cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Repair of type B interruption of the aortic arch: results and follow-up

Surgical repair of type B interruption of the aortic arch and ventricular septal defect (VSD) in the newborn period is difficult and the optimal approach is controversial. We report here our early and late results using a two-staged approach in the repair of these lesions in seven consecutive neonates whose weights ranged from 2.9 to 3.8 kg and who were all less than 21 days of age. Each underwent aortic arch reconstruction off cardiopulmonary bypass with placement of a large (6 to 10 mm) polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) graft and pulmonary artery banding for interruption of the aortic arch (six) or extreme hypoplasia (one) of the arch. All seven (100%) survived the first-stage operation. No significant (greater than 10 mm Hg) conduit gradient was found in the seven patients studied 3 to 18 months postoperatively. One death occurred in a patient at 1 year of age with severe subaortic stenosis. Six patients subsequently underwent closure of VSD and removal of a pulmonary artery band, with five survivors (83%). The operative death occurred in an infant in whom pulmonary hypertension developed from an inadequate pulmonary artery band. One late death occurred at home when a tracheostomy tube, required because of severe tracheomalacia, became plugged. The long-term survival rate for completion of both stages is 57%. We conclude: (1) Aortic arch reconstruction and pulmonary artery banding can be reliably performed even in critically ill infants, and the 8 or 10 mm grafts should be adequate for several years. (2) Significant subaortic stenosis occurred in only one patient. (3) Pulmonary artery banding was the greatest source of difficulty, and distortion of the pulmonary arteries, inadequate banding, and compression of the trachea were all seen. Therefore, the staged repair will provide good results with this complex anomaly, and most of the problems associated with this approach may be eliminated by early second-stage repair.
The hydrophobic character of thiol-activated cytolysins

Abstract Hydrophobic chromatography on phenyl–Sepharose has revealed the decidedly hydrophobic character of several members of the group of cytolytic proteins termed `thiol-activated'. Pneumolysin, alveolysin, cereolysin, and streptolysin O were found to be equally hydrophobic, as were the oxidized and reduced forms of alveolysin. Hydrophobic chromatography has been utilized in the development of an improved procedure for the purification of pneumolysin.
Effect of Aluminum and Iron on Odors, Digestion Efficiency, and Dewatering Properties

This study was designed to be a follow up of the WERF III (Adams, et al., 2007) odor study. It was found in the WERF III study that iron and aluminum appeared to play important roles in odor generation so some additional data was sought to determine the role these play in determining odor. In this portion of the study, the impact of iron and aluminum in sludges on both digestion and odors was investigated. Three distinct locations for the iron and/or aluminum were studied. First, the impact of iron and aluminum in the raw sludges on digestion and odors was evaluated. Second, the impact of the addition of iron or aluminum for chemical phosphorus removal in the activated sludge process was studied. Third, the direct addition of iron to the feed to an anaerobic digester was evaluated. All studies were conducted in the lab using a variety of sludges collected from seven wastewater utilities. In addition to digestion and odors, data were collected for sludge dewatering properties as indicated by the polymer conditioning requirements and dewatered cake solids. Both the iron and aluminum content in raw sludges being fed to anaerobic digesters impact the digestability, dewatering and TVOSC generation. A reasonable correlation between the iron content in the raw sludge and volatile solids reduction by anaerobic digestion was found. More iron resulted in higher volatile solids reduction except for the two plants that either received chemical sludge in the influent that contained iron and/or aluminum (Plant E) or had iron added in the treatment process (Plant F). This finding is important in that it provides for the prediction of digester performance based on the influent iron content. Aluminum appeared to also influence digestion, reducing the digestability of sludges. However, in this study, it was difficult to separate both the effects of iron and aluminum. Iron also had a major impact on dewatering. There was a distinct relationship between the iron content of the raw sludge and polymer dose requirements. As the iron increased, the polymer dose increased following digestion. As suggested in the WERF III report, iron appeared to play a role in TVOSC production from dewatered sludge cakes. As the iron content increased, the TVOSC generation increased. As a result, iron increases both the volatile solids reduction and TVOSC generation. The implication of this is that sludges that digest better also generate higher TVOSC. This has important implications for the regulations governing vector attraction based on volatile solids reduction. These regulations need to be changed or dropped from the regulations. Some of the data in this study shows a result that is contradictory to conventions thought. That is: as the volatile solids destruction increases, the TVOSC generation will also increase. This title belongs to WERF Research Report Series . ISBN: 9781843392835 (Print) ISBN: 9781780403557 (eBook)
Polymorphism of Nifedipine: Crystal Structure and Reversible Transition of the Metastable β Polymorph

