on different traffic patterns. Experiments with permutation patterns and uniform traffic are conducted to illustrate the basic characteristics of the interconnect under conditions commonly created by parallel scientific applications. Moreover, the behavior of the QsNET under I/O traffic, and the influence of the placement of the I/O servers are analyzed. The effects of using dedicated I/O nodes or shared I/O nodes are also exposed. In addition, we evaluate how background I/O traffic interferes with other parallel applications running concurrently. The experimental results indicate that the QsNET provides excellent performance in most cases, with excellent con- tention resolution mechanisms. Some important guidelines for applications and I/O servers mapping on large-scale clusters are also given.
Turbid acousto-optics and its potential for biomedical applications

Continuous-wave ultrasonic modulation of scattered laser light has been used to image objects in tissue-simulating turbid media for the first time. The modulated laser light collected by a photomultiplier tube reflected the local mechanical and optical properties in the modulation zone. Buried objects in 5-cm thick tissue phantoms were imaged with millimeter resolution by scanning and detecting alterations of the ultrasound-modulated optical signal. The tissue phantoms had the following optical properties: absorption coefficient /spl mu//sub a/=0.1 cm/sup -1/, reduced scattering coefficient /spl mu//sub s/'=10 cm/sup -1/, which are comparable with those of biological tissues in the visible and near IR range. This technique is merely a representation of a much broader discipline coined turbid acousto-optics, which means acousto-optics in turbid media.
The Search for Synthesis in Tort Theory

For nearly two decades diverse schools of tort theory have attempted to reduce liability for personal injuries to a few basic principles.1 Calabresi advocates the principle of minimizing the total cost of accidents and accident avoidance;2 Posner advocates the principle of encouraging those activities whose benefits outweight their cross.3 Epstein endorses a system of tort law in which causing harm is a sufficient condition for liability.4 My own work is read as advocacy of “non-reciprocal rsik-taking” as a standard of liability.5
Epoxy Embedding, Sectioning and Staining of Plant Material for Light Microscopy

By using a formula which gives a relatively soft epoxy embedding medium, it is possible to cut sections of plant material with a sliding microtome equipped with a regular steel knife. Blocks having a cutting face of 10 × 10 mm, giving sections of 4–10 μm, can be used. Tissues are fixed in Karnovsky's fluid, postfixed in 1 or 2% OsO4, embedded in Spurr's soft epoxy resin, Araldite, or Epon mixtures. 5% KMnO4, followed by 5% oxalic acid, then neutralized in 1% LiCO3, are used to mordant the sections. Some of the stains used are Mallory's phosphotungstic acid-hemotoxylin, acid fuchsin and toluidine blue, or toluidine blue. Mounting is done with whichever soft epoxy resin was used in casting the blocks.
Effectiveness of 2D FDTD Ground Penetrating Radar Modeling for Bridge Deck Deterioration Evaluated by 3D FDTD

Computational modeling is effectively analyzes the wave propagation and interaction within bridge structures, providing valuable information for sensor selection and placement. It provides a good basis for the inverse problem for defect detection and reconstruction. The finite difference time domain (FDTD) method can be used to model nondestructive wave based sensing using air-coupled ground penetrating radar (GPR). A full 3D model is able to capture all interactions but is limited by computational size and CPU time. In contrast, a 2D model is computationally fast and capable of studying a large computational region, but lacks a complete view of the problem. In this study, we propose to use the 2D FDTD model to simulate the GPR detection of bridge deck defects. The effectiveness of the 2D model is validated by comparison to a full 3D model. The bridge deck is a relatively uniform in the transverse direction so that the 2D longitudinal geometry analysis can therefore adequately capture most of the 3D scattering behavior.
Risk, ethics and consumer acceptance of transgenic animals

(1998). Risk, ethics and consumer acceptance of transgenic animals. Animal Biotechnology: Vol. 9, Proceedings of the Food Animal Biotechnology (FAB) Center Symposium on Transgenic Animals and Food Production, pp. 185-195.
The influence of surfactants on wetting dynamics

