cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Stable Isotope Resolved Metabolomics Reveals the Role of Anabolic and Catabolic Processes in Glyphosate-Induced Amino Acid Accumulation in Amaranthus palmeri Biotypes

Biotic and abiotic stressors often result in the buildup of amino acid pools in plants, which serve as potential stress mitigators. However, the role of anabolic (de novo amino acid synthesis) versus catabolic (proteolytic) processes in contributing to free amino acid pools is less understood. Using stable isotope-resolved metabolomics (SIRM), we measured the de novo amino acid synthesis in glyphosate susceptible (S-) and resistant (R-) Amaranthus palmeri biotypes. In the S-biotype, glyphosate treatment at 0.4 kg ae/ha resulted in an increase in total amino acids, a proportional increase in both 14N and 15N amino acids, and a decrease in soluble proteins. This indicates a potential increase in de novo amino acid synthesis, coupled with a lower protein synthesis and a higher protein catabolism following glyphosate treatment in the S-biotype. Furthermore, the ratio of glutamine/glutamic acid (Gln/Glu) in the glyphosate-treated S- and R-biotypes indicated that the initial assimilation of inorganic nitrogen t...
Russian Articles and English Translations Available Through MEDI

Photocopies of Russian articles listed in any Index published by Plenum are available at a cost of $.50 per page with a $2.50 minimum per article. Also available are a number of English translations of Russian articles. Most of these translations, provided by MEDI at a nominal cost, are not available in a translated journal. The dollar cost of each translation listed below is indicated in parentheses at the end of the reference. Please prepay any request for articles or translations.
Digital Watermarking for Digital Rights Management

With the remarkable growth of Internet and multimedia applications, production and distribution of digital media has become exceedingly easy and affordable. Applications such as distance education, e-commerce, telemedicine, digital library, and live audio/video broadcast activities require distribution and sharing of digital multimedia contents. Consequently, maintaining the quality of service of the applications and the rights of the content owner as well as enforcing a viable business model among the producer, consumer, and distributor of digital contents has become an increasingly challenging task, leading to a contentious area called digital rights management (DRM). This chapter presents how digital watermarking (DWM) technology can addresses part of this DRM problem of secure distribution of digital contents
The effects of soil organic matter on soil water retention and plant water use in a meadow of the Sierra Nevada, CA

Tuolumne Meadows is a groundwater dependent ecosystem in the Sierra Nevada of California, USA, that is threatened by hydrologic impacts that may lead to a substantial loss of organic matter in the soil. In order to provide a scientific basis for management of this type of ecosystem, this paper quantifies the effect of soil organic content on soil water retention and water use by plants. First, we show a substantial dependence of soil water retention on soil organic content by correlating Van Genuchten soil water retention parameters with soil organic content, independent of soil texture. Then, we demonstrate the impact of organic content on plants by simulating the degree to which Root Water Uptake (RWU) is affected by soil water retention with the use of a physically-based numerical model of variably-saturated groundwater flow. Our results indicate that the increased water retention by soil organic matter contributes as much as 8.8 cm to transpiration, or 35 additional water-stress free days, during the dry summer when plants experience increased water stress.
Traders and Raiders: The Indigenous World of the Colorado Basin, 1540–1859. By Natale A. Zappia. (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2014. Pp. xii, 240. $39.95.)

The problematic “discovery narrative” is steadily losing its place in our understanding of Native American history. In recent years, historians have reinterpreted the pasts of the Comanche, Iroquoi...
Fan phenomena: Sherlock Holmes, edited by Tom Ue and Jonathan Cranfield

Review of Tom Ue and Jonathan Cranfield, editors, Fan Phenomena: Sherlock Holmes. Bristol, UK: Intellect, 2014, paperback, $28.50 (164p) ISBN 9781783202058.
Linear Dynamically Varying H ∞ Control of Chaos 1

Abstract Linear dynamically varying (LDV) systems are introduced as a way to approximate nonlinear dynamical systems running over a compact set. Sub-optimal linear state dependent H ∞ controllers are introduced and shown to stabilize both LDV approximations and chaotic systems about any trajectory on the whole attractor. However, since the controller is based on a linear approximation, the chaotic system is guaranteed to be stable only if the initial error between the actual and desired orbits is small enough.
On Receding Horizon Feedback Control

Abstract Receding horizon feedback control (RHFC) was originally introduced as an easy method for designing stable state-feedback controllers for linear systems. Here we generalize those results so they will apply to the control of nonlinear autonomous systems, and we develop a performance index which is minimized by the RHFC (inverse optimal control problem). Previous results for linear systems have shown that desirable nonlinear controllers can be developed by making the RHFC horizon distance a function of the state. That functional dependence was implicit and difficult to implement on-line. Here we develop and demonstrate similar controllers for which the horizon distance is an easily computed explicit function of the state.
Finding a Parsimonious Path for Primary Care Practice Transformation

