cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Endoscopic Therapy of Acute Cholecystitis

Acute cholecystitis is typically addressed by cholecystectomy. Patients who are critically ill often undergo a percutaneous cholecystostomy as a temporizing measure and eventually undergo definitive surgery. In a small select group of patients in whom these options are undesirable, such as cirrhotics awaiting liver transplant, or those with a terminal illness in whom a percutaneous tube is unacceptable, there is a growing experience with internal drainage of the gallbladder. The gallbladder can be drained into the gut either at endoscopic cholangiography (ERCP) via the major papilla or transluminally during endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS). There is a growing body of literature, mainly comprised of small case series that have described experience with transpapillary drainage and when successful, it appears this is a safe and efficacious alternative. The experience with EUS guided drainage of the gallbladder is limited, is potentially associated with a higher risk of complications and should be performed only if absolutely necessary until there is a broader experience.
Cheating the Hangman: The Effect of the Roper v. Simmons Decision on Homicides Committed by Juveniles

On March 1, 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the execution of offenders under the age of 18 at the time of their criminal offense was unconstitutional. Although many welcomed this decision, some individuals still remain concerned that the elimination of the specter of capital punishment will inevitably increase homicidal behavior among juveniles by reducing the prospect of deterrence. Using monthly data from the Supplemental Homicide Reports and a multiple time-series research design, the authors investigate the impact of the Roper v. Simmons decision on homicides perpetrated by juveniles in the 20 states affected by the law. Maximum likelihood results reveal that the repeal of the juvenile death penalty has had no effect on juvenile homicidal behavior.
X-ray diffraction study of phase stability in SiO2 at deep mantle conditions

The stability of SiO2 phases were examined by X-ray diffraction at pressure up to 131 GPa and temperature N1300 K, corresponding to Earth’s deep lower mantle conditions. Three materials, stishovite, cristobalite, and silica glass were used as starting materials, and an argon pressure-transmitting medium was loaded with the sample for five out of six sets of laser-heated diamond cell experiments. X-ray fluorescent crystals were loaded with the sample to ensure alignment of X-ray beam and heating laser. Our results from three different staring materials indicate that the CaCl2-type phase is the stable phase throughout our studied P–T range. We observe the a-PbO2-type phase for cristobalite starting material at pressures greater than 48 GPa at room temperature. However, this transforms to the CaCl2-type structure upon heating between 72–113 GPa. Transition kinetics and metastability may be important in explaining differences in results reported above 75 GPa, and key experimental variables are discussed. D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
ORIENTATION BY MEANS OF LONG RANGE ACOUSTIC SIGNALING IN BALEEN WHALES

With very few exceptions, whales are social animals. Even though they may be widely dispersed at some seasons, most species congregate in herds during some portion of the year. As a general rule, small, toothed whales form the largest herds, which frequently contain hundreds, and exceptionally tens of thousands, of animals, whereas the much larger baleen whales, when found in herds at all, most often travel in bands of less than 20 animals, with only occasional reports of herds of up to 1,000 animals or more.’ There has been considerable speculation on the functional significance of herd behavior in whales, but it seems unlikely that we will get any closer to understanding the role of herd behavior until we know more about what constitutes a herd. In general usage, the word “herd” seems to mean a group of animals that are in close enough proximity to offer visible evidence to an observer (usually on the deck of a boat) that their behavior is linked (i.e., they are swimming in the same direction, or breathing in rough synchrony, or feeding in the same area or resting together, and so on). But this is a visual judgment of what may be principally an acoustic phenomenon, and therefore is more than likely to be inappropriate. Since sound is conducted in the ocean so well and light so poorly, a functional social group of whales may be held together by sound rather than sight and may stretch far beyond the horizon visible from a boat, or even from an airplane, and what appears to be a lone individual may in fact be an animal traveling in company with one or many companions some miles away-by our definition, a whale in acoustic contact with another whale is not alone. This paper is concerned with baleen whales. Baleen whales are reticent laboratory subjects. In the absence of direct experimental evidence we might be able to get some idea of how far apart they can be and still be in acoustic contact by calculating how far their sounds might travel before being lost in the background noise of the ocean. Such calculations, while based in part on measured values, are also based on assumptions and remain theoretical. However, because of the exponential nature of acoustic phenomena, they are probably not entirely misleading. In this paper we will try to show what kind of useful range at least one sound made by one baleen whale species, the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) , might have and will suggest that its function includes long range signaling. We have chosen fin whales because they make exceptionally loud, low frequency sounds that have been the object of considerable study in recent years. It must be borne in mind throughout this paper that we are nor postulating meaningful communication of complex information among distant whales. Our remarks are concerned solely with simple signaling of place, for purposes of closing range and nothing more-in human terms, a message containing no more information than “there is a fin whale here.” Our thesis is that fin whales, and Rockefeller University and The New York Zoological Society, New York, N . Y .
Fast restoration and superresolution with edge-preserving regularization

