cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A third pattern of disease progression in children infected with human immunodeficiency virus.

Sir. —We read with interest the article by Blanche et al 1 on infants with perinatally acquired human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. We too have noted a bimodal pattern of HIV-related disease in our pediatric patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). 2 In the last few years we have become aware of a third pattern of HIV infection in children, namely, severe manifestations of disease early in life that lessen over the next 5 to 10 years without antiretroviral therapy. This pattern is illustrated in the following patient reports of three HIV-infected children born to drug-abusing mothers. Patient Reports. —PATIENT 1.—A 10-year-old black twin boy was born be tween 34 and 36 weeks' gestation. He weighed 1520 g at birth. His Apgar scores were 8/9 at 1 and 5 minutes. The boy had an uncomplicated neonatal course and was discharged after 2 weeks weighing 1950 g. Within his first 10
Najstarsze skały Gór Świętokrzyskich odsłonięte na Górze Słońce

Na Gorze Slonce k. Pierzchnicy rozpoznano kompleks ilowcow z przelawiceniami mulowcow, piaskowcow polimiktycznych, subarkoz i zlepiencow kwarcowych. Opracowano litologie i petrografie tych skal oraz przeanalizowano uzyskany ich profil w nawiązaniu do znanych profili skal kambryjskich z obszaru Gor Świetokrzyskich i utworow nawierconych w podlozu niecki Nidy. Przedstawiono takze zarys budowy geologicznej Gory Slonce. THE ROCKS FROM MT. GORA SŁOŃCE, THE OLDEST IN THE GORY ŚWIĘTOKRZYSKIE MTS The paper deals with rocks cropping out at Mt. Gora Slonce in south-western part of the Gory Świetokrzyskie Mts. Here are exposed clastic rocks some dozens meters thick, among which claystones predominate. The claystones display numerous thin intercalations of siltstones, polymictic sandstones, subarcoses and quartz conglomerates. A small part of that sequence has been exposed in exploratory trenches (Fig. 4) and covered by lithological and petrographic studies whereas the remaining part was interpreted on the basis of material from heap of an old shaft. The obtained section was subsequently compared with borehole columns of the basement of the Nida Basin and the known successions of Cambrian rocks from the Gory Świetokrzyskie Mts.The rocks from Mt. Gora Slonce appeared similar to those from the basement of the Nida Basin in general lithology and detailed petrographic image so they were treated as lithostratigraphic equivalents of the latter, dated at the Vendian or lower part of the Lower Cambrian. The rocks from both the Nida Basin and Mt. Gora Slonce display effects of regional metamorphism. The intensity and large amplitudes of Late Paleozoic and Alpine tectonic movements are emphasized. The movements resulted in great differentiation in hypsometry of top surface of the Vendian or Lower Cambrian rocks, up to 2.5 km at the distance of about a dozen kilometers.
Abstract W P299: Interventions for Caregivers of Stroke Survivors: A Decade Update of the Literature

Background: Family caregivers (CGs) are taking on increasingly complex care for their loved ones with stroke related to increased survival after stroke and shorter hospital stays. Research has highlighted the demands of caregiving on the psychological, physical, and social health of the CG. The purpose of this systematic review was to summarize the latest evidence on effective interventions for CGs of stroke survivors (SSs). Methods: The review included clinical trials that evaluated interventions for CGs of SSs. Using multiple databases, the search strategy included published English-language studies between 2002 and 2012. Two independent reviewers extracted information and evaluated study quality using an author-developed tool. Effect sizes were calculated if information was available. Results: From an initial search of 106 studies, 16 met inclusion criteria and were included. Most interventions were multi-faceted, including elements of education, support, stress management, and skill building. Studies ...
An Inquiry into the Status of the Santa Barbara Spear-Thrower

When, in November 1793, Vancouver's Discovery, in company with the Chatham and Daedalus, lay off Santa Barbara for eight days, George Goodman Hewett, Surgeon's First Mate, had an opportunity to augment his private ethnographical collections formed during the voyage through the South Seas and along the American west coast. This collection was in private hands until 1891, when it became the property of the British Museum. At this time C. H. Read delivered to the Royal Anthropological Institute (1) a brief historical sketch of the collection and a short description of the more significant items. It is from this paper that we hear first of the Chumash spear-thrower, foreshafted dart with bone barb and flint point, sinew-backed bow, and doublebladed paddle.
Conditioning Effects from Repeated Household Interviews