We report the first structural determination of the metastable β polymorph of nifedipine (NIF) by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Stable, high-quality crystals were grown from the melt in the presence of a polymer dopant. Our β NIF structure is characterized by a unit cell similar to that of the structure recently proposed from powder diffraction, but significantly different molecular conformations. Unlike the stable α polymorph, β NIF undergoes a reversible solid-state transformation near 60 °C. The now available β NIF structure clarifies some confusion concerning NIF polymorphs and enables inquiries into the structural basis for the selective crystallization of β NIF from glasses. We report that another polymorph crystallizes concomitantly with β NIF from the supercooled melt and transforms to β NIF at room temperature; this polymorph also undergoes reversible solid-state transformation.
Designing light-matter interactions with trapped atoms in two dimensional photonic crystals slabs

We describe two-dimensional photonic crystals that support atom trapping as well as strong radiative coupling to guided modes. We explore tailoring interactions between atoms and photons, as well as ongoing experimental progress.
Targeting peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (ppar) for the treatment l-dopa-induced dyskinesias

L administration of L-DOPA to Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients is accompanied by fluctuations in its duration of action and chorea-like motor complications known as L-DOPA-induced dyskinesias (LID). As L-DOPA is the most effective treatment for PD, there is a strong need to identify new pharmacological targets to control LID while maintaining L-DOPA beneficial effects.LID can be modeled in rats with unilateral 6-OHDA lesions via chronic administration of L-DOPA, which induces increasingly severe axial, limb and oro-facial abnormal involuntary movements (AIMs). Previous studies in our laboratory showed that systemic administration of the PPAR gamma agonist rosiglitazone (5 & 10 mg/kg, i.p.) ameliorated axial, oral and limb AIMs without reducing L-DOPA’s anti-parkinsonian activity. Rosiglitazone also attenuated the L-DOPA-induced elevation of dyskinesia (Zif-268 and prodynorphin) and inflammation (COX-2) markers within the denervated striatum. Interestingly, chronic L-DOPA significantly increased the PPAR beta/delta isoform in dyskinetic rats and this elevation was reversed by rosiglitazone treatment. These data suggest that targeting PPAR gamma/delta receptors can ameliorate dyskinetic symptoms, possibly by reducing the underlying neuroinflammatory response observed in PD. Supported by RO1 -NS050401-06 (A.G).
Designer reflectors using spoof surface plasmons in the terahertz range

We show that spoof surface plasmons can be used to control the reflection of terahertz radiation at the output facet of a parallel-plate waveguide. Using a periodic groove pattern on the output face, reflectivity approaching 100$%$ can be achieved within a limited spectral range. Unlike the conventional geometry for plasmon-enhanced transmission, this approach enables a unique method for studying the coupling between the guided mode and the surface plasmon through angle-dependent measurement of the plasmon-mediated reflection. A simple model incorporating the surface plasmon coupling to the waveguide mode can adequately explain all of the observed phenomena, including the observed Goos-H\"anchen shift in the reflected beam.
Retrospective Review of Management and Outcomes of Pediatric Descending Mediastinitis.

ObjectivesTo review the management and outcomes of pediatric patients treated for descending mediastinitis at a single institution and contribute to an updated mortality rate.Study DesignCase series with chart review.SettingTertiary care pediatric hospital.Subjects and MethodsThis study is a 19-patient case series of all patients treated for descending mediastinitis at a tertiary pediatric hospital from 1997 to 2015, and it serves as an update to the case series published from this institution in 2008. Review of management included time to diagnosis, time to surgery, surgical procedures performed, and antibiotics administered. The primary outcomes measured were length of hospitalization and mortality.ResultsIn addition to 8 previously reported patients, we identified 11 pediatric patients treated for descending mediastinitis in the period of review. All 19 patients were <18 months old, and all survived their hospitalization. Fourteen patients underwent surgical drainage at least twice. The median length o...
A New Method for Preparing Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Labeling with Ferumoxytol for Cell Tracking by MRI.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are among the major stem cells used for cell therapy and regenerative medicine. In-vivo cell-tracking by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is crucial for regenerative medicine, allowing verification that the transplanted cells reach the targeted sites. Cellular MRI combined with superparamagnetic iron-oxide (SPIO) contrast agents is an effective cell-tracking method. Here, we are reporting a new “bio-mimicry” method by making use of the “in-vivo environment” of MSCs to prepare native MSCs, so that (i) the phagocytic activity of cultured MSCs can be recovered and expanded MSCs can be ex-vivo labeled with Ferumoxytol, which is currently the only FDA approved SPIO nanoparticles for human use. Using our new method, 7-day cultured MSCs regain the capability to take up Ferumoxytol and exhibit an intracellular iron concentration of 2.50 ± 0.50 pg/MSC, comparable to that obtained by using Ferumoxytol-heparin-protamine nanocomplex; and (ii) cells can be re-sized to more native size, reducing from 32.0 ± 7.2 μm to 19.5 ± 5.2 μm. Our method can be very useful for expanding MSCs and labeling with Ferumoxytol, without the need for transfection agents and/or electroporation, allowing cell-tracking by MRI in both pre-clinical and clinical studies.
Power of the Group Neighborhood in Memory-Based Group Recommender Systems