In applications of PMMW imaging such as real-time video, fast restorations are needed to keep up with the frame rate. FFT-based restoration provides a fast implemention but at the expense of assuming that the regularization term is constant over the image. Unfortunately, this assumption can create significant ringing artifacts in the presence of edges as well as edges that are blurrier than necessary. Furthermore,shift-invariant regularization does not allow for the possibility of superresolution. Shift-variant regularization provides a way to vary the roughness penalty as a function of spatial coordinates to reduce edge artifacts and provide a degree of superresolution. Virtually all edge-preserving regularization approaches exploit this concept. However, this approach destroys the structure that makes the use of the FFT possible, since the deblurring operation is no longer shift-invariant. Thus, the restoration methods available for this problem no longer have the computational efficiency of the FFT. We propose a new restoration method for the shift-variant regularization approach that can be implemented in a fast and flexible manner. We decompose the restoration into a sum of two independent restorations. One restoration yields an image that comes directly from an FFT-based approach. This image is a shift-invariant restoration containing the usual artifacts. The other restoration involves a set of unknowns whose number equals the number of pixels with a local smoothing penalty significantly different from the typical value in the image. This restoration represents the artifact correction image. By summing the two, the artifacts are canceled. Because the second restoration has a significantly reduced set of unknowns, it can be calculated very efficiently even though no circular convolution structure exists.
Area-efficient implication circuits for very dense Lukasiewicz logic arrays

A one-diode circuit for negated implication is derived from a 12-transistor Lukasiewicz implication circuit. The derivation also yields an adjustable three-transistor implication circuit with maximum error less than 1% of full scale. Two Lukasiewicz logic arrays are proposed that use area-efficient implementations of the one-diode and three-transistor implication circuits. The very dense diode-tower LLA contains 36000 implications in an area that previously held 92 implications; the three-transistor LLA contains 1990 implications. Both LLAs double the number of inputs per pin on the IC package. Very dense LLAs make LLA-based architectures practical. As an example, an LLA retina that detects edges in 15 ns is described. >
FSCBG: An aerial spray dispersion model for predicting the fate of released material behind aircraft

The development of the aerial spray dispersion model FSCBG (Forest Service, Cramer, Barry and Grim) by the USDA Forest Service and the U.S. Army is reviewed. FSCBG predicts the behavior of spray material released through nozzles into the wake of a spray aircraft (helicopter or fixed-wing), traveling through idealized atmospheric effects, penetrating a canopy and depositing on the ground. FSCBG contains simplified models for the complex flow structure behind aircraft and the mechanisms that affect the fate of aerially released material: downwind drift, evaporation, canopy penetration, and ground and canopy deposition. Model development efforts encompass the areas of spray behavior, aircraft wake effects, meteorological influences, canopy interaction, and deposition. These efforts are supplemented by model validation with field tests. The ability of the model to quantify off-target spray drift is particularly important.
Evidence-based medicine: a new science or an epidemiologic fad?

* Abbreviations: EBM = : evidence-based medicine • AAP = : American Academy of Pediatrics Evidence-based medicine (EBM) has been defined as the “conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. The practice of evidence-based medicine means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research.”1 It has been championed by many groups, particularly in Canada and England, as one way to address issues related to quality of care.2–9 More specifically, EBM reflects a concerted effort to systematically retrieve and synthesize data, make the data available to physicians, and incorporate it into practice.10 Intuition and individual clinical experience are deemphasized and decision-making based on evidence is stressed. Although there have been some concerns about whether there is sufficient evidence to guide many of our clinical decisions, about what represents the best available evidence, and about the authoritarian voices of the EBM movement, it should be our goal to make the most informed medical decisions on behalf of patients.11–13 Why is EBM important? Is it just another epidemiologic fad, one that will gradually fade into the sunset? EBM originates from the ongoing concerns about quality of care, including individual, institutional, and regional variations in diagnostic testing, hospitalization rates, therapeutic interventions, and outcomes.14 ,15 For example, in pediatrics, there are ample data indicating that the care of many children with asthma is not consistent with the guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) or the National Institutes of Health.15 ,16 In some regards, EBM represents the culmination of such methodologic approaches as decision analysis,17 meta-analysis,18–19 practice guidelines,20 clinical pathways,21 disease management,22–23 systematic reviews (Cochrane Collaboration),24–27 and critically appraised topics.28 In fact, EBM relies on all these methods, and … Address correspondence to Howard Bauchner, MD, Boston University School of Medicine/Boston Medical Center, Maternity 415, 91 E Concord St, Boston, MA 02118.
Homogeneous, Bioluminescent Protease Assays: Caspase-3 as a Model