Journal of Marketing, Vol. 28 (April, 1964), pp. 51-56. WHEN DATA on consumer expenditures are obtained from repeated interviews with the same households, the effect of the repeated interviews on the behavior and reporting patterns of the panel members is an important problem. Frequently this has been referred to as a conditioning effect. Although the conditioning effect has been the subject of a number of studies, these have not yet provided clear and consistent information with relation to consumer expenditures surveys. Ehrenberg, for instance, found no evidence of systematic conditioning effects from continued panel membership in studies he conducted in Great Britain and Holland.' On the other hand, another investigator reported a small reduction of reported expenditures when a sample of persons reporting food expenditures for four weeks was compared with a sample reporting food expenditures for the last two weeks only; and he believed that this effect was perhaps due to fatigue.2 Quackenbush and Shaffer indicated that many members of their panel felt that panel membership affected their behavior, although only to a small extent.3 After the fifth day of record keeping, Politz found conditioning effects leading to incomplete diary reporting, but that interviewer visits could delay this effect somewhat.4 Ferber found higher purchase rates reported by persons who had been in an interview panel for some time than by new panel members, and interpreted this to be the result of improvement in memory.5 In a panel on consumer finances, he noted better reporting with longer panel membership, as evidenced by fewer refusals of
Improved Individual Pitch Control for Wind Farm Turbine Load Reduction via Wake Modelling

This paper presents an initial investigation on improving individual pitch control (IPC) for wind turbine load reduction for Region 3 operation with the wake interaction included under the context of wind farm operation. The Jensen wake model is applied for composing the rotor wind profile for downstream turbines under wake interaction, and switched controllers were thus developed based on the composite wind profile. The wind profile of the turbine wake was generated by modifying the NREL’s TurbSim codes. The state-space models of wind turbine were obtained via linearization of wind turbine model available in the NREL’s FAST. In particular, in order to obtain more accurate state-space models for IPC design, equivalent circular wind profile was generated. Based on such models, IPC controllers were designed following the disturbance accommodating control (DAC) and periodic control framework for load reduction when wake interaction was considered. The simulation results showed that the turbine loads can be further reduced using the switching control scheme based on wake modeling, as compared with the generic DAC without wake consideration.
The disaggregation of value-added test scores to assess learning outcomes in economics courses

ABSTRACTThis study disaggregates posttest, pretest, and value-added or difference scores in economics into four types of economic learning: positive, retained, negative, and zero. The types are derived from patterns of student responses to individual items on a multiple-choice test. The micro and macro data from the Test of Understanding in College Economics (TUCE) are used to show how aggregate scores can be reinterpreted based on their learning components. The regression analysis shows the relative contribution from learning components to aggregate scores. A value-added or difference score has a potential problem because it is a mixture of positive and negative learning. A better alternative would be to use the positive learning scores to assess improvement in economic understanding.
Infection of Synovial Tissues by Mycobacteria Other than Mycobacterium tuberculosis

An additional six cases of mycobacterial infection other than by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and involving synovial structures are reported. Follow-up is included on a previously reported case. Five of the patients in the present series had involvement of tendon sheaths of the hand, wrist, and forearm. The causative microorganism was Runyon Group III (Battey bacillus) in two and Mycobacterium avium in two others; one tendon-sheath infection was due to Mycobacterium kansasii. An elbow was infected with Mycobacterium kansasii and a prepatellar bursa, with Mycobacterium fortuitum. We believe surgical excision of involved synovial tissue to be very important; antibacterial treatment is of importance in selected cases.
Evaluation of power flow control for an all-electric warship power system with pulsed load applications

Future U.S. Navy ships will require power systems that meet more stringent agility, efficiency, scalability, controllability and resiliency requirements. Modularity and the ability to interconnect power systems having their own energy storage, generation, and loads is an enabling capability. To aid in the design of power system controls, much of what has been learned from advances in the control of networked microgrids is being applied. Developing alternative methods for controlling and analyzing these systems will provide insight into tradeoffs that can be made during the design phase. This paper considers the problem of electric ship power disturbances in response to pulsed loads, in particular, to electromagnetic launch systems. Recent literature has indicated that there exists a trade-off in information and power flow and that intelligent, coordinated control of power flow in a microgrid system (i.e. such as an electric ship) can modify energy storage hardware requirements. The control presented herein was developed to provide the necessary flexibility with little computational burden. It is described analytically and then demonstrated in simulation and hardware.
The Puzzle of Strikes: When do workers strike? How the economy matters

It can be shown for all countries for which statistics exist that strikes are somewhat sensitive to the trade cycle – indeed it would be surprising if this were not so. Knowles (1952, p. 144) DID I GO WRONG? Studies of the economic determinants of strikes (i.e., their relationships to the level of general economic activity) have not been based exclusively on unemployment. Actually, given the novelty of labor-force surveys in most industrialized countries, it was only in the postwar period that unemployment became the most commonly used cyclical indicator in empirical investigations of strikes. Various other economic series have been used as proxies for the business cycle: price and wage indices, the value of imported raw materials, industrial production, composite cyclical indicators, and GNP. The empirical evidence put forward in this literature strongly supports the hypothesis of a positive relationship between strike activity and the business cycle, however measured, with one major qualification: The number of strikes is the factor that is most sensitive to business-cycle fluctuations. The findings reported in Chapter 2 confirm that strike frequency in Italy was related to the movements of real wages and unemployment. These findings run counter to those reported by David Snyder (1975) in one of the few econometric analyses of Italian strike data. According to Snyder, there is no evidence in favor of an economic model of strikes for the Italian case. In order to address this discrepancy between Snyder's findings and my findings, in this chapter I will take up at greater length the question of economic determinants of strikes.
Iron-Catalyzed Oxyfunctionalization of Aliphatic Amines at Remote Benzylic C–H Sites