We analyse the effect of insoluble surfactants on dynamic contact angles. By extending a model developed by Cox (1986), we account for transfer of surfactant between the free surface and the solid through the contact line. We show that surfactant transfer introduces a singularity —absent in previous analyses without transfer— that cannot be removed by a simple slip boundary condition. The rate of surfactant transfer changes qualitatively the dynamic wetting behaviour of a surfactant system. Above a critical transfer rate, multiple steady states and/or hysteresis are possible, in contrast with the no-surfactant or the surfactant without transfer cases.
An integrated environmental model for a surface flow constructed wetland: Water quality processes

Abstract It is a challenge to apply coupled hydrodynamic, sediment, water quality, submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), and emergent aquatic vegetation (EAV) models to the studies of constructed wetlands (CWs). So far, there are few published studies on CWs that included comprehensive SAV, EAV and nutrient cycling processes, had detailed model-data comparisons for multiple years, and were applied to support CWs management. Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs) in south Florida are CWs that have been built to reduce phosphorus (P) concentrations from agricultural drainage waters and Lake Okeechobee discharges. The scale of this CWs project is unprecedented in terms of size, cost, and scientific challenges. The STA management needs models/tools to provide detailed spatial and temporal information to optimize the P removal efficiency and to predict the dynamic response of STAs under a variety of management conditions. Based on the Lake Okeechobee Environment Model (LOEM) developed in the past 15 years, the LOEM-CW water quality model is developed for simulating water quality processes in CWs. The coupled interactions of SAV and EAV with P variables are included in the LOEM-CW to ensure that the P cycling processes are represented realistically. The LOEM-CW is calibrated and verified with 6 years of measured data (2008–2013) at 6 locations in STA-3/4 Cells 3A/3B. Through graphic and statistical comparisons, it is shown that the model simulated P, nitrogen, and dissolved oxygen processes in the STA well. The model results illustrate that increasing water depth increases the retention time and decreases effluent TP concentration. By adjusting the existing outflow rates, the STA can be more efficient in removing P. It has been shown that the LOEM-CW can serve as a useful tool in wetland management.
Models for Energy Technology Assessment

Publisher Summary The optimal timing of new energy sources depends on a number of factors. Most important are the size of fuel resources; the technological feasibility and commercial attractiveness of alternative supply and conservation options; the environmental and social constraints; and the future energy demands. The problem of identifying the possible role for each new energy source depends on the complex interaction of all these factors. Energy system models have been used in the formulation of energy R&D policy at the federal level, providing a broad assessment of the technical and economic characteristics of new technologies and their potential role in the energy system. This chapter provides an overview of the rationale, structure, and use of models for energy technology assessment. The evaluation of an energy technology is complex. Economic assessment compares the impact of a technology's availability on the nation's economic growth to the cost of its development. Model applications are easy to identify. However, assessing their impact on policy decisions is much more difficult. There is uncertainty associated with the value of every input parameter to any quantitative planning model. The chapter illustrates the flow of information among energy producers, non-energy producers, and consumers. It describes the state of the art of energy technology assessment modeling and the major contributions that energy models can make toward improving understanding of energy issues.
Abstract 1448: Whole genome RNAi screen identifies proteasome inhibition as a strategy for NSCLC radiosensitization

Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL Background: Each year, approximately 60,000 patients in the US are diagnosed with locally advanced non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). The majority is treated with a combination of radiation therapy (RT), chemotherapy +/− surgery. Despite best available therapy, over a third of patients fail locoregionally. The addition of concurrent chemotherapy to RT adds only about a 5% absolute survival benefit. Novel radiosensitizers may improve the therapeutic index of RT. Materials and Methods: We performed whole genome pooled RNAi screens using the Hannon-Elledge library of 74,705 distinct shRNAs directed against over 18,000 genes, in two NSCLC cell lines A549 and NCI-H460. After stable transduction, we passaged the lines for 12 population doublings, and extracted DNA both before and after passaging to compare the representation of each shRNA at each time point. We defined top hits as those genes for which multiple shRNAs decreased in representation by at least 50% during passaging, signifying silencings that were detrimental to proliferation. Results: The top hit of our screen was PSMA1, a subunit of the 20S proteasome; out of six shRNAs, between four and six scored in the two lines in screens performed in triplicate. Bortezomib, an inhibitor of the 20S proteasome, has shown activity against NSCLC in preclinical studies and Phase I/II clinical trials. We observed that bortezomib results in synergistic cytotoxicity in cells treated with fractionated ionizing radiation (IR) in vitro. 10 nM bortezomib resulted in 46% clonogenic survival of unirradiated A549 cells, but only 29% survival of cells treated with 1 Gy x 3 daily fractions compared to cells treated with IR alone. Similar results were observed with MG-132 and with NCI-H460. In soft agar anchorage-independent growth assays, bortezomib resulted in less than 1% colony formation following 1 Gy x 3 daily fractions compared to cells treated with IR alone. In vivo experiments are underway with subcutaneous xenografts in nude mice treated with concurrent CT-guided conformal RT. A retrospective analysis of 443 patients with profiled lung adenocarcinomas showed worse overall survival among patients with tumors showing high proteasome gene expression (median OS 4.2 vs. 6.2 y, 5-year OS 47.5 vs. 61.0%, log rank p = 0.04). Conclusions: Proteasome inhibition emerged as the top drug target of an RNAi screen designed to identify targets with sustained activity over multiple cell generations. Its synergistic impact on NSCLC viability when coupled with fractionated RT should be further explored in preclinical studies and early clinical trials. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1448. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-1448
Breeding of Anyou 136,a New Hybrid Rice Combination with Early Maturity and Good Quality

Anyou 136 is a new triple hybrid rice combination with early maturity and good quality derived from the cross between Qianhui 136 and Anfeng A.The mean yield of Anyou 136 was 9.62 t/hm2,9.27% higher than Jinyou 207(CK) in the regional test evaluation in Guizhou during 2008~2009.In production test evaluation,the mean yield was 8.85 t/hm2,5.27% higher than CK.The resistance to rice blast is significantly higher than CK.The rice quality meet the requirement of the third grade of international standard.Anyou 136 was examined and approved through Guizhou Crops Variety Examination and Approval Committee in July,2010.
Study on fermented mash of rice wine on inhibition to mold

According to the research on the inhibitive effects of alcohol,seriflux,lactic acid,low pH and rice wine mash on mold,it was shown that low concentration of 5.0% alcohol(v/v) and low pH(3.8 and 4.0) regulated by certain amount of lactic acid could not inhibit the growth of mold.But the lactobacillin in the fermented mash and seriflux could inhibit the growth of mold.Compared with the related results in literatures,it was indicated that the lactobacillin produced and accumulated in high-density fermentation of Lactobacillus in rice wine mash was the main factor inhibition the growth of mold and preventing the germination of spores which were inoculated from koji,air,circumstance,instruments and equipments.
Type IV and type "A-B" collagens do not elicit platelet aggregation or the serotonin release reaction.

Abstract Human collagens were isolated from kidney, lung, skin, aorta, cartilage, and placenta. Five different types were obtained, including two new molecular species, one characteristic of basement membranes, or type IV collagen, and the other the recently described "A-B" collagen derived from fetal membranes. All the collagens were purified and separated by combination of heat-gelation fractionation and salt fractionation. In neutral solution at 37 ° neither type IV nor type "A-B" collagen elicited platelet aggregation or 14 C-serotonin release. Preincubation of platelets with both types IV and "A-B" collagen did not inhibit aggregation upon subsequent addition of collagen types I, II, or III.
Techniques of coagulation laser prostatectomy for narrow divergence angle fibers.