Where do we stand in 2018 with primary care practice transformation in the United States? There is no longer much debate that primary care, and the neighborhood that supports or hinders it, needs to be substantially renovated to meet an array of systemic challenges. Many barriers remain to providing
Proposed 2nd Law of Thermodynamics: An assertive statement

Abstract Generally, the 2nd Law is stated in negative, passive terms, in a way that says what cannot happen, or what the best possible outcome could be, or what is an inevitable (e.g., inopportune) consequence. Granted, there has been productive usage of the exergy concept, to do ‘2nd Law Analysis’. Granted, there are statements saying that a consequence of every process is the generation of entropy. And there have been many efforts aiming to use an entropy statement to do ‘2nd Law Modeling’ – to predict the path of processes. While there have been specific successes, there are issues. For example, in some instances a success depends upon an extremization that maximizes the entropy generation (or the rate thereof), while in other instances, minimization. Though there may be criteria for determining whether maximization or minimization is appropriate in a particular application, the need for such a criterion points out a weakness. Proposed here is this: Every process is a consequence of a cause, and to assertively predict the path of a process is to determine consequences of a cause. Entropy production is not a cause but only a consequence. The 2nd Law statement to be proposed herein employs a common measure of cause, namely Gibbs' available energy, and how the expenditure of that cause ensues in a process. Therein lies an underlying principle for modeling the process path (whether macro, nano, bio or micro). Three rudimentary examples of the application of this ‘2nd Law principle’ for modeling processes are presented in this paper; one for a transient ‘heat transfer’ process, one for a ‘mechanical’ process, and a third for a combined thermal and pneumatic process. It is shown how available energy provides a key to modeling processes of different ‘types’ – heat transfer, mechanics, pneumatics. Heretofore each type required distinct ‘principles’ (and courses of study). To show the authenticity of the results obtained with this ‘2nd Law modeling’, they are compared with results obtained with the ‘traditional’ models.
COMMENTARY Not-for-Profit Tax-Exempt Hospitals: Is it Time to Start Paying Taxes?

Using IRS data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), it has been estimated that the value of the tax benefits received by not-for-profit tax-exempt hospitals increased from $12.6 billion in 2002 to $24.6 billion in 2011. This jump can be attributed to forgone taxes, public contributions, and the value of tax-exempt bond financing. $7 billion of this is gained from federal and state corporate income tax benefits, $3 billion from the benefit received from tax-exempt bonds, and $10 billion is attributed to state and local sales and property tax exemptions. By allowing people to reduce their tax liability by donating to tax-exempt organizations, this also benefitted tax-exempt hospitals to the tune of more than $10.5 billion in donations. Not-for-profit organizations that meet the requirements of Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3) receive substantial advantages that are not given to for-profit corporations and organizations, the most significant being the favorable treatment under the tax code. Qualified not-for-profit organizations will be exempt from federal income tax, state and local taxes as well as property, income and sales tax. Donations that they receive are tax-deductible to the donor and these organizations also qualify for tax-exempt bond issues. Hence, the tax-exemption reduces the cost of capital for not-for-profit organizations compared to similar for-profits. The questions that immediately spring to mind are: do not-for-profit hospitals truly need or deserve these tax breaks, what net benefit do we as a society receive from non-profit tax-exempt hospitals and, could this forgone money, if collected, be better spent in our communities?
A usability and safety analysis of electronic health records: a multi-center study

To characterize the variability in usability and safety of EHRs from two vendors across four healthcare systems (2 Epic and 2 Cerner). Twelve to 15 emergency medicine physicians participated from each site and completed six clinical scenarios. Keystroke, mouse click, and video data were collected. From the six scenarios, two diagnostic imaging, laboratory, and medication tasks were analyzed. There was wide variability in task completion time, clicks, and error rates. For certain tasks, there were an average of a nine-fold difference in time and eight-fold difference in clicks. Error rates varied by task (X-ray 16.7% to 25%, MRI: 0 to 10%, Lactate: 0% to 14.3%, Tylenol: 0 to 30%; Taper: 16.7% to 50%). The variability in time, clicks, and error rates highlights the need for improved implementation optimization. EHR implementation, in addition to vendor design and development, is critical to usable and safe products.
Image Computing Based on Bayesian Models (BM)