We report the development of an iron-catalyzed method for the selective oxyfunctionalization of benzylic C(sp3)–H bonds in aliphatic amine substrates. This transformation is selective for benzylic C–H bonds that are remote (i.e., at least three carbons) from the amine functional group. High site selectivity is achieved by in situ protonation of the amine with trifluoroacetic acid, which deactivates more traditionally reactive C–H sites that are α to nitrogen. The scope and synthetic utility of this method are demonstrated via the synthesis and derivatization of a variety of amine-containing, biologically active molecules.
‘Put Us on the Map’: place-based media production and critical inquiry in CTE

AbstractMany young people today are enacting rich literacies in their lives through the use of digital technologies. While this may be so, there is a narrowing of literacy instruction under neoliberal reforms at a time of increasing informational and digital technologies. In this article, the author draws on an ethnographic study of high school multimedia communications that employed place-based approaches. The study suggests place-based media production as integral to teaching and learning in support of student’s interests in the arts and technology. In conceptualizing place as relational, the study shows how place-based media production within a particular learning ecology supported critical inquiry in the service of place-making. Most salient were the ways in which students constructed relational experiences as racialized, gendered, and minoritized youth in order to enter, alter, and disrupt dominant discourses of educational and social issues affecting their lives. Implications for research and practi...
119 ASSESSMENT OF OVARIAN FOLLICULAR DYSPLASIA UTILIZING ULTRASOUND AND HISTOLOGIC EXAMINATION

A slaughterhouse study commissioned by Florida Cattleman’s Association in 2007 identified ovarian follicular dysplasia (OFD) as a primary cause of infertility in Florida beef cows. Ovaries with OFD have progressive bilateral development of solid clustered follicles containing multiple Call-Exner bodies that originate in the rete ovarii and the hilar region, and progress into the cortex to eventually form bilateral Sertoli-type granulosa theca cell tumours (GTCT). The objectives of this study were to assess the distribution of OFD in cull animals and to evaluate utilisation of ultrasound for diagnosis of OFD in cattle. Ultrasound images of the right and left ovaries from 390 cull cows and heifers representing 4 Florida ranches were made with 5-MHz linear probes (Aloka, Ibex). Then, 10 to 12 females per ranch were followed to slaughter the proceeding day for collection of reproductive tracts. The fixed ovaries were measured, sectioned para-sagittally through the hilus, photographed, and arranged in histology cassettes for complete examination of the cut surface. Large ovarian structures including corpus luteum, Graafian follicles, atretic follicles, dysplastic follicles, rete ovarii, dysplastic follicles, and tumours were counted and measured for each ovary. Ovaries with OFD were graded I to IV. Grade I OFD contained small individual dysplastic follicles with diameter less than 200 µm mostly limited to the rete ovarii and medulla. Grade II OFD possessed dysplastic follicles greater than 200 µm diameter that were present in the medulla and cortex. Grade III OFD had extensive multi-sized dysplastic follicles scattered throughout the entire cortex of the ovary and Grade IV OFD had Sertoli-type GTCT. Grade II–IV often had dystrophic mineralization of dysplastic follicles. Gross morphology of fixed sagittal sections and ultrasound images were blindly compared against OFD grade in 40 individual ovaries. The OFD was identified at slaughter in 29/41 cows and in 1/5 of heifers. The distribution of OFD for 30 affected females was Gr I 16/30, Gr II 9/30, Gr III 4/30, and Gr IV 1/30. Characteristics that could be detected by routine ultrasound included increased size and length, increased hyperechogenicity and decreased number of fluid-filled follicles. Hyperechogenic shadows were evident in higher grade OFD. The study demonstrated that Grade III and IV OFD can be observed by routine ultrasound but Grade I and II may require higher resolution ultrasound probes, imaging analysis software, or Doppler ultrasound.
Strange fireball as an explanation of the muon excess in Auger data

We argue that ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray collisions in Earth's atmosphere can probe the strange quark density of the nucleon. These collisions have center-of-mass energies $\ensuremath{\gtrsim}1{0}^{4.6}A\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}$, where $A\ensuremath{\ge}14$ is the nuclear baryon number. We hypothesize the formation of a deconfined thermal fireball which undergoes a sudden hadronization. At production the fireball has a very high matter density and consists of gluons and two flavors of light quarks ($u$, $d$). Because the fireball is formed in the baryon-rich projectile fragmentation region, the high baryochemical potential damps the production of $u\overline{u}$ and $d\overline{d}$ pairs, resulting in gluon fragmentation mainly into $s\overline{s}$. The strange quarks then become much more abundant and upon hadronization the relative density of strange hadrons is significantly enhanced over that resulting from a hadron gas. Assuming the momentum distribution functions can be approximated by Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein statistics, we estimate a kaon-to-pion ratio of about 3 and expect a similar (total) baryon-to-pion ratio. We show that, if this were the case, the excess of strange hadrons would suppress the fraction of energy which is transferred to decaying ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{0}$'s by about 20%, yielding an $\ensuremath{\sim}40%$ enhancement of the muon content in atmospheric cascades, in agreement with recent data reported by the Pierre Auger Collaboration.
New CRISPR-Cas systems discovered