Although laser prostatectomy has become an accepted technique for the treatment of obstructive prostatism, considerable debate remains about which laser prostatectomy method to use in various treatment situations. This article discusses the different methods of noncontact side-firing coagulation laser prostatectomy using narrow divergence angle fibers ( 2 mm/s) probe movement produces only superficial coagulation. An initial dwell period of approximately 3 s is also important to maximize coagulated tissue volume. Scanning strategies where the fiber is moved through the prostatic urethra in longitudinal and radial directions are discussed and compared. Radial and longitudinal scanning methods produce similar coagulation defects. Treatment using a rocking motion within a limited volume of tissue may increase coagulation depth. No technique is ideal for all clinical situations. Vaporization prostatectomy or contact laser transurethral incision of the prostate is appropriate for primary treatment of glands < 30 g or as adjunctive therapy to facilitate early catheter removal. Alternative treatment methods are compared to noncontact coagulation prostatectomy.
The effects of canine distemper virus on explant tissue cultures of canine cerebellum.

Canine cerebellar explant cultures were employed as a model for studying the effects of the virus associated with demyelinating canine distemper encephalomyelitis. Cultures which were inoculated after four to seven days of growth with distemper virus (Lederle strain) had beginning cytopathic effect (CPE) in the peripheral outgrowth on the eighth post-inoculation day. The cells predominantly affected were astroglia and mesenchymal cells. The cellular lesions consisted of inclusion body development (intracytoplasmic and intranuclear), syncytial giant cell formation, and production of a reticular pattern in the outgrowth. Astrocytes subsequently became affected in the inner outgrowth and explant. Cellular degeneration was common, but a high degree of apparent coexistence of virus (inclusion bodies) and cells was a characteristic feature.
Scene-segmentation algorithm development using error measures.

Development of scene-segmentation algorithms has generally been an ad hoc process. This paper presents a systematic technique for developing these algorithms using error-measure minimization. If scene segmentation is regarded as a problem of pixel classification whereby each pixel of a scene is assigned to a particular object class, development of a scene-segmentation algorithm becomes primarily a process of feature selection. In this study, four methods of feature selection were used to develop segmentation techniques for cervical cytology images: (1) random selection, (2) manual selection (best features in the subjective judgment of the investigator), (3) eigenvector selection (ranking features according to the largest contribution to each eigenvector of the feature covariance matrix) and (4) selection using the scene-segmentation error measure A2. Four features were selected by each method from a universe of 35 features consisting of gray level, color, texture and special pixel neighborhood features in 40 cervical cytology images . Evaluation of the results was done with a composite of the scene-segmentation error measure A2, which depends on the percentage of scenes with measurable error, the agreement of pixel class proportions, the agreement of number of objects for each pixel class and the distance of each misclassified pixel to the nearest pixel of the misclassified class. Results indicate that random and eigenvector feature selection were the poorest methods, manual feature selection somewhat better and error-measure feature selection best. The error-measure feature selection method provides a useful, systematic method of developing and evaluating scene-segmentation algorithms.
The Influences and Impacts of Societal Factors on the Adoption of Web Services

The objective of this chapter is to identify and analyze implications of social factors on the adoption of Web services technology. Web services allow organizations to streamline their business process applications and expand their market boundaries to global level. Currently, adoption of Web service technology is in the early phase, as organizations are experimenting with it behind secured firewall. Technological immaturity and cost of adoption are considered as primary factors for slow adoption of Web services technology. However, global reach of Web services allows it to be used in different cultural, geopolitical, and infrastructural conditions. Therefore, this chapter explores influences and impacts of societal factors on the adoption of Web service technology. Societal factors considered in this study are culture, social structure, geography, ethics, and trust. Common themes identified across these factors are need for mechanisms to support globalization management, to monitor and assess trustworthiness, and relationship management.
STUDENT ATTITUDES TO UNIVERSITY EXPANSION