1 Using caspase-3 as a model, the authors have developed a strategy for highly sensitive, homogeneous protease assays suitable for high-throughput, automated applications. The assay uses peptide-conjugated aminoluciferin as the protease substrate and a firefly luciferase that has been molecularly evolved for increased stability. By combining the proluminescent caspase-3 substrate, Z-DEVD-aminoluciferin, with a stabilized luciferase in a homogeneous format, the authors developed an assay that is significantly faster and more sensitive than fluorescent caspase-3 assays. The assay has a single-step format, in which protease cleavage of the substrate and luciferase oxidation of the aminoluciferin occurs simultaneously. Because these processes are coupled, they rapidly achieve steady state to maintain stable luminescence for several hours. Maximum sensitivity is attained when this steady state occurs; consequently, this coupled-enzyme system results in a very rapid assay. The homogeneous format inherently removes trace contamination by free aminoluciferin, resulting in extremely low background and yielding exceptionally high signal-to-noise ratios and excellent Zfactors. Another advantage of a luminescent format is that it avoids problems of cell autofluorescence or fluorescence interference that can be associated with synthetic chemical and natural product libraries. This bioluminescent, homogeneous format should be widely applicable to other protease assays. (Journal of Biomolecular Screening 2005:137-148)
A note on lithospheric bending calculations

Summary. This paper derives exact solutions to the equations of static plane strain by means of propagator matrices for homogeneous, gravitating and non- gravitating elastic media. These solutions are immediately verifiable and are flexible under a variety of boundary conditions. Propagator matrices are eminently suitable for computer encoding and, through their multiplication, are applicable to depth-dependent structures. Attention is focused upon the bending of floating plates which are loaded to simulate the deflection of oceanic lithosphere in the vicinity of trenches. By comparing responses com- puted with and without body forces, I find that gravity does not meaning- fully change deflection profiles; however, it can influence important aspects of the internal stress state. Gravitational stresses are proportional to the gradient of the vertical deformation and amount to about 10 per cent of the bending stresses in these models. Propagators which include gravity are used to investigate the effect of regional horizontal stresses upon bending plates. I conclude that applied compressive forces can transport the neutral surface through 10-20 km of depth without significantly deforming the plate profile or increasing the maximum internal stress by more than 30 per cent. These calculations support the contention that variable compressive stresses resulting from interplate coupling could account for observed regional differences in neutral surface height. For elastic-plastic material, the funda- mental equations of motion become non-linear; however, there appears to be no a priori objection to their linearization. I speculate that the propagator formalism, when applied in an iterativeapproach, could be a powerful method for computing the deformation of such media.
Computational thinking in high school courses

The number of undergraduates entering computer science has declined in recent years. This is paralleled by a drop in the number of high school students taking the CS AP exam and the number of high schools offering computer science courses. The declines come at a time when career opportunities in CS continue to grow and computer science graduates are seen as crucial in building a globally competitive workforce for the 21st century. Efforts aimed at reversing the declining interest in computer science include curriculum revisions at the undergraduate level at many institutions, a re-design of computer science AP courses [1], and the inclusion of computational thinking into disciplines outside computer science [3].This panel discusses four projects of computer science researchers collaborating with high school teachers on integrating computing and computational thinking into their courses. The majority of the high school teachers involved is teaching science and math courses. They are teaching a diverse group of talented and college-bound students. The goal of all projects is to integrate computing into disciplines represented in the high school curriculum and to raise the awareness of computer science as an exciting and intellectually rewarding field.This panel will outline recent and on-going activities and interaction with high school teachers. Each panelist will describe how he/she got involved and the nature of the interaction. The panelists will talk about their individual projects, outline their visions for future interactions, and how their effort can be replicated by others. The session will briefly describe NSF's RET program which provided teacher support for three of the four projects. The session will then be opened for discussion; the audience will be encouraged to ask questions and contribute additional ideas for the inclusion of computational thinking in high school courses.
Auditory sampling of frogs: Detection efficiency in relation to survey duration

Call surveys are used widely to assess distribution and abundance of anurans. The durations of these surveys often are based on convenience rather than on empirical analysis. Knowing how frog detection varies with survey duration is valuable for designing sampling schemes, yet few studies have examined the relationship between survey duration and detection efficiency. We conducted call surveys for frogs in central Texas to assess effects of survey duration on detection efficiency. We controlled analytically for temporal and environmental covariates that had the potential to confound our assessment of survey duration. Cumulative detection efficiency of all species was 94% for 15-min surveys and did not increase appreciably with longer durations up to 30 min. Detection efficiency for number of species was significantly higher for 15-min surveys than it was for 5-min surveys, and the variability of detection efficiency decreased with increasing survey duration. Detection efficiency for number of calling individuals of Acris crepitans and Rana sphenocephala did not differ among 5-, 10-, and 15-min surveys. Of the temporal and environmental covariates examined, only the year in which a survey was conducted was significantly associated with detection efficiency for number of species. None of the covariates was significantly related to detection efficiency for A. crepitans or R. sphenocephala. When sampling resources such as time and personnel are limited, knowledge about detection efficiencies is essential for allocating survey effort.
Suicide attempts in antisocial personality disorder