In bacteria and archaea, CRISPR-Cas adaptive immune systems utilize RNA-guided endonucleases to defend against invasion by foreign nucleic acids of bacteriophage, virus and plasmid origin. In a recent paper published in Nature, Burstein et al. identified the first Cas9 protein in uncultivated archaea and two novel CRISPR-CasX and CRISPR-CasY systems in uncultivated bacteria by capitalizing on analysis of terabase-scale metagenomic datasets from natural uncultivated organisms.
Acute Kidney Injury in Patients with Cancer

The incidence of acute kidney injury, which is common in patients with cancer, depends on the type and stage of cancer, the treatment regimen, and coexisting conditions. This review provides an overview of acute kidney injury in patients with cancer.
Strain Distribution in REBCO-Coated Conductors Bent With the Constant-Perimeter Geometry

Cable and magnet applications require bending REBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-δ (REBCO, RE = rare earth) tapes around a former to carry high current or generate specific magnetic fields. With a high aspect ratio, REBCO tapes favor the bending along their broad surfaces (easy way) than their thin edges (hard way). The easy-way bending forms can be effectively determined by the constant-perimeter method that was developed in the 1970s to fabricate accelerator magnets with flat thin conductors. The method, however, does not consider the strain distribution in the REBCO layer that can result from bending. Therefore, the REBCO layer can be overstrained and damaged even if it is bent in an easy way as determined by the constant-perimeter method. To address this issue, we developed a numerical approach to determine the strain in the REBCO layer using the local curvatures of the tape neutral plane. Two orthogonal strain components are determined: the axial component along the tape length and the transverse component along the tape width. These two components can be used to determine the conductor critical current after bending. The approach is demonstrated with four examples relevant for applications: a helical form for cables, forms for canted cos θ dipole and quadrupole magnets, and a form for the coil end design. The approach allows us to optimize the design of REBCO cables and magnets based on the constant-perimeter geometry and to reduce the strain-induced critical current degradation.
Synergistic anti-HCV broadly neutralizing human monoclonal antibodies with independent mechanisms

There is an urgent need for a vaccine to combat the hepatitis C virus (HCV) pandemic, and induction of broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (bNAbs) against HCV is a major goal of vaccine development. Even within HCV genotype 1, no single bNAb effectively neutralizes all viral strains, so induction of multiple neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (NAbs) targeting distinct epitopes may be necessary for protective immunity. Therefore, identification of optimal NAb combinations and characterization of NAb interactions can guide vaccine development. We analyzed neutralization profiles of 12 human NAbs across diverse HCV strains, assigning the NAbs to two functionally distinct clusters. We then measured neutralizing breadth of 35 NAb combinations against genotype 1 isolates, with each combination including one NAb from each neutralization cluster. Many NAbs displayed complementary neutralizing breadth, forming combinations with greater neutralization across diverse strains than any individual bNAb. Remarkably, one of the most broadly neutralizing combinations of two NAbs, designated HEPC74/HEPC98, also displayed enhanced potency, with interactions matching the Bliss independence model, suggesting that these NAbs inhibit HCV infection through independent mechanisms. Subsequent experiments showed that HEPC74 primarily blocks HCV envelope protein binding to CD81, while HEPC98 primarily blocks binding to scavenger receptor B1 and heparan sulfate. Together, these data identify a critical vulnerability resulting from the reliance of HCV on multiple cell surface receptors, suggesting that vaccine induction of multiple NAbs with distinct neutralization profiles is likely to enhance the breadth and potency of the humoral immune response against HCV.
“The dragon is sin”: Spenser’s Book I as Evangelical Fantasy

The twentieth-century Christian fantasy writer Frank Peretti is less well known among Spenserians than J. R. R. Tolkien or C. S. Lewis, but Peretti’s 1995 novel The Oath has striking parallels with...
Cutaneous neurofibromas in Neurofibromatosis type I: a quantitative natural history study.