Many medical image computing tasks apply the prior knowledge about the variability of shapes or deformations to improve the performance of shape analysis, segmentation, registration, as well as group comparison or computer-aided diagnosis. Statistical model-based algorithms play important roles in capturing such prior information and applying them for robust image segmentation and registration. Given the prior distribution of a high-dimensional data, which can be a shape description, a deformation field, or other feature vectors from the training images, the objectiveis to come up with the best estimation of the shape, the deformation, or feature vectors from an observed data/image. The traditional maximum a posteriori (MAP) framework is the most commonly used methodology to incorporate the prior information in the estimation. One example of MAP estimation is the active shape model (ASM), which encodes the prior information of object shapes using principal component analysis (PCA) and then extracts the shape of an object from the PCA model that matches the image the best. Such statistical model-based method is constrained by the prior distribution from sample data for improved robustness. However, ASM takes directly the reconstructed object shape as the matching result, and it may not be able to match a new image accurately if the variations of the shape are not presented in the sample data, or if the number of model modes has been truncated too severely. This chapter introducesa new Bayesian model (BM) for accurate and robust medical image computing. BM overcomes the limitation of MAP by incorporating an intermediate variable and jointly estimating the result and the intermediate variable simultaneously. In this way the BM framework allows for convenient incorporation of additional constraints, reduces the constraints of the prior distributions, and increases the flexibility of shape matching. In this chapter, after a brief literature review of the statistical model-based image analysis methods, we first introduce the BM framework in both segmentation and registration and then present our two works that apply the BM methodology. From the techniques presented we can see that image segmentation and registration can be uniformly formulated in the same BM framework, and such formulation can also easily facilitate other image computing tasks.
Genome-Wide TSS Identification in Maize

Regulation of gene expression is a fundamental biological process that relies on transcription factors (TF) recognizing specific cis motifs in the regulatory regions of the genes that they control. In most eukaryotic organisms, cis-regulatory elements are significantly enriched around the transcription start site (TSS). However, different from other genic features, TSSs need to be experimentally determined, becoming then important components of genome annotations. One of the methods for experimentally determining TSSs at the genome-wide level is CAGE (cap analysis of gene expression). This chapter describes how to prepare a CAGE library for sequencing, starting with RNA extraction, library construction, and quality controls before proceed to sequencing in the Illumina platform. We then describe how to use a computational pipeline to determine, from the alignment of CAGE tags, the genome-wide location of TSSs, followed with statistical approaches required to cluster TSSs that operate as transcriptional units, and to determine core promoter properties such as shape. The analyses described here focus on maize, since its large and yet deficiently annotated genome creates some unique challenges, but with some modifications can be easily adopted for other organisms as well.
Tolerance of Ornamental Grasses to Preemergence Herbicides

Abstract Tolerance of ornamental grasses to preemergence herbicides commonly-used in nursery crop production and turfgrass maintenance was evaluated in container studies. Gallery controlled the broadleaf weeds tested but did not control large crabgrass. Surflan at 2.2 kg ai/ha (2.0 lb ai/A) controlled all weeds except rice flatsedge. Pennant at 2.2 kg ai/ha (2.0 lb ai/A) controlled rice flatsedge but not eclipta. Pendulum, Ronstar, Barricade and OH2 also did not control eclipta at the lower use rate. Although growth suppression and stand reduction was observed in certain herbicide/ornamental grass combinations, the species tested generally exhibited good tolerance to the chemicals tested. Ornamental grass tolerance improved by the second herbicide application. After two applications, no rate of Surflan, Pendulum, or Barricade caused a significant reduction in growth of any of the five ornamental grass species tested.
Important step to understanding the CITES Trade Database: A reply to Pavitt et al.

Abstract The CITES Trade Database aims to be the largest public dataset regarding the wildlife trade in the world, providing data for the monitoring and conservation of taxa. Nevertheless, its use is associated with complications resulting from the aggregation of confidential primary shipment records. An overview of data handling and data utilization methods is provided in light of the new non-public data. Although Pavitt et al. (2018) reported some more detailed insights into data processing, they still did not provide any way to correctly calculate the volume of trade in endangered plant and animal species.
GNSD: a Gradient-Tracking Based Nonconvex Stochastic Algorithm for Decentralized Optimization

In the era of big data, it is challenging to train a machine learning model on a single machine or over a distributed system with a central controller over a large-scale dataset. In this paper, we propose a gradient-tracking based nonconvex stochastic decentralized (GNSD) algorithm for solving nonconvex optimization problems, where the data is partitioned into multiple parts and processed by the local computational resource. Through exchanging the parameters at each node over a network, GNSD is able to find the first-order stationary points (FOSP) efficiently. From the theoretical analysis, it is guaranteed that the convergence rate of GNSD to FOSPs matches the well-known convergence rate $\mathcal{O}\left( {1/\sqrt T } \right)$ of stochastic gradient descent by shrinking the step-size. Finally, we perform extensive numerical experiments on computational clusters to demonstrate the advantage of GNSD compared with other state-of-the-art methods.
Burnout of the female dermatologist: How traditional burnout reduction strategies have failed women.

Abstract Dermatology is known as specialty that traditionally exhibits high levels of professional satisfaction, largely attributed to regular clinic hours and a lack of in-house call. Yet, the 2018 Medscape Dermatologist Lifestyle Survey showed that nearly one-third of dermatologists either currently experience or have experienced burnout during their careers. Although male and female dermatologists report similar burnout rates, 36% of female dermatologists reportedly work part-time compared with 14% of male dermatologists. The fact that female and male dermatologists experience similar rates of burnout even though women are more likely to work part-time suggests that female dermatologists might have additional or unique reasons for experiencing burnout compared with their male counterparts. Women in dermatology likely experience burnout, at least in part, as a result of stress from the demands of life outside of work. However, despite increasing interest in the development of burnout prevention strategies, efforts to reduce burnout have so far failed to acknowledge or address the unique reasons why female dermatologists may experience burnout. This article aims to better characterize causes of burnout that may disproportionately contribute to female burnout and to provide actionable steps to address burnout in female dermatologists.
Conceptualizations of consciousness and continuation of care among family members and health professionals caring for patients in a minimally conscious state.