Abstract Previous studies that have examined suicide attempts and the diagnosis of antisocial personalities are somewhat difficult to compare because of variable diagnostic criteria. The diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder does not include past suicide attempts as a criterion. 1–4 Previous investigations have revealed antisocial personality disorder or criminal behavior to be a predictor of subsequent suicide attempts. 5,6 These findings of suicide attempts contrast to those of completed suicides. Sociopaths completed suicides infrequently when compared to patients with other psychiatric disorders. 7,8 A follow-up study of sociopaths and nonpsychiatrically ill controls revealed no difference in completed suicides. 9 Previous investigations 9,10 revealed suicide attempt rates in sociopaths of 23%–11%. Our experience has been that sociopaths frequently had past histories of nonserious suicide attempts. This investigation was undertaken to explore the incidence of previous suicide attempts in sociopaths.
A New Approach to Clarke’s Gradients in Infinite Dimensions

One of the most useful tools developed for use in nonsmooth optimization is the generalized gradient set of Clarke. These gradients have been used on a variety of problems including necessary conditions for optimality, control theory and differential inclusions. Three different techniques can be used to define Clarke’s gradients. They have characterizations in terms of directional derivatives [Clarke (1975), Rockafellar (1980)], the normal cone to the epigraph of a function [Clarke (1975)] and in terms of limits of proximal subgradients [Rockafellar (1981)]. Some of the strongest results involving Clarke’s subgradients have been derived using the proximal subgradient formula [Rockafellar (1982)].
Portable memory

Migrating applications is necessary to provide fault tolerance in a distributed environment. In this paper, we present a new design that enables the heterogeneous migration of a general class of applications. Our approach can handle applications that use pointers. Our design is tailored for the C programming language, but can be adapted for other languages. We chose the C language because it is more difficult to handle than other languages, especially its pointer operations.
Abstract 1483: Bmi1 is required for Twist1-mediated breast cancer cell invasion.

Metastasis is the spread of cancer cells from the site of primary tumors to distant organs and the establishment of secondary tumors there. It is a multistep process, and the initial step is cancer cell invasion during which cancer cells move into tissues surrounding the tumor and the vasculature. Transcription factor Twist1 has been identified as a key regulator of metastasis in a murine breast tumor model as suppression of Twist1 expression in metastatic mammary carcinoma cells specifically inhibits their ability to metastasize, and overexpression of Twist1 induces cell motility and promotes an epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Previous studies have shown that Twist1 works together with polycomb group protein Bmi1 to promote EMT. Here we show that in breast cancer cells, Bmi1 acts downstream of Twist1 to promote the cancer cell invasion. Suppression of Bmi1 in breast cancer cells expressing high level Twist1 reduces cell motility, and ectopic expression of Bmi1 in Twist1-knockdown cells promote cell invasion. The results delineate a novel pathway that leads to cancer cell invasion and metastasis, which may benefit the development of novel therapeutic approaches to treat advanced breast cancer. Citation Format: Yu-Huey Lin, Guihua Jing, Junjun Liu. Bmi1 is required for Twist1-mediated breast cancer cell invasion. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1483. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-1483 Note: This abstract was not presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 because the presenter was unable to attend.
Functional Delivery of siRNA by Disulfide-Constrained Cyclic Amphipathic Peptides

The promise of oligonucleotide therapeutic agents to perturb expression of disease-related genes remains unrealized, in part due to challenges with functional cellular delivery of these agents. Herein, we describe disulfide-constrained cyclic amphipathic peptides that complex with short-interfering RNA (siRNA) and affect functional cytosolic delivery and knockdown of target gene products in cell culture and in vivo to mouse lung. Reduction of the constraining disulfide bond and subsequent proteolytic clearance of the peptide are key design features that allow unmasking of the siRNA cargo and presentation to the RNA interference machinery.
Abstract 542: Camalexin, the phytoalexin fromCruciferous Plants, decreases cell proliferation and induces apoptosis in prostate cancer cells

Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL Camalexin, the phytoalexin produced in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, accumulates in various cruciferous plants upon exposure to environmental stress and plant pathogens. Besides moderate antibacterial and antifungal activity, camalexin was reported to also exhibit antiproliferative and cancer chemopreventive effects. We studied the effects of camalexin treatment on viability of several prostate cancer (PCa) cell lines and whether cytostatic/cytotoxic effects of camalexin-treated prostate cancer cells were due to reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. As models, we utilized LNCaP and its aggressive subline, C4-2, as well as ARCaP cells stably transfected with empty vector (Neo) control or constitutively active Snail cDNA that represents an EMT model. Previous studies have shown that C4-2 and ARCaP-Snail cells express more ROS than LNCaP and ARCaP-Neo, respectively. We hypothesized that camalexin would decrease cell proliferation and increase apoptosis in PCa cell lines and that the more aggressive cell lines expressing more ROS would be more sensitive to camalexin. Our results showed that camalexin treatments led to higher ROS as shown spectrofluorometrically by the oxidation of H2DCFDA, and this was decreased by co-treatment with NAC. Cell viability using MTS proliferation assay indicated that camalexin treatments decreased cell proliferation more significantly in C4-2 and ARCaP-Snail cells, as compared to LNCaP and ARCaP-Neo cells, respectively, while PrEC normal prostate epithelial cells were unaffected. Conversely, camalexin treatments increased apoptosis and mitocasp activity, which assesses caspase3/7 activity. This was associated with increased p21 and p27 anti-proliferative markers and cleaved PARP apoptotic marker as shown by western blot analysis. NAC reduced camalexin-induced ROS in ARCaP-Snail cells and abrogated camalexin-mediated cell proliferation decrease and apoptosis increase, showing that camalexin is mediating its effects through ROS. In conclusion, camalexin retarded prostate cancer cell proliferation and induced apoptosis via increased ROS generation. Interestingly, it was more potent in aggressive PCa cells expressing higher levels of ROS and did not affect normal cells. Hence, this phytoalexin has a strong potential as a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of especially metastatic prostate cancer cells that express high levels of ROS. Supported by grants P20MD002285-01 & G12RR003062-22. 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 542. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-542
Electrorheology of Polystyrene Filler/Polyhedral Silsesquioxane Suspensions

An important challenge in the field of electrorheology is identifying low-viscosity fluids that would exhibit significant changes in viscosity, or a yield stress, upon the application of an external electric field. Our recent research showed that optimal compositions of mixtures, 10 wt % sulfonated polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (s-POSS) mixed with polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS), exhibited significant electrorheological activity. Here we show that s-POSS/PDMS mixtures containing polystyrene (PS) fillers, of micrometer-sized dimensions, containing as little as ∼1 wt % s-POSS, exhibited an increase in ER activity by an order of magnitude, beyond that of s-POSS/PDMS mixtures. The dynamic yield stress was found to scale with the particle diameter, a, as τy ∝ a0.5 and with the electric field as τy ∝ E1.5–2.5; this behavior is reasonably well understood within the context of dielectric electrorheological theory.
Atomic data from the Iron Project. XVI. Photoionization cross sections and oscillator strengths for Fe V

Large scale ab initio calculations of photoionization and dipole transition probabilities for Fe V are reported. The computations were carried out in the close coupling approximation using the R-matrix method including 34 LS terms of the target ion Fe VI. All bound states of Fe V with n 10 and l 7 are considered. The results include 1816 LS bound states, dipole oscillator strengths for 129.904 LS multiplets, and detailed photoionization cross sections with extensive resonance structures for all of the bound states. These data dier signicantly in many cases from the earlier data calculated under the Opacity Project and other theoretical calculations. It is expected that the new data should yield more accurate Iron opacities, particularly in objects where Fe V is observed to be one of the dominant species, such as the atmospheres of hot, young white dwarfs at temperatures of 40.000 60.000 K. The present calculations were mainly carried out on the massively parallel Cray T3D with a parallelized version of the Iron Project R-matrix codes.
Discussion on Calibration Method of AC Corona Cage Radio Interference Measurement

Radio interference level can be estimated with excitation function by the use of corona cage experiment of diverse conductors.The influences of dimension of corona cage,calibration factor and full radio noise current generated by bundles should be obtained by calibration experiment before radio interference measurement.Consequently,we put forward two calibration methods,one is circuit analysis method in which impedance of each element of coupling circuit should be calculated,the other is test method in which corona current caused by stable spark-gap is measured.Based on the two methods,three calibration factors are defined,namely,the theory calibration factor,capacitance calibration factor,and experiment calibration factor.The maximum factor of each cage is theory calibration factor which can not be achieved by experiment measurement.Capacitance calibration factor is defined by calibration between bundles and test cage while experiment calibration factor can be got from spark experiment,and results are analyzed with impedance of each apartment of corona cage.Moreover,the identity of capacitance calibration factor and experiment calibration factor is confirmed,and some issues affecting the test precision of experiment calibration factor are introduced.The results are compared with the formula provided by International Special Committee on Radio Interference.
Statistics analyses of urine lead of 57 exposed workers who seem to be saturnism patients in Taizhou city

Objective:The value about the lead concentration in urine of saturnism workers has been analyzed.According to that one way how to avoid saturnism was developed.Methods: χ2 test has been used to analyze the results of urine lead.Results: The value of urine lead of 53 workers in 57 total sampling workers was above normal level.The rate of abnormal was 93% respectively.14 workers were observe object(24.6%),29 workers were in mild intoxication(50.9%),and 10 workers were more serious(17.5%).There is no obvious difference between male and female.Conclusion: The workers exposed in the storage battery factory were the key multitude who was easy to be in staturnism.The concentration of urine lead of those workers was often larger than normal value when they had been exposed in the work place after a short period.
Quality of supportive care for patients with advanced lung cancer in the Veterans Health Administration.