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a genetic disorder characterized by a predisposition to develop multiple benign tumors. A major feature of NF1 is the development of localized cutaneous neurofibromas. Cutaneous neurofibromas manifest in > 99% of adults with NF1 and are responsible for major negative effects on quality of life. Previous reports have correlated increased burden of cutaneous neurofibromas with age and pregnancy, but longitudinal data are not available to establish a quantitative natural history of these lesions. The purpose of this study is to conduct a prospective natural history study of 22 adults with NF1 over an 8-year period to quantify cutaneous neurofibroma number and size. The average monthly increase in volume for cutaneous neurofibromas was 0.37 mm3 in the back region (95% CI (0.23, 0.51), p < 0.0001), 0.28 mm3 in the abdominal region (95% CI (0.16, 0.41), p < 0.0001), and 0.21 mm3 in the arm/leg region (95% CI (0.08, 0.34), p = 0.0022). The number of cutaneous neurofibromas significantly increased in the back (slope = 0.032, p = 0.011) and abdominal (slope = 0.018, p = 0.026) regions, while the leg/arm regions retained a positive trend (slope = 0.004, p = 0.055). The number and volume of cutaneous neurofibromas significantly increased over an 8-year timespan; however, the rate of increase is variable by individual and body region. These findings may provide insight into cutaneous neurofibroma development and benefit researchers considering clinical trials targeting cutaneous neurofibromas.
Starting Out: the Dilemma of the Beginning College Astronomy Teacher

Most beginning college professors in the United States receive little if any help in the important task of learning how to teach well. Occasionally, a colleague or department chairman can provide some guidance, but in general most American college faculty are taught how to teach by the “sink or swim” method. There are many resources that can help the new professor swim, rather than sink, but in my case at least, I found out about them many years after I needed them the most. This paper will identify some of the literature, journals, and on-campus facilities that can help both new and experienced faculty members develop and hone teaching skills. The literature on teaching and learning is vast. Fortunately, the new teacher need not spend years becoming an expert on this literature; much of it is like the astronomical research literature in that it is full of jargon and it requires some expertise to distill useful, easily implementable ideas from it. Fortunately, there are a few (too few!) books that distill this vast literature into practical advice from it.
Relationship of centrally-located body fat to appetitive hormones in healthy postmenopausal women

viii GENERAL INTRODUCTION Thesis Organization 1 Objectives 1 Hypotheses 1 Specific Aims 1 Limitations 2 Significance 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE OVERVIEW OF OBESITY 5 Definitions: Overall Adiposity, Androidal versus Gynoidal Adiposity 5 Implications for Disease Risk 6 Adipose Tissue Compartments 7 Subcutaneous and intra-abdominal adipose tissue 7 Lean Tissue 9 Methodology to Assess Regional Fat and Lean Tissue Distribution 10 Anthropometric measurements 10 Body mass index 10 Body circumferences (waist, hip, thigh) 11 Sagittal abdominal diameter 13 Radiographic measurements 14 Quantitative computed tomography & dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry14 RELATIONSHIP OF OBESITY WITH KEY FACTORS 15 Physical Activity 15 Dietary Intake 17 Energy 17 Carbohydrate 18 Fiber 19 Total fat 19 Type of fat 20 Protein 21 Appetitive Hormones 22 Adiponectin 23 Leptin 25 Insulin 26 Ghrelin 27 Inflammatory Markers 29
Impacts of evaporative cooling towers in arid environments

Because of competition for a limited supply of high quality water in the arid regions of the southwestern United States, electric utilities are being compelled to use saline water for evaporative cooling. Some fraction of the water passing through cooling towers inevitably is deposited on the surrounding landscape as drift. Saline drift has a potential for adverse impacts to both agriculture and natural plant communities through increased soil salinization. The potential for increased soil salinization and its impact on vegetation is assessed for cooling towers associated with two proposed energy projects in southeastern California. Severity of impact was found to be associated with the level of salinity of water in the cooling tower, effectiveness of drift eliminators, initial salinity of the receiving soils, salt tolerance of affected vegetation, and potential for removal of salts from soils, either by irrigation or precipitation.
The impact of emotional faces on younger and older adults’ attentional blink

The attentional blink (AB) is the impaired ability to detect a second target (T2) when it follows shortly after the first (T1) among distractors in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP). Given questions about the automaticity of age differences in emotion processing, the current study examined whether emotion cues differentially impact the AB elicited in older and younger adults. Twenty-two younger (18-22 years) and 22 older adult participants (62-78 years) reported on the emotional content of target face stimulus pairs embedded in a RSVP of scrambled-face distractor images. Target pairs included photo-realistic faces of angry, happy, and neutral expressions. The order of emotional and neutral stimuli as T1 or T2 and the degree of temporal separation within the RSVP systematically varied. Target detection accuracy was used to operationalise the AB. Although older adults displayed a larger AB than younger adults, no age differences emerged in the impact of emotion on the AB. Angry T1 faces increased the AB of both age groups. Neither emotional T2 attenuated the AB. Negative facial expressions held the attention of younger and older adults in a comparable manner, exacerbating the AB and supporting a negativity bias instead of a positivity effect in older adults.
Neural Language Modeling with Visual Features.