The American Academy of Neurology recently emphasized the importance of communicating with patients’ families to better reflect patient values in clinical care. However, little is known about how d...
Frailty and Polypharmacy in Older Patients: Critical Issues for Otolaryngologists

Frailty and polypharmacy are conditions commonly encountered in older otolaryngology patients and impact their symptoms as well as treatment decision-making. A number of frailty assessment tools are available and in active use. Retrospective studies of large cohorts of patients identify a close correlation between measures of frailty and outcomes. Prospective assessment to inform decision-making remains challenging in clinical practice. The definition of “too many” medications, often termed polypharmacy, remains controversial. Management can be considered a form of “personalized medicine,” as each patient has different goals and tolerance for unintended medication effect. The impact of medications on balance function is well recognized, however, reports on the role of medications on upper aerodigestive tract symptoms have been less salient or non-existent. It is the author’s opinion this impact represents an opportunity for more extensive study. Otolaryngologists who manage older adults need to be cognizant of the current knowledge regarding frailty and polypharmacy as these conditions often dramatically impact decision-making in the management of patients with otolaryngologic disorders. Additional studies are needed to address the role of medications on upper aerodigestive tract physiology.
Chapter 6 – Enzymes as Drug Targets

This chapter considers how enzymes can be therapeutic drug targets. The most common therapeutic approach to enzyme control is inhibition; there are four general classes of enzyme inhibition based on the relative affinity of the inhibitor for the enzyme and the enzyme–substrate complex. Competitive inhibition describes inhibitors that have exclusive affinity for the enzyme and compete for substrate binding. Mixed inhibitors bind to the enzyme and the enzyme–substrate complex with different affinity. Noncompetitive inhibitors bind equally well to the enzyme and enzyme–substrate complex. Uncompetitive inhibitors bind only to the enzyme–substrate complex. There are special considerations for the blockade of enzymes in cells in that concentrations may differ (from the extracellular medium). In addition, enzyme inhibitors may have no effect until the enzyme is active metabolically under in vivo conditions. Finally, the topic of irreversible enzyme inhibition, enzyme activation and the special cases of drug action on intracellular enzymes is considered.
Chapter 47 – Thyroid Hormone and the Skeleton

Publisher Summary Sufficient exposure to thyroid hormones is necessary for normal skeletal development. Growth and maturation of the skeleton are complex events that result from the interaction of nutritional, genetic, and hormonal factors. In both the developing and the adult skeleton, thyroid hormone is necessary for the recruitment and maturation of bone cells. Deficient thyroid hormone production in utero and in the neonate retards growth and delays skeletal maturation. The presence of thyroid hormone increases bone remodeling. Excess thyroid hormone alters the hormonal regulation of calcium metabolism and can contribute to bone loss. Mineral metabolism is controlled through the interaction of parathyroid hormone (PTH) and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)2D). These hormones, acting systemically along with growth factors and cytokines produced and acting locally, regulates the activity of bone cells, skeletal remodeling, and calcium metabolism. Thyroid hormone alters mineral metabolism by acting directly on bone cells to increase bone resorption with secondary changes in PTH, 1,25(OH)2D, and calcium. The changes in mineral metabolism induced by excess thyroid hormone are potentially detrimental to bone mass, raising the risk of subsequent fracture.
Breaking the Traditional Greek School Mold: The Case of the Aristotle GSL Program

Several articles and books have been written on the traditional ethnic heritage Greek American schools of the twentieth century. Many of these works have focused on the historical development of the schools and their contributions in perpetuating the Greek language and heritage in America. Others have concentrated on the rather negative characteristics of Greek American schools which often included outdated modes of instruction, unsuitable textbooks, and ineffective teachers. The current study focuses on the Aristotle GSL (Greek as a Second Language) Program that was pioneered by the St. Haralambos Greek Orthodox Church of Niles, Illinois, in the late 1980s. The school became the first in the nation to offer Greek instruction that was specifically designed for second-, third-, and fourth-generation Greek American children. The study describes the challenges that led up to this initiative and the steps that were taken in designing, structuring and implementing the GSL program.
Artifacts and abnormal findings may limit the use of asymptomatic volunteers as controls for studies of multichannel urodynamics.