Background Morbidity related to cancer and its treatment remains a significant source of human suffering and a challenge to the delivery of high-quality care. Objectives To develop and apply quality indicators to evaluate quality of supportive care for advanced lung cancer in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and examine facility-level predictors of quality. Methods We evaluated supportive care quality using 12 quality indicators. Data were taken from VHA electronic health records for incident lung cancer cases occurring during 2007. Organizational characteristics of 111 VHA facilities were examined for association with receipt of care. Limitations Not all supportive care was evaluated. Care processes identified as present at facilities may not have been applied to cohort patients. Facility-level results may be influenced by errors in attributing a patient's care to the correct facility. Conclusions Quality indicators for supportive cancer care can be developed and applied in large evaluations using electronic health record review. This study confirmed high-quality supportive care, while identifying significant facility-level variation in VHA.
Abnormal platelet function and ultrastructure in patients with severe viral hepatitis

A study of aggregation and release function of platelet and its ultrastructure in 27 patients with severe viral hepatitis (SVH) was carried out. The results showed that a) the maximum aggregation rate (MAR) decreased markedly; b) platelet 5-HT decreased strikingly and plasma 5-HIs increased significantly; c) the change of MAR was in positive correlation with that of platelet 5-HT and platelet 5-HT/plasma 5-HIs and the change of platelet 5-HT was in negative correlation with that of plasma 5-HIs; d) the ultrastructural abnormalities of platelet suggested its renewal, denaturation and activation in vivo. These results indicate that the abnormal platelet function and ultrastructure in patients with SVH are mainly related to the activation of platelet in vivo.
Chemical communication: An integral part of functional Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) society

The matriarchally organized Asian elephant society is characterized by long-term stability and continuity. Flux within this society results from changing ecological conditions and the dynamics of i...
1-D coupled non-equilibrium sediment transport modeling for unsteady flows in the discontinuous Galerkin framework

A high-resolution, 1-D numerical model has been developed in the discontinuous Galerkin framework to simulate 1-D flow behavior, sediment transport, and morphological evaluation under unsteady flow conditions. The flow and sediment concentration variables are computed based on the one-dimensional shallow water flow equations, while empirical equations are used for entrainment and deposition processes. The sediment transport model includes the bed load and suspended load components. New formulations for Harten-Lax-van Leer (HLL) and Harten-Lax-van Contact (HLLC) are presented for shallow water flow equations that include the bed load and suspended load fluxes. The computational results for the flow and morphological changes after two dam break events are compared with the physical model tests. Results show that the modified HLL and HLLC formulations are robust and can accurately predict morphological changes in highly unsteady flows.
Never-Miss Conditions

A number of musculoskeletal injuries are considered emergent. Missing these injuries is likely to lead to significant disability, and in some instances possibly death. While many such topics are covered throughout this book, it is important to take a moment to cover some of the most significant topics that warrant special attention.
Quality of Work Life of Nurses and its Impact on their Job Satisfaction

The Quality of Work Life (QWL) and Job Satisfaction are important factors which greatly influence turnover among nursing staff. A satisfied employee tends to be less absent, makes positive contribution, greatly contented, and stays with the organization. Objectives : To assess the Quality of Work Life and Job Satisfaction of Nurses, To find out the Impact of Quality of Work Life on Job Satisfaction, To associate the Quality of Work Life and Job Satisfaction with the selected demographic variables. Setting : Tertiary care hospital, Thrissur, Kerala which is a 1500 bedded hospital always have a census of about 1200 inpatients. Methods : The method employed in this study was non experimental - descriptive survey. The samples were drawn through simple random sampling technique. The sample size was 300 nurses who has been working here for at least six months and more. The data were gathered directly from the respondents with the help of structured questionnaire with in 3 months period and analyzed by using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Results : Overall level of Quality of Work Life of the 300 nurses related to the work environment lies in the range of 19.54±2.6, and Overall level of Job Satisfaction of 300 nurses related to the Working Condition lies in the range of 18.25±3.60 and the Correlation Co-efficient between the Quality of Work Life of Nurses and Level of Job Satisfaction is + 0.8. There is a strong Positive Correlation between the Quality of Work Life of Nurses and level of Job Satisfaction; that is when the Quality of Work Life increases the level of Job Satisfaction also increases. In the x 2 Test, significant association was found (P<0.95) between marital status and their Quality of Work Life. Whereas there was no significant association found between the other demographic variables with the Quality of Work Life or job satisfaction. Conclusion : To improve Job Satisfaction, more attention should be paid to improve the Quality of Work Life. Quality of Work Life helps employees to feel secure and they are being thought of and cared for by the organization in which they work.
Counting black holes: The cosmic stellar remnant population and implications for LIGO