Recommender Systems play a significant role in help- ing users identify items worthwhile for them to con- sume. With the increase of adopting such systems a need for systems that help a group of users identify such items for the whole group to consume together has emerged. Early research has focused on strategies that combine individual preferences to generate group preferences without much consideration of the group context in the recommendation technique. In this paper, we explore neighborhood selection in the group context when applying a neighborhood-based Collaborative Filtering approach to recommendation. We identify several neighborhoods that are related to the group context and investigate their effect on recommendation accuracy when employing a neighborhood-based Collaborative Filtering. We evaluate the performance of such neighborhoods with respect to the group recommendation technique and the group size. We measure performance using a success@n measure. Results show improvements on the success rate of recommendations when identifying a neighborhood, for the group as a whole, rather than basing the recommendation on only the individual neighborhoods of the group members.
Gender Differences in Smoking Cessation: Where? When? Who? Why?

While gender differences in smoking cessation do exist, across-the-board generalizations cannot be made. Gender differences are mediated by societal, physiological, psychological and behavioral factors which influence behavior. At the societal level, normative attitudes influence all aspects of smoking, including cessation. The most powerful factors influencing normative attitudes include the ever-changing historical context, the role of women in society, the media, and accessibility of cigarettes (production and policy). The role of these factors have been discussed extensively elsewhere 1–3. This paper will overview trends in smoking cessation and examine the role of physiological, psychological and behavioral factors.
Understanding the Indian Ocean response to double CO 2 forcing in a coupled model

This study investigates the roles of multiple ocean-atmospheric feedbacks in the oceanic response to increased carbon dioxide by applying an overriding technique to a coupled climate model. The annual-mean sea surface temperature (SST) response in the Indian Ocean exhibits a zonal-dipolar warming pattern, with a reduced warming in the eastern and enhanced warming in the western tropical Indian Ocean (TIO), reminiscent of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) pattern. The development of the dipole pattern exhibits a pronounced seasonal evolution. The overriding experiments show that the wind–evaporation–sea surface temperature (WES) feedback accounts for most of the enhanced warming in the western and central TIO during May–July with reduced southerly monsoonal wind and contributes partially to the reduced warming in the eastern TIO during June–September. The Bjerknes feedback explains most of the reduced warming in the eastern TIO during August-October, accompanied by a reduction of precipitation, easterly wind anomalies, and a thermocline shoaling along the equator. Both feedbacks facilitate the formation of the dipolar warming pattern in the TIO. The residual from the Bjerknes and WES feedbacks is attributable to the “static” response to increasing CO2. While the static SST response also contributes to the seasonal SST variations, the static precipitation response is relatively uniform in the TIO, appearing as a general increase of precipitation along the equatorial Indian Ocean during June–September.
Estimating linear temporal trends from aggregated environmental monitoring data

Abstract Trend estimates are often used as part of environmental monitoring programs. These trends inform managers (e.g., are desired species increasing or undesired species decreasing?). Data collected from environmental monitoring programs is often aggregated (i.e., averaged), which confounds sampling and process variation. State-space models allow sampling variation and process variations to be separated. We used simulated time-series to compare linear trend estimations from three state-space models, a simple linear regression model, and an auto-regressive model. We also compared the performance of these five models to estimate trends from a long term monitoring program. We specifically estimated trends for two species of fish and four species of aquatic vegetation from the Upper Mississippi River system. We found that the simple linear regression had the best performance of all the given models because it was best able to recover parameters and had consistent numerical convergence. Conversely, the simple linear regression did the worst job estimating populations in a given year. The state-space models did not estimate trends well, but estimated population sizes best when the models converged. We found that a simple linear regression performed better than more complex autoregression and state-space models when used to analyze aggregated environmental monitoring data.
Importance of Pain Acceptance in Relation to Headache Disability and Pain Interference in Women With Migraine and Overweight/Obesity.

Background Pain acceptance involves willingness to experience pain and engaging in valued activities while pain is present. Though pain acceptance could limit both headache-related disability and pain interference in individuals with migraine, few studies have addressed this issue. This study evaluated whether higher levels of total pain acceptance and its two subcomponents, pain willingness and activity engagement, were associated with lower levels of headache-related impairment in women who had both migraine and overweight/obesity. Methods In this cross-sectional study, participants seeking weight loss and headache relief in the Women's Health and Migraine trial completed baseline measures of pain acceptance (Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire [CPAQ]), headache-related disability (Headache Impact Test-6), and pain interference (Brief Pain Inventory). Migraine headache frequency and pain intensity were assessed daily via smartphone diary. Using CPAQ total and subcomponent (pain willingness and activity engagement) scores, headache frequency, pain intensity, and body mass index (BMI) as predictors in linear regression, headache-related disability, and pain interference were modeled as outcomes. Results On average, participants (n = 126; age = 38.5 ± 8.2 years; BMI = 35.3 ± 6.6 kg/m2) reported 8.4 ± 4.7 migraine days/month and pain intensity of 6.0 ± 1.5 on a 0-10 scale on headache days. After correcting for multiple comparisons (adjusted α = .008), pain willingness was independently associated with both lower headache-related disability (P < .001; β = −0.233) and pain interference (P < .001; β = −0.261). Activity engagement was not associated with headache-related disability (P = .128; β = −0.138) and pain interference (P = .042; β = −0.154). CPAQ total score was not associated with headache-related disability (P = .439; β = 0.066) and pain interference (P = .305; β = 0.074). Pain intensity was significantly associated with outcomes in all analyses (Ps < .001; βs 0.343-0.615). Conclusions Higher pain willingness, independent of degree of both migraine severity and overweight, is associated with lower headache-related disability and general pain interference in treatment-seeking women with migraine and overweight/obesity. Future studies are needed to clarify direction of causality and test whether strategies designed to help women increase pain willingness, or relinquish ineffective efforts to control pain, can improve functional outcomes in women who have migraine and overweight/obesity.
Cytokine expression levels in ALS: A potential link between inflammation and BMAA-triggered protein misfolding