BACKGROUND Multichannel urodynamics is the gold standard for the evaluation of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). When performing studies to validate new adjuncts to urodynamic testing with control patients undergoing urodynamic investigation, there is difficulty in the interpretation of urodynamic results in the asymptomatic patient due to artifacts and the invasive nature of the procedure. The purpose of this investigation was to examine urodynamics in asymptomatic volunteers in order to better understand the role of control participants in urodynamic research studies. METHODS Asymptomatic volunteers with no LUTS were recruited to undergo standard urodynamic testing as a comparison group in a study evaluating novel urodynamic techniques. To be eligible, participants had to report no LUTS, score ≤1 on all symptom questions of the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Overactive Bladder Module (ICIq-OAB) survey, have no medical conditions or to undergo any medications that affect bladder function. The urodynamics was done according to ICS standards. All tracings were evaluated by an expert neuro-urologist. Data were analyzed categorically for the presence or absence of low compliance ( 2 0), detrusor overactivity, bladder outlet obstruction (Bladder Outlet Obstruction Index [BOOI]>40), weak contractility (bladder contractility index [BCI]<100), straining to void, poorly sustained detrusor contraction, uncoordinated EMG activity, and intermittent flow. RESULTS A total of 24 participants completed the study including 10 men and 14 women. All participants had at least 1 urodynamic abnormality/artifact with an average of 4.43±1.28 abnormalities/participant. The most common abnormalities included uncoordinated electromyography (EMG) activity (87.50%), straining to void (79.17%), and intermittent flow (70.83%). There were no significant differences for sex, age, Body Mass Index. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated that healthy, asymptomatic volunteers have high rates of abnormal urodynamic findings, suggesting that asymptomatic participants are not the ideal controls in research studies that involve urodynamic testing.
Contested image: Defining Philadelphia for the twenty-first century, by Laura M. Holzman: Philadelphia, PA, Temple University Press, 2019

In Contested Image, art historian Laura Holzman tells three stories: one about a painting, another about a statue, and yet another about a museum. In four chapters plus an introduction and a conclu...
Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Catatonia, Delirium, and Seizures in a Patient With Schizoaffective Disorder:

Benzodiazepine withdrawal symptoms vary from mild anxiety to life-threatening delirium or seizures. In susceptible individuals, such as those with mood disorders, benzodiazepine withdrawal may also precipitate catatonia. A 26-year-old man with schizoaffective disorder (depressed type with catatonia) ran out of lorazepam and presented with catatonia, delirium, and seizures. He was taking olanzapine, venlafaxine, and trazodone for schizoaffective disorder. Lorazepam 2 mg twice daily kept him free of catatonia for 6 months. Besides catatonia and delirium, lorazepam withdrawal also triggered convulsive seizures and nonconvulsive status epilepticus. He was admitted to the intensive care unit where he underwent continuous video-EEG monitoring. Catatonia resolved with lorazepam on day 2. Seizures stopped with levetiracetam, lacosamide, and propofol on day 4. His mental status was normal when he was discharged on day 6. If not immediately recognized and treated, catatonia and delirium can lead to significant morbidity or mortality. Unfortunately, physicians tend to overlook catatonia and delirium, especially if both syndromes are present. At first, we suspected that our patient had ictal catatonia, but video-EEG showed no clear-cut correlation between catatonia, seizures, and epileptiform activity. As with prior observations, the patient's catatonia was more sensitive to benzodiazepine withdrawal and treatment than his seizures. The efficacy of benzodiazepines in aborting catatonia, seizures, and mixed delirium-catatonia syndromes suggests a key pathogenetic role of abnormal GABA neurotransmission in these brain disorders.
Stabilization of Highly Polar BiFeO 3 -like Structure: A New Interface Design Route for Enhanced Ferroelectricity in Artificial Perovskite Superlattices

Simulations show that the interface between two perovskite oxides can be a much stronger ferroelectric than either oxide on its own.
Polylactose Exhibits Prebiotic Activity and Reduces Adiposity and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Rats Fed a High-Fat Diet.

BACKGROUND Prebiotic dietary fibers change the intestinal microbiome favorably and provide a health benefit to the host. OBJECTIVES Polylactose is a novel fiber, synthesized by extrusion of lactose. We evaluated its prebiotic activity by determining its fermentability, effect on the microbiota, and effects on adiposity and liver lipids in a diet-induced obesity animal model. METHODS Male Wistar rats (4-5 wk old) were fed normal-fat (NF, 25% fat energy) or high-fat (HF, 51% fat energy) diets containing different fibers (6% fiber of interest and 3% cellulose, by weight), including cellulose (NFC and HFC, negative and positive controls, respectively), polylactose (HFPL), lactose matched to residual lactose in the HFPL diet, and 2 established prebiotic fibers: polydextrose (HFPD) and fructooligosaccharide (HFFOS). After 10 wk of feeding, organs were harvested and cecal contents collected. RESULTS HFPL animals had greater cecum weight (3 times greater than HFC) and lower cecal pH (∼1 pH unit lower than HFC) than all other groups, suggesting that polylactose is more fermentable than other prebiotic fibers (HFPD, HFFOS; P < 0.05). HFPL animals also had increased taxonomic abundance of the probiotic species Bifidobacterium in the cecum relative to all other groups (P < 0.05). Epididymal fat pad weight was significantly decreased in the HFPL group (29% decrease compared with HFC) compared with all other HF groups (P < 0.05) and did not differ from the NFC group. Liver lipids and cholesterol were reduced in HFPL animals when compared with HFC animals (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Polylactose is a fermentable fiber that elicits a beneficial change in the gut microbiota as well as reducing adiposity in rats fed HF diets. These effects of polylactose were greater than those of 2 established prebiotics, fructooligosaccharide and polydextrose, suggesting that polylactose is a potent prebiotic.
Symptomatic presentation of cervical cancer in emergency departments in California