This chapter discusses the attitudes of the students towards the expansion of the university as revealed in the survey done in the Edinburgh University, Durham University, and Newcastle University. The rate and kind of expansion not only determine the size of the institution but also the adaptions in complexity of organization and administration, number and structure of component groups, and adjustment of intergroup distances, and communication. This inevitably lead to changes in the quality of interpersonal relations in the institution. The effects of expansion on the universities bring wider effects on societal structure in terms of social class relations and social mobility rates in a spiral of action and reaction of individual and structural environment. However, this takes place only when expansion of places leads to a change in the relative proportions of the social classes within the universities. If the proportions remain the same, no amount of expansion of places would bring about the looked for changes in social mobility rates and social class structure.
Evaluating Behavioral Interventions: Need for Randomized Controlled Trials

To the Editor. —We agree with Drs Peterman and Aral 1 regarding the need for more randomized controlled trials of behavior change interventions for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted disease prevention. However, we would like to clarify a few points. Randomized controlled trials are not always appropriate for evaluating HIV or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) prevention programs. Although randomized controlled trials offer the most rigorous level of evidence, they are not always scientifically appropriate, logistically feasible, economically practical, or ethically defensible. Peterman and Aral performed a limited literature search with an algorithm of the key words "trial," "random," "control," "behavior," and "change," and used only one database of computerized abstracts (AIDSLINE) from international AIDS conferences of 1989 through 1992. This would not be expected to produce all significant references for this complex and dynamic field that cuts across medical and social sciences. Some relatively comprehensive reviews of the
Clinical Usage and Economic Effectiveness of a Recently Developed Epidermal Autograft Harvesting System in 13 Chronic Wound Patients in a University-Based Wound Center.

Introduction: Chronic wounds are a significant healthcare problem in the United States. Their costs approach 25 billion dollars in the United States. Current wound-care treatments of local wound care, moist dressings, and source control, while necessary for wound healing, are frequently not enough to ensure complete wound closure. The current surgical technique of split-thickness skin grafting is an operative procedure, painful, time-consuming, and leaves significant donor site wounds. A recently developed and marketed epidermal autograft harvester was tested at our university hospital wound center on 13 patients with wounds of various etiologies. Their clinical outcomes were evaluated, as were the costs associated with its usage compared with the potential costs of continued wound care without autograft placement. Methods: Thirteen patients whose wounds appeared to have "stalled" or reached a plateau in healing by measurement data and visual evidence were chosen to receive an epidermal autograft to accelerate wound closure. Wound-types included diabetic ulcers, venous or lymphedema-related ulcers, surgical site wounds, and traumatic wounds. Time-to-healing in days, when applicable, was captured. Wound center billing and charges were available and evaluated for nine of the 13 patients. Costs of standard care continuation compared with the cost of epidermal autograft technology usage were compared. Results: Healing rates were 62%; eight of the 13 patients had healed within four months, two were lost to follow-up, and three have wounds that remain open. Four of the patients healed in less than one month. The comparatively rapid closure of the open wound(s) post-epidermal autograft placement potentially reduced healthcare costs based on charges at an average of $1,153 per patient and yielded an average of $650 to the wound center, not applying the routine costs of dressings applied in the center. Conclusion: The epidermal autograft harvester accelerated healing in eight of the 13 of the patients (62%) we treated at the time of the writing of this article. By accelerating wound healing in our patient population, costs associated with subsequent wound care seem to have decreased to a dramatic degree and wound center finances have improved. No wound recurrence has been noted once the wounds had healed in our year-long experience with the technology. In addition, the procedure has been well-tolerated and easy to perform. Given the improved outcomes, cost-savings, and a better financial outlook for the wound center, utilization of the novel epidermal autograft harvester is proving itself to be in the “win-win” category of wound care treatments.
Increasing Use of Social Media at Annual ASH Meetings