Recently, it has been shown that proinflammatory cytokines play a complex and important role in the pathogenesis of many neurological disorders, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). To help facilitate future discoveries and more effective treatment strategies, we highlight the role that both innate and adaptive immune systems play in ALS and summarize the main observations that relate to cytokine expression levels in this disease. Furthermore, we propose a mechanism by which a known neurotoxin, β-N-methylamino-l-alanine (BMAA), may trigger this cytokine expression profile through motor neuron protein misfolding and subsequent NLRP3 (nucleotide-binding domain (NOD)-like receptor protein 3) inflammasome activation.
The moral economy of corner stores, buying food on credit, and Haitian-Dominican interpersonal relations in the Dominican Republic

ABSTRACTOver the last 10 years, food prices throughout the Dominican Republic have skyrocketed, and gaining access to in-store credit (called fiao) to buy food has become an increasingly pervasive economic strategy to secure household needs. Recent scholarship on food security in the Dominican Republic has focused on strategies Dominicans use to access food on credit through social networks. But there has been little research to date that discusses the strategies migrant Haitians use to buy food in the Dominican Republic. The gap in this literature is all the more noteworthy because of the broader contemporary social, cultural, political, and economic context of an increasing number of Haitians living and working in the Dominican Republic, and the long-standing tension that increased Haitian migration has precipitated. This article examines the strategies people use to establish social networks that help them gain access to in-store credit to buy food at neighborhood corner stores in the Dominican Republi...
Economic spillovers in spatial harvest behavior

Abstract There has been a strong push within natural resource management to incorporate spatial structure into management regimes. However, discussions surrounding the appropriate designs of spatial management have largely been conceptual. This paper develops a spatial econometric model of fishing location choice using non-confidential data from the Great Barrier Reef coral trout commercial fishery. Harvest location decisions are modeled as a function of spatial patterns of expected economic returns. The preferred spatially dependent econometric model is shown to outperform ordinary least squares and fixed effects models in out-of-sample forecasting. Estimates from the spatial model reveal spatial spillover effects in fleet harvest location behavior. In particular, harvest activity at any given site is equally sensitive to same-site economic returns and surrounding-site economic returns. The econometric results are illustrated using a fee-based policy simulation. Results suggest non-spatial management is characterized by two inefficiencies. First, heterogeneity between sites is averaged, resulting a fee that is too high or too low across space. Second, fees that are too high or too low affect the fishing effort in nearby locations.
Prolonged Exposure Therapy for Experiential Avoidance: A Case-Series Study:

Past research has found that experiential avoidance (EA) is a type of avoidance that is common in individuals who report distress associated with traumatic events. No treatment studies to date have...
Abstract 439: High Dimensional Single-Cell Immune Contexture of Human Atherosclerotic Plaques and Blood

Atherosclerosis is a disease characterized by immune infiltration of the arterial wall in response to tissue damage and systemic inflammation. In the era of precision medicine, is essential to gain insights on immune contexture of atherosclerotic tissue taking into account disease-specific cell variation in patients. We applied high-dimensional technologies for the analysis of multiple parameters at the single-cell level in clinical samples of patients undergoing carotid endatherectomy (CEA, n=15). Using time-of-flight mass-cytometry (CyTOF), we simultaneously analyzed 32 parameters at the single-cell level in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and atherosclerotic-tissue associated immune cells of the same patient. Using viSNE, we mapped single-cell heterogeneity into two dimensions to discriminate PBMCs and tissue-associated CD45+ immune cells. Next, we employed Phenograph to cluster cells into phenotypically related populations, which were annotated based on canonical marker expression patterns. We identified several major immune subsets including two subsets of macrophages (CD163 low and CD163 high ), monocytes, dendritic cells (DCs), B and T cells. The most prevalent CD45+ cells identified in atherosclerotic tissue were CD4 + (25.8%) and CD8 + (25.2%) T cells, macrophages (12.8%), monocytes (7.7%) and B (2.1%) cells. Using a regression analysis similar to that employed by CITRUS, we determined that macrophages and a subset of CD8 T cells characterized by low expression of CD127 were selectively enriched in tissue vs. blood. Multiplexed immunohistochemistry confirmed that T cells comprised a major portion of the CD45+ cells in atherosclerotic tissue, even more abundant than macrophages. This study of deep phenotyping across-atherosclerotic tissue and blood demonstrate a significant T cell tissue infiltration of a specific subset of CD8 T cells. This suggests that adaptive T cell immunity plays a critical role in advanced atherosclerosis. The extension of this systems biology analysis pipeline to larger datasets can improve our understanding of the core mechanisms of chronic inflammation in atherosclerosis.
Conclusion: From Therapeutic Justice to Social Work Criminal Justice