Author(s): Elbert, OD; Bullock, JS; Kaplinghat, M | Abstract: We present an empirical approach for interpreting gravitational wave signals of binary black hole mergers under the assumption that the underlying black hole population is sourced by remnants of stellar evolution. Using the observed relationship between galaxy mass and stellar metallicity, we predict the black hole count as a function of galaxy stellar mass. We show, for example, that a galaxy like the Milky Way should host millions of ~30M⊙ black holes and dwarf satellite galaxies like Draco should host ~100 such remnants, with weak dependence on the assumed initial mass function and stellar evolution model. Most low-mass black holes (~10M⊙) typically reside within massive galaxies (M* ≃ 1011M⊙) while massive black holes (~50M⊙) typically reside within dwarf galaxies (M* ≃ 109M⊙) today. If roughly 1 per cent of black holes are involved in a binary black hole merger, then the reported merger rate densities from advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory can be accommodated for a range of merger time-scales, and the detection of mergers with g 50M⊙ black holes should be expected within the next decade. Identifying the host galaxy population of the mergers provides a way to constrain both the binary neutron star or black hole formation efficiencies and the merger time-scale distributions; these events would be primarily localized in dwarf galaxies if the merger time-scale is short compared to the age of the Universe and in massive galaxies otherwise. As more mergers are detected, the prospect of identifying the host galaxy population, either directly through the detection of electromagnetic counterparts of binary neutron star mergers or indirectly through the anisotropy of the events, will become a realistic possibility.
African American patients with breast cancer have worse prognosis than white patients in certain subtypes and stages

Racial disparity of breast cancer in each subtype and substage is not clear. We reviewed 156,938 patients with breast cancer from 2010 to 2012 from the National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Breast cancer was subtyped by hormone receptor (HR) and human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) status as HR+/HER2−, HR+/HER2+, HR−/HER2+, and HR−/HER2−. African American (AA) patients had worse overall survival (OS) and breast cancer cause-specific survival (BCSS) in HR+/HER2− stages III and IV breast cancer and HR−/HER2+ stage IV cancer; they had worse OS but not BCSS in HR+ /HER2− stage II cancer and HR−/HER2− stage II cancer. AA patients with breast cancer had worse survival in certain subtype and stage, especially in ER+ breast cancer.
Immunosuppression for the Uveitides.

The uveitides are a collection of more than 30 diseases characterized by intraocular inflammation. Many cases of juvenile idiopathic arthritis–associated uveitis, many cases of intermediate uveitis, and most cases of posterior and panuveitides requiring treatment are treated with corticosteroids and immunosuppression. Disease-specific, time-updated modeling of clinical data for several uveitides suggests superior prevention of ocular complications and visual outcomes with immunosuppression. These studies also suggest that oral corticosteroids at doses low enough for safe long-term therapy (i.e., 3 years with control of the inflammation for >2 years is associated with a decreased risk of relapse after discontinuing immunosuppression. Alkylating agents can induce sustained drug-free remissions but likely increase the lifetime risk of cancer. Biologics, which target specific cytokines and pathways, hold promise for the future. Monoclonal antibodies directed against tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α have been studied most often, and one, adalimumab, is U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved for the treatment of noninfectious, intermediate, posterior, and panuveitides.
Motivating R&D Performance in a Stable Organization

(1973). Motivating R&D Performance in a Stable Organization. Research Management: Vol. 16, No. 5, pp. 22-27.
A comparative analysis of microbial profile of Guinea fowl and chicken using metagenomic approach

Probiotics are live microbial feed supplements that promote growth and health to the host by minimizing non-essential and pathogenic microorganisms in the host's gastrointestinal tract (GIT). The campaign to minimize excessive use of antibiotics in poultry production has necessitated development of probiotics with broad application in multiple poultry species. Design of such probiotics requires understanding of the diversity or similarity in microbial profiles among avian species of economic importance. Therefore, the objective of this research was to establish and compare the microbial profiles of the GIT of Guinea fowl and chicken and to establish the microbial diversity or similarity between the two avian species. A metagenomic approach consisting of the amplification and sequence analysis of the hypervariable regions V1-V9 of the 16S rRNA gene was used to identify the GIT microbes. Collectively, we detected more than 150 microbial families. The total number of microbial species detected in the chicken GIT was higher than that found in the Guinea Fowl GIT. Our studies also revealed phylogenetic diversity among the microbial species found in chicken and guinea fowl. The phylum Firmicutes was most abundant in both avian species whereas Phylum Actinobacteria was most abundant in chickens than Guinea fowls. The diversity of the microbial profiles found in broiler chickens and Guinea fowls suggest that the design of effective avian probiotics would require species specificity.
Stories after disaster survival: Preparing, heeding warnings, and self-reliance.