Multimodal language models attempt to incorporate non-linguistic features for the language modeling task. In this work, we extend a standard recurrent neural network (RNN) language model with features derived from videos. We train our models on data that is two orders-of-magnitude bigger than datasets used in prior work. We perform a thorough exploration of model architectures for combining visual and text features. Our experiments on two corpora (YouCookII and 20bn-something-something-v2) show that the best performing architecture consists of middle fusion of visual and text features, yielding over 25% relative improvement in perplexity. We report analysis that provides insights into why our multimodal language model improves upon a standard RNN language model.
Hepatobiliary Complications in Critically Ill Patients

Critically ill patients frequently present with the systemic inflammatory response syndrome, which is largely a reflection of the liver's response to injury. Underlying hepatic congestion is a major risk factor for hypoxic liver injury, the most common cause for hepatocellular injury. Cholestatic liver injury often occurs in critically ill patients due to inhibition of farnesoid X receptor (FXR), the main regulator of bile acid handling, particularly in the liver and intestines. Additional injury to the liver occurs due to alterations in the bile acid pool with increased cytotoxic forms and disturbance in the typical processing of xenobiotics in the liver.
Perfect Top of the Evidence Hierarchy Pyramid, Maybe Not So Perfect: lessons learned by a novice researcher engaging in a meta-analysis project

Meta-analyses and systematic reviews are often taught as top tier research since they offer comprehensive evidence synthesis. Systematic reviews describe many related, thoughtfully selected studies put together to provide a bigger picture and may include a meta-analysis which statistically evaluates these studies to generate a quantified and summarised outcome. The quality of a systematic review and/or meta-analysis is highly dependent on the quality of the studies included, as studies with high risk of bias(such as those lacking randomization) or of lower quality evidence (such as retrospective case-control studies) can consequentially deteriorate the validity.1 Quality meta-analyses can reduce the risk of claiming there is a difference when really there is not (termed a type I error), when multiple studies support a similar result. They can also reduce the opposite risk, claiming there is no difference when really there is one (termed a type II error). This error happens more often when the true difference is of small magnitude. Meta analyses offer larger sample sizes by pooling many individual studies which increases the power to detect smaller differences.1 Therefore, when hearing, ‘A recent meta-analysis shows…' eager trainees hoping to practice evidence based medicine(EBM) often embrace that research. I was one of these eager trainees, but after assisting with a meta-analysis, I became acutely aware of some of the risks inherent to meta-analyses and caution a critical eye even among this top tiered evidence category. Below, I describe three take-home points I learnt and that I hope may benefit other medical trainees in EBM. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement describes how articles are selected to be included in a review which is only part of its 27-item checklist. Clear, specific and well-defined PRISMA statements give readers confidence in the thoughtful intent and diligence of the authors. …
Postoperative Bladder Filling After Outpatient Laparoscopic Hysterectomy and Time to Discharge: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVE:To determine whether backfilling the bladder postoperatively will reduce time to discharge in patients undergoing outpatient laparoscopic hysterectomy.METHODS:In a single-blind, randomized, controlled trial among women undergoing outpatient laparoscopic hysterectomy, patients were randomly
LEFT VENTRICULAR METASTASIS IN A PATIENT WITH RENAL CELL CARCINOMA WITHOUT INFERIOR VENA CAVA INVOLVEMENT: A RARE OCCURRENCE

Cardiac metastasis in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) without inferior vena cava involvement is a rare occurrence. Diagnosis requires multimodality imaging. A 49-year-old male with history of hypertension, initially presented with hemoptysis. Computed tomography (CT) imaging of the chest revealed
Republication of “Ultrasonographic Appearance of Lung Sliding in a Patient With a Bronchopleural Fistula on a High-Frequency Oscillator Ventilator”:

The patient with a bronchopleural fistula and acute respiratory distress syndrome can present a therapeutic challenge for the treating clinician. In this case, the authors describe the use of bedsi...
More Consensus is not always Beneficial

This paper shows that more consensus is not always beneficial to the convergence rate of consensus-based distributed computational algorithms. Specifically, we focus on the consensus-based distributed algorithm for solving linear equations, which aims to enable multiple agents in a network to cooperatively find a solution to large-scale linear equations. Such algorithms have two key components: local computation that happens within each agent; and global consensus that happens among connected agents through the networks. Intuitively, one expects more consensus in each iteration should speed up the convergence of such algorithms. However, according to the theoretical analysis and numerical simulations provided in this paper, such assumption does not hold. Counter-intuitively, we show that more consensus is not always beneficial to consensus-based distributed algorithms, and sometimes slow down the convergence.
Pediatric Mandibular Central Giant Cell Granuloma: Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy to Minimize Surgical Resection.

ABSTRACT Central giant cell granuloma (CGCG) is a relatively uncommon benign bony lesion accounting for approximately 7% of all non-neoplastic lesions of the jaw. The clinical behavior of CGCG can vary from a slow-growing, painless lesion to fast-growing and locally destructive. When such a lesion involves the mandible, this can be quite debilitating for the patient, inhibiting oral intake and requiring an extensive resection and bone graft reconstruction. The authors present a case of effectively decreasing the surgical morbidity associated with a large and rapidly growing CGCG of the mandible in a pediatric patient. Neoadjuvant immunotherapy with denosumab (human monoclonal antibody) facilitated treatment of the tumor without the need for a large resection which would have otherwise necessitated a vascularized bony mandibular reconstruction. Consideration of neoadjuvant medical management of CGCG as the primary treatment is advocated.
Advances in Supply Chain Finance and FinTech Innovations Overview