In the conclusion, I turn to the implications of therapeutic justice for MHCs and broader social policy. This chapter summarizes the unique features of MHCs and their important role in contemporary models of criminal justice. It details key strengths and identifies current limitations within the MHC model. Pointing to the future, the book concludes by charting out some improvements in the functioning and effectiveness of MHCs in line with a kind of social work criminal justice. I return to the key paradigms shifts that characterize MHC and offer some reforms based on “best practices” for the next generation of MHCs and problem-solving courts more broadly. MHCs, an innovative therapeutic model of jurisprudence, are an important step toward reforming contemporary criminal justice practices.
Current medical management of patients with poor-risk metastatic germ-cell tumors.

Purpose of review Despite the high cure rate of germ-cell tumors (GCTs), the 5-year survival rate for those patients with metastatic poor-risk GCT rarely exceeds 50%. The purpose of this review is to highlight past and recent discoveries in the treatment of patients with poor-risk GCT. Recent findings Multiple clinical trials to optimize the management of poor-risk germ-cell cancer are ongoing. First-line phase II clinical trials of dose-dense multidrug and paclitaxel-based regimens such as accelerated bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin (BEP), dose-dense chemotherapy and paclitaxel, ifosfamide, and cisplatin (TIP) reported promising results. Positive phase III data are still lacking. Summary Four cycles of BEP or Etoposide (VP16), ifosfamide, cisplatin (VIP) continue to be the standard of care in patients with poor-risk GCT. A significant disparity in patient outcome exists between high-volume and low-volume centers. Referral for centers of excellence should be considered in the management of poor-risk GCT.
Static DVFS Scheduling

DVFS processors, if used properly, can dramatically reduce the energy consumption of real-time systems employing such processors. In this chapter, two static or off-line, voltage/frequency selection techniques are presented to maximally exploit the energy-saving benefit provided by DVFS processors. The first technique targets a popular dynamic-priority task scheduling algorithm, i.e., the Earliest Deadline First algorithm, while the second is applicable to any fixedpriority task scheduling algorithm. Other related work is reviewed at the end of the chapter.
The Social, Psychological, and Education Sciences: From Educationalization to Pedagogicalization of the Family and the Child

This chapter considers the thesis of pedagogicalization through focusing the social and education sciences. Pedagogicalization is spoken about as the expertise of science in ordering what is (im)possible to know and do, creating borders by which experiences are acted upon and the self is located as an actor. The expertise is explored historically through changes in the cultural theses about the modes of life of the child and family: turn of the 20th century educationalization in which the lives of the family and child are rationalized to relate individuality to norms linked to collective, social belonging; and turn of the 21st century pedagogicalization in which the expertise of science focuses on individuality as a seemingly isolated site of continuous innovation and processes of self-evaluation and monitoring bound to networks with no social center.1 In both the past and the present, the cultural theses generated about the family and child, I argue, embody double gestures about the hope of the future and fears about those dangerous to that future and abjected, cast out into unlivable spaces. The first section directs attention to turn of the 20th century social and education sciences and is divided into three four parts. (1) The initial discussion focuses on the American Progressive reforms as turning the private sphere of the family into an object of scrutiny and public administration in making society. (2) The sciences of progressive reforms, argued in the next, generated cultural theses about the family as embodying cosmopolitan values that linked individuality with narratives of the nation and its collective progress. (3) Pedagogy was ‘converting ordinances’ and the soul as the object in the ordering of conduct. (4) Following this discussion, cosmopolitan hope is examined as engendering double gestures. With the hope of progressive reforms were fears of those populations deemed as threatening the future of the republic. The sciences of G. Stanley Hall, John Dewey, and Edward L. Thorndike, icons in American Progressive education, are explored as embodying double gestures to The Social Question, the concern for intervention programs to perceived moral disorders to the city and poor and immigrant populations.
Use of Monoclonal Antibodies for Viral Diagnosis