Through screening and HPV vaccination, cervical cancer can mostly be prevented or detected very early, before symptoms develop. However, cervical cancer persists, and many women are diagnosed at advanced stages. Little is known about the degree to which U.S. women may begin their diagnostic workup for cervical cancer in Emergency Departments (ED). We sought to quantify the proportion of women presenting symptomatically in the ED prior to their diagnosis with cervical cancer and to describe their characteristics and outcomes. We identified women diagnosed from 2006 to 2017 with cervical cancer in the California Cancer Registry. We linked this cohort to statewide ED discharge records to determine ED use and symptoms present at the encounter. Multivariable logistic regression models examined associations with ED use and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models examined associations with survival. Of the more than 16,000 women with cervical cancer in the study cohort, 28% presented symptomatically in the ED prior to diagnosis. Those presenting symptomatically were more likely to have public (odds ratio [OR] 1.16; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.06–1.27) or no insurance (OR 4.81; CI 4.06–5.71) (vs. private), low socioeconomic status (SES) (OR 1.76; CI 1.52–2.04), late-stage disease (OR 5.29; CI 4.70–5.96), and had a 37% increased risk of death (CI 1.28–1.46). Nearly a third of women with cervical cancer presented symptomatically, outside of a primary care setting, suggesting that many women, especially those with low SES, may not be benefiting from screening or healthcare following abnormal results.
We Are the Machine: The Computer, the Internet, and Information in Contemporary German Literature

Despite our embrace of the sheer utility and productivity it has made possible, the revolution in Information Technology has led to unease about its possible misuse, abuse, and even its eventual domination of humankind. That German culture is not immune to this sense of disquiet is reflected in a broad variety of German-language fiction since the 1940s. This first study of the literary reception of IT in German-speaking lands begins with an analysis of a seminal novel from the beginning of the computer age, Heinrich Hauser's 'Gigant Hirn' (1948), then moves to its primary focus, the literature of the past two decades, ranging from Gerd Heidenreich's 'Die Nacht der Handler' (1995) to Daniel Glattauer's novel 'Gut gegen Nordwind' (2006). Along the way, it analyzes eleven works, including Barbara Frischmuth's novel 'Die Schrift des Freundes' (1998), Rene Pollesch's drama 'world wide web-slums' (2001), and Gunter Grass's novella 'Im Krebsgang' (2003). As wildly different in approach as these works are, each has much to offer this investigation of the imaginary border dividing the human from the technological, a lingering, centuries-old construct created to ease the anxiety that technology has given rise to throughout the ages. Paul A. Youngman is associate professor of German at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and Director of the Center for Humanities, Technology, and Science.
Assessment of predictive indicators of acute gastrointestinal toxicity using in vivo transmission images.

PURPOSE For pelvic and abdominal treatments, excess dose to the bowel can result in acute toxicities. Current estimates of bowel toxicity are based on pre-treatment dose-volume histogram data. However, the actual dose the bowel receives depends on interfraction variations, such as patient anatomy changes. We propose a method to model bowel toxicities, incorporating in vivo patient information using transit electronic portal imaging device (EPID) images. METHODS AND MATERIALS For 63 patients treated to the lower thorax, abdomen, or pelvis on the Varian Halcyon, weekly chart review was performed to obtain incidences of grade 2 or higher toxicity, RTOG scale. Twenty patients presented with acute gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity. All patients were treated with conventional fractionation. For each treatment plan, the absolute volume dose-volume histogram of the bowel was exported and analyzed. Additionally, for each fraction of treatment, in vivo EPID images were collected and used to estimate the change in radiation transmission during the course of treatment. A logistic model was used to test correlations between acute GI toxicity and bowel dosimetric parameters as well as metrics obtained from in vivo image measurements. After performing the fit to the in vivo EPID data, the bootstrap resampling method was used to create confidence intervals. In vivo EPID image metrics from an additional 42 patients treated to the lower thorax, abdomen, or pelvis were used to validate the logistic model fit. RESULTS The incidence of toxicity versus the volume of 40 Gy to the bowel space was fitted with a logistic function, which was superior to an average model (p < 0.0001) and agrees with previously published models. For the initial in vivo EPID data, the incidence of toxicity versus the sum of in vivo transmission measurements showed marginal significance after 15 fractions (p = 0.10) of treatment and a significance of p = 0.038 is seen at the 20th fraction, when compared to an average model. For the validation data set, the logistic model of the in vivo transmission measurement after 20 fractions was superior to the average model (p = 0.043), with the model falling within the 68% confidence interval of the fit of the initial data set. CONCLUSIONS Dose-volume constraints to reduce the incidence of acute GI toxicity have been validated. The presented novel EPID transmission-based metric can be used to identify GI toxicity as patients progress through treatment.
Nurses' Attitudes and Knowledge of Their Roles in Newborn Abandonment