This special volume examines three themes: Financing Issues in Supply Chains look into popular working capital management financing practices: trade credits and guarantor practices including advanced trade credit practices in supply chains, guarantor financing practices for capital constrained retailers, and innovative practices of joint financing of capital constrained firms by a bank. FinTech Innovations for Supply Chains examines business model innovations for supply chain financing supported through new platform technologies (such as blockchain), and simple financial technologies effectively implemented for high impact in supply chain risk management. Advances in Risk Management of Operational Systems provide state-of-the art thinking on many risk issues in supply chain operations including disruption strategies over the product life cycle, the production planning complexities for a capital constrained manufacturer that uses Inventory Based Financing (IBF) scheme to fund its working capital needs, capacity procurement decision, capacity planning in the presence of demand and price uncertainty, and valuing complex real options in dynamic operational settings.
Identity (Re)constructions in Mothers' Online Stories about Terminating Wanted Pregnancies Due to Health Complications.

Women who have an abortion experience a major disruption to their identities in addition to being at a higher risk for deleterious health outcomes such as depression, anxiety, and suicidal behavior...
Nontrivial quantization of ϕ { /n 4 }, n ≥ 2

The conventional quantization of covariant ϕn4 scalar field models for space-time dimensions n ≥ is trivial, and this may also be true for n = 4. But an alternative O(ħ) counterterm leads to nontrivial results for all n ≥ 4 and also provides a different quantization for n = 2, 3. We determine the counterterm that provides these desirable properties as simply and directly as possible. The same counterterm also resolves models such as ϕnp for all even p including those where p > 2n/(n − 2), which are traditionally regarded as nonrenormalizable.
Aortoesophageal fistula treated with emergent thoracic stent grafting.

Abstract Aortoesophageal fistula (AEF) is a rare pathology with a poor prognosis. Historically, open repair approaches were undertaken. With the advent of endovascular techniques, alternative methods such as thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) have emerged. This case describes a patient who presented with severe hematemesis and, upon imaging, an AEF was discovered. Urgent TEVAR was indicated with a graft oversized to the native aorta by 10% to 15%, along with coil embolization of the intercostal artery. We report here on the successful management of AEF via TEVAR.
Saving Mr. Water: anthropomorphizing water promotes water conservation

Abstract Anthropomorphism refers to the assignment of human-like attributes to otherwise non-human entities. In the pro-environmentalism literature, there is indication that anthropomorphizing nature can promote green behaviors. The current research examines how anthropomorphizing water can promote water conservation behaviors via environmental locus of control—one primary impediment to people acting in an environmentally-friendly fashion. A randomized controlled field trial was carried out across three apartment buildings in Melbourne, Australia, from July 2018 to June 2019. At the end of the first six months, which served as our baseline, half of the households had received monthly water conservation tips within an e-mail newsletter format with water anthropomorphized; the other half received the same tips without anthropomorphism. In the latter six months, households in the experimental group consumed fewer liters of water than those in the control group. Our end-of-year survey revealed that anthropomorphizing water increased responding households’ internal environmental of control, which then encouraged water conservation behaviors. A follow-up laboratory experiment replicated the results within a controlled atmosphere. Both theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.
omg blueprint for trapped ion quantum computing with metastable states

Quantum computers, much like their classical counterparts, will likely benefit from flexible qubit encodings that can be matched to different tasks. For trapped ion quantum processors, a common way to access multiple encodings is to use multiple, co-trapped atomic species. Here, we outline an alternative approach that allows flexible encoding capabilities in single-species systems through the use of long-lived metastable states as an effective, programmable second species. We describe the set of additional trapped ion primitives needed to enable this protocol and show that they are compatible with large-scale systems that are already in operation.
Integrated factory interface for the precision implant 9000 ion implanter operator: Operator, service personnel, factory management host, and remote diagnostics

Abstract Modern wafer fabrication techniques, which include ever decreasing device geometries, demand greater uniformity and yield. To cope with these requirements, equipment is becoming more advanced, more expensive and far more complex. Addressing the complexity inherent in the new generation of equipment demands further advances in automation. To achieve cost-effectivity, equipment utilization must be maximized. Thus reliability must be high and mean time-to-repair must be minimized. The industry is also demanding that normal control of equipment requires less skilled personnel for operation than has been necessary in the past. However, since all equipment malfunctions occasionally, it is vital that, when problems do occur, they can be diagnosed and solved simply, quickly, and correctly. To meet these requirements an extremely versatile, yet simple approach to equipment control is mandatory. This paper describes the Light Touch™ ∗ control system which is implemented in the Applied Materials Precision Implant 9000 System.
Genes contributing to etoposide-induced cytotoxicity