Background: The use of social media is expanding in medicine. More and more healthcare professionals, patients and advocates are using social media as a common platform to enhance communication. Methods: Each year American Society of Hematology (ASH) creates a hashtag (#) followed by year of the annual meeting (e.g. ASH 2014 had this hashtag: #ASH14) on Twitter. We conducted a retrospective study of annual meeting9s hashtag use on Twitter for past 4 annual meetings using data from Symplur, LLC. Symplur is an online forum offering analytics of the global Twitter based conversations. Following hashtags were used for analysis, #ASH11, #ASH12, #ASH13 and #ASH14. Results: Overall there is an increasing trend for use of annual meeting9s hashtag (see table 1). Last year9s meeting generated over 72 million impressions. Number of tweets being sent out is doubling every year. More twitter users are engaging in conversations than the year before using annual meeting9s hashtag. Last year almost 4000 individual twitter accounts were used during the annual meeting. Number of tweets per participant has stayed relatively constant over past four years. @ash_hematology remains the most commonly mentioned twitter handle every year since 2011. In 2014 itself, @ash_hematology was mentioned over 2000 times. Conclusion: Twitter is a very powerful tool that amplifies the content of scientific meetings. Use of twitter using meeting9s hashtag is increasing every year at annual ASH meetings. This analysis provides a snapshot of twitter activity at the conference. Avenues for further research are: trend identification, "influencer" identification, and qualitative analysis. Interdisciplinary research should focus on evaluation methods that can assess the quality, value, and impact of tweeting. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Biomarker detection and categorization in ribonucleic acid sequencing meta-analysis using Bayesian hierarchical models.

Summary Meta-analysis combining multiple transcriptomic studies increases statistical power and accuracy in detecting differentially expressed genes. As the next-generation sequencing experiments become mature and affordable, increasing numbers of ribonucleic acid sequencing (‘RNA-seq’) data sets are becoming available in the public domain. Count-data-based technology provides better experimental accuracy, reproducibility and ability to detect low expressed genes. A naive approach to combine multiple RNA-seq studies is to apply differential analysis tools such as edgeR and DESeq to each study and then to combine the summary statistics of p-values or effect sizes by conventional meta-analysis methods. Such a two-stage approach loses statistical power, especially for genes with short length or low expression abundance. We propose a full Bayesian hierarchical model (namely, BayesMetaSeq) for RNA-seq meta-analysis by modelling count data, integrating information across genes and across studies, and modelling potentially heterogeneous differential signals across studies via latent variables. A Dirichlet process mixture prior is further applied on the latent variables to provide categorization of detected biomarkers according to their differential expression patterns across studies, facilitating improved interpretation and biological hypothesis generation. Simulations and a real application on multiple brain region human immunodeficiency virus type 1 transgenic rats demonstrate improved sensitivity, accuracy and biological findings of the method.
Sarcopenia predicts poor long-term survival in patients undergoing endovascular aortic aneurysm repair.

Abstract Objective Sarcopenia measured by decreased psoas muscle size has been used as a surrogate for frailty and correlates with adverse outcomes in both the short and long term after many major operations. Our aim was to evaluate this measure as a predictor of outcomes in patients undergoing endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR). Methods Once Institutional Review Board approval was obtained, all patients who underwent EVAR from December 2010 to March 2016 at a Veterans Affairs hospital were assessed for sarcopenia by total psoas muscle area (TPA) measured on axial computed tomography scan immediately inferior to the fourth lumbar (L4) superior end plate. Outcomes including length of stay and mortality were collected from the medical record. Results There were 135 patients who underwent EVAR at a median age of 70 years. Median aneurysm size was 5.5 cm. Length of stay was >2 days in 25% of patients (n = 33), with the most common reasons for delayed discharge including respiratory complications (8.9% [n = 12]) and urinary retention (4.0% [n = 9]). Low TPA was not associated with extended length of stay ( P = .40). Patients with lowest tertile TPA had 42% 5-year survival compared with 93% survival observed for the remaining two-thirds of patients ( P = .01). Multivariate analysis revealed increased likelihood of mortality at 5 years for patients in the lowest tertile for TPA (odds ratio, 3.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.2-12.9) as well as for patients with chronic kidney disease (odds ratio, 5.2; 95% confidence interval, 1.5-18.0). Conclusions Preoperative sarcopenia does not appear to affect length of stay but does portend worse long-term survival. This simple preoperative measurement may help vascular surgeons tailor repair thresholds and avoid nonbeneficial procedures.
Imaging the spatial form of a superconducting order parameter via Josephson scanning tunneling spectroscopy