The practice of abandoning newborns shortly after birth has always existed. Occurring in primitive and contemporary societies, the motivations for newborn abandonment are varied and dependent upon the social norms of a specific geographic region at a given point in time. Because the desire to abandon an infant has had no support system in American society, such unwanted infants have been abandoned in a manner leading to their deaths. In response, many states have passed safe-haven legislation to save the lives of unwanted newborns. The laws typically specify a mother's ability to “abandon” her child to a medical service provider. However, judgmental attitudes and a lack of accurate information may impede a health care provider's ability to carry out a safe-haven law. The study described here examines a sample of nurses in a state with a safe-haven law. The study revealed no significant correlation between a nurse's knowledge, attitude, and self-perception of preparedness to manage a newborn abandonment event. owever, the outcomes highlight the negative attitudes and lack of knowledge many nurses possess regarding newborn abandonment and the women who commit this act. Educational programs for all health care providers and the community are essential to the efficacy of the legislation that currently exists. Continued multidisciplinary strategizing and general awareness are needed to serve as catalysts to build supports for unwanted newborns and their safe assimilation into the community.
Reinforced Concrete Shear Wall Assemblies

Further results of investigation of one-story and two-story reinforced concrete shear wall assemblies of precast elements, conducted between 1951 and 1956 at Stanford Univ, California; all assemblies were tested in specially designed shear jig; three individual diaphragms were tested in 200,000-lb testing machine.
Impact Of XML On Data Interchange: An XML/EDI Model

Extensible mark-up language (XML) is emerging as the main standard of representation of structured documents on the World Wide Web (WWW) (Gibb, 2000). An XML/EDI model is presented with advantages and challenges of this model. XML is here to stay and with ever increasing number of big players adopting it, it will become a major component in application and systems design in the near future.
Therapeutic Touch: Foundations and Current Knowledge

Therapeutic touch (TT) is a universal human act that can be learned by anyone. Practiced within a holistic framework, TT is a healing modality involving an energy field interaction between the practitioner and the participant. TT is important to health care professionals because it (a) is noninvasive, (b) may influence how health care professionals view human potential and illness, (c) is low on resource implications, (d) may contribute to holistic theory development, and (e) is congruent with the current trend in holistic health care. However, TT is controversial because it relies on energy field theory to explain its effects, its practice is shrouded in mystery, it is difficult to substantiate its therapeutic value, and the quality of early research was poor. The purpose of this article is to describe the quality and scope of existing knowledge about TT. The philosophical foundations, theoretical framework, practice, and treatment effects of TT are critiqued. TT literature is critically reviewed and the...
Time course of adenosine-induced pulmonary vein reconnection after isolation: implications for mechanism of dormant conduction.

Background:Adenosine (ADO) has been proposed to reconnect isolated pulmonary veins (PVs) postablation through hyperpolarization of damaged myocytes in an animal model. However, PV reconnection can occur via ADO-mediated sympathetic activation. We sought to determine the mechanism of ADO-induced PV reconnection in the clinical setting by characterizing its time course and location in patients undergoing PV isolation. Methods:Seventy-four patients (61 male; age 61 ± 10 years) undergoing PV isolation for atrial fibrillation (54 [73%] paroxysmal and 19 [27%] persistent) were studied. After each PV was isolated, a 12-mg intravenous bolus of ADO was administered and onset, offset, and location of ADO-induced PV reconnection and onset and offset of bradycardia were analyzed. Results:In 22 (30%) patients, ADO-induced PV reconnection occurred in 34 of 270 (13%) PVs. In 24 (71%) PVs, the duration of ADO-induced reconnection exceeded that of bradycardia. The onset of ADO-induced reconnection occurred before the onset of bradycardia in 10 (30%) PVs and during bradycardia in 23 (70%) PVs. No PVs exhibited onset of reconnection after resolution of bradycardia. Common sites of PV reconnection included the carinal region (41% of right PVs and 29% of left PVs) and left PV-atrial appendageal ridge region (35% of left PVs). Conclusions:ADO-induced PV reconnection occurs during the bradycardic phase of the ADO bolus response and not during the late tachycardic phase. ADO-induced PV dormant conduction is closely associated with the negative dromotropic effects of ADO and suggests that hyperpolarization of the resting membrane is the unifying mechanism. (PACE 2012;XX:1–8)
Ralstonia solanacearum genes induced during growth in tomato: an inside view of bacterial wilt