The performance characteristics of immunoassay systems are dependent to extent on the binding characteristics of the immunoreactants utilized. For this investigators involved in the use of immunoassay systems for the detection of bial antigens have been particularly interested in the evolving technology re] the production and development of monoclonal antibodies (Kennet et al. 1980; Kohler and Milstein 1975; Steinitz et al. 1977). The potential advantages of monoclonal antibodies for immunoassay systems are numerous (Table 1). For example, a consistent supply of a well-defined reagent should allow for the wide-scale availability of immunoassay systems with defined performance characteristics. In addition, since immunoassays follow the law of mass action (Table 2), the availability of immunoglobulin preparations with every molecule directed against antigen should improve the kinetics and thus the sensitivity of immunoassay systems (Yolken 1982). This is especially true in the case of solid-phase immunoassays since the concentration of immunoglobulin which can be utilized in these systems is limited by the binding properties of the solid phase. The specificity of the monoclonal antibodies also allows the utilization of competitive and homogeneous immunoassays which are difficult, if not impossible, to perform with polyclonal antibodies due to the high amount of non-reactive immunoglobulin in such preparations. In addition, the specificity of monoclonal antibodies allows the performance of specific serotyping reactions and measurements of antigenic variations using fairly simple procedures.
Developing helping relationships in dietetic counseling.

Dietetic counselors frequently fail in developing helping relationships with their clients. This skill—and it is a skill—is not innate; it can be taught, as the author explains in detail.
Prostate Cancer Stem/Progenitor Cells

The cancer stem cell (CSC) theory posits that only a small population of tumor cells within the tumor has the ability to reinitiate tumor development and is responsible for tumor homeostasis and progression. Tumor initiation is a defining property of putative CSCs, which have been reported in both blood malignancies and solid tumors. Here we provide evidence that both cultured prostate cancer cells and xenograft prostate tumors contain stem-like cells that can initiate serially transplantable tumors. We also present a hypothetical model of tumorigenic hierarchy of cancer cells in prostate tumors. Further studies on these important tumorigenic cells will help to understand prostate tumor biology and to develop novel diagnostic and prognostic markers and therapeutic agents.
Relationship of Staff Information Sharing and Advice Networks to Patient Safety Outcomes.

OBJECTIVEThe aim of this study was to compare information sharing and advice networks' relationships with patient safety outcomes.BACKGROUNDCommunication contributes to medical errors, but rarely is it clear what elements of communication are key.METHODSWe investigated relationships of information-s
The eccentric case of a fast-rotating, gravity-gradient-perturbed satellite attitude solution

A closed-form first-order perturbation solution for the attitude evolution of a triaxial space object in an elliptical orbit is presented. The solution, derived using the Lie–Deprit method, takes into account gravity-gradient torque and is facilitated by an assumption of fast rotation of the object. The formulation builds on the earlier implementation of Lara and Ferrer, which assumes a circular orbit. The previously presented work—which assumes spin about an object’s axis of maximum inertia—is further extended by the explicit presentation of the transformations required to apply the solution to an object spinning about its axis of minimum inertia. Additionally, several numerical analyses are presented to more completely assess the utility of the solution. These studies (1) validate the elliptical solution, (2) assess the impact of varying the small parameter of the perturbation procedure, (3) analyze the assumption of fast rotation, and (4) apply the solution to the common and important scenario of a tumbling rocket body.
Triptolide and its prodrug minnelide suppress Hsp70 and inhibit in vivo growth in a xenograft model of mesothelioma

Malignant mesothelioma is a devastating disease with a poor prognosis for which there is a clear need for more successful therapeutic approaches. Triptolide, a diterpenoid triepoxide, is a highly effective agent against several cancer types in animal models. Owing to triptolide's poor solubility in water, a water-soluble analog, minnelide, was synthesized. Minnelide is a prodrug of triptolide and is activated by exposure to phosphatases that are found in all body tissues, including blood. Mesothelioma cells were treated in vitro with minnelide or its parent compound, triptolide. Minnelide and triptolide were both found to significantly reduce mesothelioma cell viability and induce apoptosis. The level of Hsp70, a protein that promotes cancer cell survival, was measured in mesothelioma cells before and after treatment with triptolide. Hsp70 levels were decreased in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, triptolide sensitized cells to gemcitabine and pemetrexed as measured by cell viability. Mice bearing mesothelioma flank tumors were treated with daily injections (28 d) of minnelide or saline solution and xenograft tumor growth recorded. Mice displayed significantly reduced tumor burden. These findings support the clinical evaluation of minnelide therapy for mesothelioma.
A Sociocultural Examination of Utility Value in Mathematics: The Role of Interdependence in Middle School Students’ Perceptions of Usefulness

This research takes a sociocultural approach to the study of perceived utility value in mathematics. In particular, this research examines students’ values and considers the role that one’s values might play in ideas about the usefulness of mathematics. To highlight students’ values and perspectives on usefulness, this work uses a combination of semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and surveys. Findings underscore that students placed great importance on learning mathematics that is useful and also exhibited strong interdependent values related to both helping their families and collaborating with others. Opportunities for drawing on these values to enhance perceptions of usefulness are considered, and implications for research and practice are discussed.
Virtual Reality and the Criminal Justice System: New Possibilities for Research, Training, and Rehabilitation

Virtual reality systems are used to achieve a broad range of goals in a variety of fields of study.
About gradients and oscillations : the role of the Wnt-signaling pathway in somite formation during embryonic development