Objective: The purpose of the study was to examine the content of stories told by people personally impacted by disasters. Design: Semistructured, qualitative interviews. Setting: Northwest part of a mid-south state. Participants: Fourteen disaster survivors who were recruited through their attendance at an emergency preparedness-related fair. Main Outcome Measures: Interview schedule based on previous research using the family resilience framework. Results: Three themes emerged: prior emergency preparation, heeding warnings of impending disaster, and rural self-reliance. Conclusions: Participants had made prior emergency preparedness plans, but their personal experiences led to them adjusting their plans, or making more relevant plans for future disasters. Participants expressed the importance of sharing their experiences with family and community members, expressing hope that others would learn, vicariously rather than firsthand, from their experiences.
Swelling in the isolated perfused cornea induced by 12(R)hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of 12(R)hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (12(R)HETE) on corneal swelling when directly perfused to human and rabbit corneal endothelium. METHOD: Excised rabbit and human corneas were mounted in the in vitro specular microscope and the endothelium was perfused with 12(R)HETE at 10(-5), 10(-6), and 10(-7) mol/l. Both 12(R)HETE and 12(S)HETE were compared at equal molar (10(-6) mol/l) concentrations. The reversal of 12(R)HETE and ouabain corneal swelling was also compared. Endothelial permeability to carboxyfluorescein was measured after 12(R)HETE perfusion. High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis confirmed that 12(R)HETE remained in the perfusion media. RESULTS: 12(R)HETE caused a dose-dependent corneal swelling of 25 +/- 2, 24 +/- 1, and 14 +/- 0.5 microns/hr at 10(-5), 10(-6), and 10(-7) mol/l, respectively. Equal molar concentrations (10(-6) mol/l) of 12(S)HETE did not cause corneal swelling. Removal of the 12(R)HETE from the perfusion media resulted in reversal of corneal swelling whereas corneal swelling induced by ouabain did not reverse after ouabain removal. 12(R)HETE (10(-6) mol/l) perfused to the human corneal endothelium inhibited temperature reversal corneal thinning when compared to the paired corneal endothelium perfused with BSS Plus (Alcon Laboratories, Inc., Fort Worth, TX). Na/K adenosine triphosphatase activity was inhibited by 10(-6) mol/l ouabain by 35%, 10(-6) mol/l 12(R)HETE by 54%, and 10(-6) mol/l 12(S)HETE by 0.5%. Endothelial permeability to carboxyfluorescein was unaffected by 12(R)HETE. CONCLUSION: 12(R)HETE causes corneal swelling by inhibiting endothelial pump function. This inhibition of transport appears to be at least partly mediated by inhibition of endothelial Na/K adenosine triphosphatase.
Protein intake is associated with plasma insulin-like growth factor (IGF)1 in postmenopausal women but not in premenopausal women

It has been recently reported that older adults between the ages of 50 and 65 who consumed over 20% of their calories as protein had a 75% increase in overall mortality compared with those consumin...
A retrospective analysis of lymph node status in advanced ovarian, fallopian, and peritoneal cancer.

e17074Background: The purpose of this study was to assess lymph node (LN) status; greatest dimension (D), D of metastatic LN (LN (+)) foci (MF), number of LN (+) of each patient, and MF area aggreg...
Translating L-2-HG to kidney cancer at the bench and bedside.

Since the discovery of the oncogene in the 1970s with much fanfare including a Nobel Prize to Bishop and Varmus in 1989, the concept of oncogenesis—and the role of the oncogene in this process—has been refined and greatly expanded. While we all thought at that point that we had the etiology of cancer all figured out, subsequent work has resulted in the identification of six “hallmarks” of this disease (1) which include the old concept of sustained proliferative signaling, but also include what in the 1970s would have been unthinkable: metabolic reprogramming (2). This latter phenomenon, which often utilizes the technique of non-targeted metabolomics analysis to identify such pathways, capitalizes on the need of a rapidly growing tumor for an abundance of biochemical materials, and is one of the more recent advances in understanding malignancy as well as a path to new therapies (3).
Quantifying Electric Field Enhancement of Water Dissociation Rates in Bipolar Membranes

This research investigated the effects of electric field strength and dielectric constant on rates of water dissociation into hydronium and hydroxide ions in bipolar membranes. Quantum chemistry si...