PR-3 Etoposide is an important chemotherapeutic agent that is used to treat a wide spectrum of human cancers. The degree to which genetic factors contribute to susceptibility to etoposide is not fully understood. We present a comprehensive genetic method that incorporates whole genome association analysis and bioinformatics to uncover genetic variants contributing to susceptibility to etoposide-induced cytotoxicity. EBV-transformed lymphoblastoid cell lines representing 30 trios of European descent and 30 trios of Yoruban descent from the International HapMap consortium were assayed for cell growth inhibition following incubation with increasing concentrations of etoposide for 72 h. Whole genome association with one-way ANOVA test was independently performed on the 60 unrelated CEPH and Yoruban cell lines. Several pathways emerged in each population with the most significant being calcium signaling pathway in both. Two genes within the calcium signaling pathway had single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) significantly associated with etoposide cytotoxicity in both populations; CACNA1C a subunit of a voltage-dependent calcium channel and HDAC9, a histone deacetylase. A total of 5 SNPs and 33 SNPs were significant after additive model linear regression analysis for CACNA1C in the CEPH and Yoruban population; 14 SNPs were significant for HDAC9 in the Yoruban population. This novel method can be used to elucidate variants contributing to chemotherapeutic response.
Interdiffusion behavior of Al-rich oxidation resistant coatings on ferritic–martensitic alloys†

We investigated interdiffusion of thin Al-rich coatings synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and pack cementation on 9Cr ferritic–martensitic alloys in the temperature range of 650–700°C. The compositional changes after long-term exposures in laboratory air and air + 10 vol% H2O were examined experimentally. Interdiffusion was modeled by a modified coating oxidation and substrate interdiffusion model (COSIM) program. The modification enabled the program to directly input the concentration profiles of the as-deposited coating determined by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). Reasonable agreement was achieved between the simulated and experimental Al profiles after exposures. Moreover, the model was also applied to predict coating lifetime at 650–700°C based on a minimum Al content (Cb) required at the coating surface to re-form protective oxide scale. In addition to a Cb value established from the failure of a thin CVD coating at 700°C, values reported for slurry aluminide coatings were also included in lifetime predictions.
Community Involvement in the Management of Secondary Schools in Delta Central Senatorial District, Nigeria

The study investigated community involvement in the management of secondary schools. A sample of 51 school principals were randomly sampled from 39 public secondary schools in the Delta Central Senatorial District. The respondents were surveyed by way of questionnaires. Two hypotheses; the data were analyzed using t-test. Results obtained showed that the communities in urban or rural areas are actively involved in the management of secondary schools with regards to staff development and further trainings. It also shows that the level of members of the community involvement varies from school to school.
Strut-and-Tie Analysis of Bridge Tee Joints Subjected to Seismic Actions

The seismic design of cap beam-to-column bridge joints improved dramatically after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, during which many bridge joints were significantly damaged. Because of high shear force resulting in congested joint reinforcement, researchers began investigating alternative design methods for bridge joints that would produce constructible details. A methodology based on a force transfer model received considerable attention and is now widely used in the United States. This model uses vertical stirrups placed outside of the joint panel to transfer forces across the joint. Using several large-scale bridge joints with varying amounts of cap beam prestressing, this design methodology was investigated under simulated in-plane seismic loading. Although good seismic performance was observed for joints with cap beam prestressing, joints without prestressing in the cap beam failed at moderate to large displacement ductilities. Supported by experimental data, strut-and-tie analysis was performed on three bridge tee joints. The analysis identified shortcomings of the design force transfer model and revealed that the design model could be simplified with subsequent reduction to the reinforcement in the joint region when applied to prestressed joints.
Infection – an underappreciated cause of bone pain in multiple myeloma

Bone pain, especially back pain, is a common presenting feature of myeloma patients. We report three multiple myeloma patients with exacerbations of back pain and referred shoulder pain resulting from vertebral infections. Two patients were treated with surgery, and one patient had computerized tomography-guided percutaneous needle aspiration for diagnostic purposes. All three patients received a prolonged course of antibiotics. Vertebral infection resolved with this treatment in all three patients without any recurrence. Previous dexamethasone therapy, together with an episode of bacteraemia, appears to be a predisposing factor for vertebral infection. Magnetic resonance imaging enabled the diagnosis in all three patients.
Studies on the conversion of testosterone to urinary 17-ketosteroids in normal human males and males with hepatic and other diseases.

ACCORDING to available evidence the urinary 17-ketosteroids are derived solely from steroids of the adrenal cortex and testes. It has been assumed that changes in the amounts of the 17-ketosteroids in urine reflect alterations in function of these glands. However, this view oversimplifies the picture and interpretations of data on urinary 17-ketosteroids must remain uncertain so long as the factors which influence the metabolism of their precursors remain largely unknown. Although many different 17-ketosteroids (1) have been isolated from normal and abnormal urines, it appears that the 17-ketosteroids found in largest amounts in normal human male and female urines under usual circumstances of analysis are androsterone and etiocholan -3(α)-o1-17- one. That they are derived from the adrenal cortex is clear but it is unknown whether the adrenal cortical precursors are, in the main, androgenic, 19-carbon steroids (possibly, Δ4-androstene-3, 17-dione or even dehydroisoandrosterone) or native 21-carbon pregnene...