A fundamental characteristic of all vertebrates is the metameric organization of their body plan, best exemplified by the vertebral column. This organization originates during embryonic development and the emergence of the vertebrae precursor, the somites, which form from the paraxial presomitic mesoderm (PSM). The discovery of oscillatory transcriptional activity of the Notch-signaling pathway within the PSM supports the existence of an embryological clock, the segmentation clock, which is responsible in controlling the periodic formation of somites. Here, I present the discovery of oscillatory mRNA expression of Axin2, a target of the Wnt-signaling pathway, in the PSM. This establishes a novel link between Wnt signaling and the segmentation clock. I then describe the generation of a two-photon, real-time imaging technology that allows visualizing segmentation clock activity in realtime in living mouse embryos. This enables us to directly measure oscillation parameters in the PSM. Finally, I describe the discovery of a -catenin protein gradient in the PSM. Using conditional gene targeting experiments, we establish that this gradient controls PSM maturation and differentiation. Moreover, this gradient represents a permissive signal that allows segmentation clock activity to occur. Based on the results presented, I propose a novel model for somite formation.
A Machine Learning Approach to Identifying Future Suicide Risk

Background It is nearly impossible to predict when someone will die from suicide, but with early intervention many deaths are preventable. Clinical trials using machine learning algorithms have been able to use patient language to compute the likelihood that someone is suicidal at a particular point in time. Here we determine if the language characteristics associated with suicide risk are persistent 30 days after discharge. Methods Multiple hospital base emergency departments and outpatient clinics were used to enroll subjects (n=253) into one of two groups: suicidal or control. Their responses to standardized instruments and interviews designed to harvest thought markers were recorded and analyzed with machine learning algorithms. Subjects were re-interviewed approximately 30 days later, and the language in their interviews was analyzed to determine the presence of suicidal ideation. Outcomes The results show that the language characteristics used to classify suicidality at the initial encounter are still present in the participants’ speech 30 days later (AUC = 0·89 (95% CI: 0·85-0·95) with p < 0·0001) and that this also holds in the inverse case; classifiers trained on second interviews could identify the cohort that produced the first interviews (AUC = 0·85 (95% CI: 0·81–0·90) with p < 0·0001). Interpretation This approach explores the stability of suicidal interviews 30 days after it is recorded. It does so with computational innovations and well established computational linguistic methods. The results show that the thoughts exhibited by a patient’s language are still valid for machine learning 30-days after first disclosed, but the initial correlation with the standard measures is not. This can be useful when seeking decision support for follow-up care. Funding Statement: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Innovation Fund. Declaration of Interests: The authors have no competing interests to declare. Ethics Approval Statement: A prospective clinical trial was conducted between October 2013 and March 2015 (Institutional Review Board (#2013-3770) approved).
Societal coercion and path-dependence: Punishment and Puritanism in contemporary societies:

The article analyzes the connections between societal coercion and punishment in contemporary Western and related societies and a particular form of religion, namely Puritanism and its theocracy. I...
Significance of Seed Caching by Rodents for Key Plants in Natural Resource Management

•Scatter-hoarding rodents constitute the primary means of seed dispersal and seedling establishment for a diversity of plant forms, including grasses, shrubs, and trees. We review evidence of the importance of scatter-hoarding rodents for the propagation of some key plant species in the fields of range, wildlife, and forest management.•Seed caches of various rodents, including deer mice, pinon mice, and pocket mice, facilitate establishment of juniper and pinon pine species in shrub-dominated rangelands. In the southern deserts, mesquite seedlings often establish from caches made by kangaroo rats, which are also the main dispersers of Indian ricegrass seeds•Three examples are discussed in which scatter-hoarding rodents affect seedling production of key shrub species, antelope bitterbrush, blackbrush, manzanita, and bearberry, in the field of wildlife management.•Sugar pine, Jeffrey pine, and ponderosa pine – all economically important timber trees in the western U.S. – have winged seeds to facilitate dispersal by wind, but it is scatter-hoarding of the seeds by chipmunks following initial wind dispersal that accounts for the vast majority of seedling production.•The importance of this plant-animal interaction is not unique to conifers, as numerous hardwood trees utilized for timber and/or nut production also owe most of their seedling emergence to scatter-hoarding rodents•Scatter-hoarding rodents are clearly central players in the productivity of many plant species, including numerous species that are key to natural resource management.
Formation and kinetic studies of manganese(IV)-oxo porphyrins: Oxygen atom transfer mechanism of sulfide oxidations.