Motivated by recent experiments, we investigate Josephson scanning tunneling spectroscopy in an $s$-wave superconductor. We demonstrate that the spatial oscillations in the superconducting order parameter induced by defects can be spatially imaged through local measurements of the critical Josephson current, providing unprecedented insight into the nature of superconductivity. The spatial form of the Josephson current reflects the nature of the defects, and can be used to probe defect-induced phase transitions from an $S=0$ to an $S=1/2$ ground state.
THERMAL RESPONSE OF GASTRO-INTESTINAL TISSUE TO Nd-Yag LASER IRRADIATION: A THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION.

A mathematical model is presented for the calculation of thermal response of gastrointestinal tissue to Nd-Yag laser irradiation. Predicted temperature rises and extent of thermal damage are compared to in vivo measured temperatures and histology of the induced thermal lesions. The effect of scattering of the beam on the deposition of heat in the tissue is considered by broadening the beam along its path in the tissue.A mathematical model is presented for the calculation of thermal response of gastrointestinal tissue to Nd-Yag laser irradiation. Predicted temperature rises and extent of thermal damage are compared to in vivo measured temperatures and histology of the induced thermal lesions. The effect of scattering of the beam on the deposition of heat in the tissue is considered by broadening the beam along its path in the tissue.
The Impact of Reputation annd Labor Market Conditions on Collective Human Capital Flow

Companies are often concerned with movement in and out of organizations. Although research in economics has examined labor flow, or transitions into and out of the labor force at the macroeconomic ...
Comprehensive Qualitative Assessment of Urethral Stricture Disease: Toward the Development of a Patient Centered Outcome Measure.

Purpose: The primary objective of this study was to report what patients considered to be the most important symptoms, functions and impacts of urethral stricture disease. Patient and physician perspectives were correlated.Materials and Methods: Patients were involved at each step of patient reported outcome measure development. We performed 1) qualitative semistructured concept elicitation interviews, 2) cognitive interviews, 3) prioritization interviews and 4) item prioritization by patients in regard to bother. A total of 22 reconstructive urologists ranked the items in regard to making treatment decisions.Results: Patient qualitative interviews were done until no new information was gained (16 interviews) to reach concept saturation. A total of 40 items were generated from interview data. Urinary items predominated over sexually related content (34 vs 6). A review of published patient reported outcome measures revealed 10 legacy items that were not derived from the qualitative interviews. Two iterativ...
New records of harvestmen (Arachnida, Opiliones) from Minnesota, USA.

Harvestmen (Opiliones) are a diverse order of arachnids composed of more than 6,600 described species which together span an almost global distribution. Although these animals may occur in extremely high abundance in both pristine and disturbed habitats, much of harvestman diversity remains undescribed, undocumented, and/or in need of taxonomic attention. In the current study, we focus on the harvestman diversity of the state of Minnesota, USA, where a lack of local expertise and effort has left the species richness of the state largely undocumented. We document two genera and seven species previously unrecorded in the state.— Leiobunum aldrichi, L. calcar, L. flavum, L. politum, L. ventricosum , L. vittatum , and Odiellus pictus.