The phytopathogen Ralstonia solanacearum has over 5000 genes, many of which probably facilitate bacterial wilt disease development. Using in vivo expression technology (IVET), we screened a library of 133 200 R. solanacearum strain K60 promoter fusions and isolated approximately 900 fusions expressed during bacterial growth in tomato plants. Sequence analysis of 307 fusions revealed 153 unique in planta-expressed (ipx) genes. These genes included seven previously identified virulence genes (pehR, vsrB, vsrD, rpoS, hrcC, pme and gspK) as well as seven additional putative virulence factors. A significant number of ipx genes may reflect adaptation to the host xylem environment; 19.6%ipx genes are predicted to encode proteins with metabolic and/or transport functions, and 9.8%ipx genes encode proteins possibly involved in stress responses. Many ipx genes (18%) encode putative transmembrane proteins. A majority of ipx genes isolated encode proteins of unknown function, and 13% were unique to R. solanacearum. The ipx genes were variably induced in planta; beta-glucuronidase reporter gene expression analysis of a subset of 44 ipx fusions revealed that in planta expression levels were between two- and 37-fold higher than in culture. The expression of many ipx genes was subject to known R. solanacearum virulence regulators. Of 32 fusions tested, 28 were affected by at least one virulence regulator; several fusions were controlled by multiple regulators. Two ipx fusion strains isolated in this screen were reduced in virulence on tomato, indicating that gene(s) important for bacterial wilt pathogenesis were interrupted by the IVET insertion; mutations in other ipx genes are necessary to determine their roles in virulence and in planta growth. Collectively, this profile of ipx genes suggests that in its host, R. solanacearum confronts and overcomes a stressful and nutrient-poor environment.
RoboTA: An Agent Colony Architecture for Supporting Education

Abstract : Resources in education and training are always limited, and instructors almost never have enough time to spend on the problems of their students. We believe that using a distributed agent architecture to provide coaches that operate outside software installed on the student's machine can provide valuable advantages in education and training. This paper describes RoboTA, an architecture for a colony of distributed agents aimed at supporting instructional tasks.
Routing, wavelength assignment, and spectrum allocation algorithms in transparent flexible optical WDM networks ☆

Abstract Current fixed grid wavelength routed networks are limited in terms of spectral efficiency due to the rigid nature of wavelength assignment. We propose the Flexible Optical WDM (FWDM) network architecture for flexible grid optical networks in which the constraint on fixed spectrum allocation to channels is removed and network resources can be dynamically provisioned with an automated control plane. In this paper, we address the routing, wavelength assignment, and spectrum allocation problem (RWSA) in transparent FWDM networks with the objective of maximizing spectral efficiency. We formulate the RWSA problem using an Integer Linear Program (ILP). We also prove the NP-completeness of the RWSA problem, and propose three efficient polynomial time algorithms; namely the Greedy-Routing, Wavelength Assignment, and Spectrum Allocation algorithm (Greedy-RWSA); the K -Alternate Paths Routing, Wavelength Assignment, and Spectrum Allocation algorithm (KPaths-RWSA); the Shortest Path Routing, Wavelength Assignment, and Spectrum Allocation algorithm (SP-RWSA). We analyze the lower bound on the required spectrum for the given network topology and a set of requests. Simulation results demonstrate that FWDM networks are efficient in terms of spectrum, cost, and energy compared to fixed grid networks. The performance of the proposed algorithms is very close to the lower bound, and approaches to the lower bound as problem size increases.
Deformations in Extreme Matter

Most materials become narrower in cross section when stretched, but some materials, such as foams, have the counterintuitive property of becoming fatter when stretched (they have a negative Poisson's ratio). In this Perspective, Lakes discusses how his unusual property may arise in isotropic and anisotropic materials. He highlights the study by Baughman et al., who show that anisotropic materials with a negative Poisson's ratio in one direction can be incompressible, i.e., without an overall change in volume upon stretching. This behavior is predicted for materials with very high density, such as neutron star crusts, or very low density, such as ion plasmas, and the validity of the prediction is demonstrated with experimental data for ion plasmas.
The Effect of Anticoagulants on Toxicity of Beta-Aminopropionitrile

ABSTRACT IN RECENT years the number of reports of internal hemorrhages in commercially reared turkeys has increased. This condition was described by McSherry et al. (1954) as a dissecting aneurysm of the aorta. The degenerative changes described in turkeys were so similar to those seen in rats consuming the seeds of Lathyrus odoratus or beta-aminopropionitrile (BAPN) that Barnett et al. (1957) investigated the effect of BAPN on turkey poults. BAPN·HCl at the rate of 0.03 to 0.125% caused pericardial hemorrhages, pulmonary hemorrhages and ruptured aortas. The ruptured aortas showed degenerative changes quite similar to those described by McSherry et al. (1954). In examining chicks which had survived an experimental period of BAPN feeding, Roy and Bird (1956) observed blood clots in the body cavity along the aorta. This suggested that blood had escaped from the aorta but its rapid clotting spared the life of the birds. These observation suggested that drugs . . .