Abstract Visible light irradiation of photo-labile porphyrin-manganese(III) chlorates or bromates (2) produced manganese(IV)-oxo porphyrins [MnIV(Por)(O)] (Por = porphyrin) (3) in three porphyrin ligands. The same oxo species 3 were also formed by chemical oxidation of the corresponding manganese(III) precursors (1) with iodobenzene diacetate, i.e. PhI(OAc)2. The systems under study include 5,10,15,20-tetra(pentafluorophenyl)porphyrin‑manganese(IV)-oxo (3a), 5,10,15,20-tetra(2,6-difluorophenyl)porphyrin‑manganese(IV)-oxo (3b), and 5,10,15,20-tetramesitylporphyrin‑manganese(IV)-oxo (3c). As expected, complexes 3 reacted with thioanisoles to produce the corresponding sulfoxides and over-oxidized sulfones. The kinetics of oxygen atom transfer (OAT) reactions of these generated 3 with aryl sulfides were studied in CH3CN solutions. Second-order rate constants for sulfide oxidation reactions are comparable to those of alkene epoxidations and activated C H bond oxidations by the same oxo species 3. For a given substrate, the reactivity order for the manganese(IV)-oxo species was 3a > 3b > 3c, consistent with expectations on the basis of the electron-withdrawing capacity of the porphyrin macrocycles. Free-energy Hammett analyses gave near-linear correlations with σ values, indicating no significant positive charge developed at the sulfur during the oxidation process. The mechanistic results strongly suggest [MnIV(Por)(O)] reacts as a direct OAT agent towards sulfide substrates through a manganese(II) intermediate that was detected in this work. However, an alternative pathway that involves a disproportionation of 3 to form a higher oxidized manganese(V)-oxo species may be significant when less reactive substrates are present. The competition product studies with the Hammett correlation plot confirmed that the observed manganese(IV)-oxo species is not the true oxidant for the sulfide oxidations catalyzed by manganese(III) porphyrins with PhI(OAc)2.
Matrix Fisher-Gaussian Distribution on $\mathrm{SO}(3)\times\mathbb{R}^n$ for Attitude Estimation with a Gyro Bias

In this paper, a new probability distribution, referred to as the matrix Fisher-Gaussian (MFG) distribution, is proposed on the nonlinear manifold $\mathrm{SO}(3)\times\mathbb{R}^n$. It is constructed by conditioning a (9+n)-variate Gaussian distribution from the ambient Euclidean space into $\mathrm{SO}(3)\times\mathbb{R}^n$, while imposing a certain geometric interpretation of the correlation terms to avoid over-parameterization. The unique feature is that it may represent large uncertainties in attitudes, linear variables of an arbitrary dimension, and angular-linear correlations between them in a global fashion without singularities associated with local parameterizations. Various stochastic properties and an approximate maximum likelihood estimator of MFG are developed. Furthermore, two methods are developed to propagate uncertainties though a stochastic differential equation representing attitude kinematics. Based on these, a Bayesian estimator is proposed to estimate the attitude and time-varying gyro bias concurrently. Numerical studies indicate that the proposed estimator exhibits a better accuracy against the well-established multiplicative extended Kalman filter for two challenging cases.
Personality traits in substance use disorders and obesity when compared to healthy controls

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Although personality traits are implicated in substance use disorders (SUDs) and obesity, differences and similarities between them have not been assessed. Our main aim was to compare personality traits between people with different SUDs, obese people and healthy controls. DESIGN This was a secondary analysis of personality scores obtained from participants in neuroimaging studies from Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Laboratory of Neuroimaging, National Institutes of Health. SETTING United States. PARTICIPANTS/CASES Individuals with obesity (OB) n = 41, alcohol use disorder (AUD) n = 39, marijuana use disorder (MUD) n = 24, cocaine use disorder (CUD) n = 100, and healthy controls (HC) n = 117 (237 males and 84 females). MEASUREMENTS The Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire, which characterizes positive emotionality (PEM), negative emotionality (NEM) and constraint (CON) traits. Adjusted covariates included cigarette smoking status, age, gender and body mass index (BMI). FINDINGS Multivariate analysis of covariance showed a main group effect (i.e. OB, AUD, MUD, CUD and HC) only on NEM (P 0.05, d = 2.8) relative to HC. CUD showed lower CON (P = 0.015, d = 5.4) and PEM (P = 0.018, d = 4.8) than HC; however, these differences were not significant in the other groups. NEM and CON were negatively correlated for groups combined (r = -0.26, P < 0.0001), and separately for OB (r = -0.49, P = 0.001) and CUD (r = -0.22, P = 0.03). Cigarette smoking status did not influence group differences in NEM, PEM or CON. CONCLUSIONS Compared with healthy controls, people with substance use disorders appear to show higher negative emotionality, and people with cocaine use disorders appear to show lower positive emotionality and constraint traits. Similar findings were not found among people with obesity.
Generating rectangular coordinates in polar coordinate order

This paper proposes a means by which 2D data represented using the rectangular coordinate system can be converted to its equivalent in the polar coordinate system. Taking note that the order in which data becomes available with a polar coordinate measuring device is most unnatural from the point of view of a rectangular coordinate system, this paper presents a simple yet elegant algorithm that generates the points of a rectangular coordinate system in the natural order in which they would be obtained in a polar coordinate system. The algorithm uses only integer arithmetic and a few simple tests. It can quickly identify the grid points between any two angles or the polar coordinate measurements needed to compute rectangular coordinate measurements by interpolation.