cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Professional interventions that facilitate 12-step self-help group involvement.

Facilitating patients’ involvement with 12-step self-help organizations, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA), is often a goal of substance abuse treatment. Twelve-step-facilitation (TSF) interventions have been found to be more effective than comparison treatments in increasing patients’ 12-step group involvement and in promoting abstinence. Future TSF evaluation research should address the effectiveness of incorporating TSF interventions with cognitive-behavioral treatment methods, the relative impact of brief versus extended TSF interventions, and the cost-effectiveness and health care
Three-dimensional millimeter-wave imaging for concealed weapon detection

Millimeter-wave imaging techniques and systems have been developed at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA, for the detection of concealed weapons and contraband at airports and other secure locations. These techniques were derived from microwave holography techniques that utilize phase and amplitude information recorded over a two-dimensional aperture to reconstruct a focused image of the target. Millimeter-wave imaging is well suited for the detection of concealed weapons or other contraband carried on personnel since millimeter-waves are nonionizing, readily penetrate common clothing material, and are reflected from the human body and any concealed items. In this paper, a wide-bandwidth three-dimensional holographic microwave imaging technique is described. Practical weapon detection systems for airport or other high-throughput applications require high-speed scanning on the order of 3 to 10 s. To achieve this goal, a prototype imaging system utilizing a 27-33 GHz linear sequentially switched array and a high-speed linear scanner has been developed and tested. This system is described in detail along with numerous imaging results.
Optimization modeling of plant root architecture for water and phosphorus acquisition

An optimization model is presented that examines the relationship between root architecture and multiple resource acquisition, specifically water and phosphorus in spatially heterogeneous environments. The basal root growth angle of an individual common bean plant, which determines the orientation and localization of the bulk of the root system, was modeled as the decision variable. The total payoff to the plant, the benefit obtained from water and phosphorus acquisition, minus the costs of spatial competition between roots, is given as a function of the (x,y) coordinates of the basal root in two-dimensional Cartesian space. We obtained a general solution and applied it to four unique environmental cases which are as follows: (1) the case of uniformly distributed water and phosphorus; (2) the case of localized shallow phosphorus; (3) the case of localized deep water; and (4) the case of shallow phosphorus and deep water. The general solution states that the optimal basal root growth angle will occur at the point where the total rate of change in the value of the resources acquired equals the total rate of change in cost that results from locating the root deeper in the soil. An optimizing plant locates its roots deeper in the soil profile until the marginal benefit exactly equals the marginal cost. The model predicts that the basal root angle of an optimizing plant will be shallower for Case 2 and deeper for Case 3, relative to the basal root angle obtained in the case of uniformly distributed water and phosphorus. The optimal basal root angle for Case 4 will depend on the marginal rate of substitution of water availability for phosphorus availability that occurs with depth. Empirical observations of bean root architecture in the greenhouse and in the field confirm model results and are discussed. In addition, the potential importance of phenotypic plasticity and phenotypic variation are discussed in relation to optimization of traits and adaptation to spatially heterogeneous environments.
Frequency-dependent circuit models of carbon nanotube networks

Frequency-dependent circuit models for carbon nanotube networks are developed. The procedure of extraction include: fabricating planar transmission-line structures for microwave test where CNT networks replace the metallic traces; extracting the transmission-line complex impedance and propagation constant; computing the transmission line parameters per unit length: resistance, inductance, capacitance, and conductance; finally deducing circuit models for CNT networks.
Catastrophic interference in connectionist networks: Can It Be predicted, can It be prevented?

Catastrophic forgetting occurs when connectionist networks learn new information, and by so doing, forget all previously learned information. This workshop focused primarily on the causes of catastrophic interference, the techniques that have been developed to reduce it, the effect of these techniques on the networks' ability to generalize, and the degree to which prediction of catastrophic forgetting is possible. The speakers were Robert French, Phil Hetherington (Psychology Department, McGill University, het@blaise.psych.mcgill.ca), and Stephan Lewandowsky (Psychology Department, University of Oklahoma, lewan@constellation.ecn.uoknor.edu).
Adding workflow analysis techniques to the IS development toolkit

The new generation of workflow technology is predicated on a new IS application architecture in which workflow logic is managed by workflow systems while task logic is supported by application systems. In this workflow-enabled environment, it is no longer adequate to think of IS development in terms of isolated applications that serve individual business functions (often referred to as islands of automation). Rather, developers need to design information systems that are workflow-aware. Although workflow technology has been adopted by many organizations and in many cases has provided substantial productivity gains, workflow application development projects are still undertaken on an ad hoc basis. To promote better quality and productivity in workflow-enabled system development, we proposed a workflow-aware, IS development methodology, WISDM, to guide developers in creating workflow-aware applications. We describe how Dynamic Workflow Management, a workflow modeling framework, is employed in WISDM to guide the construction of logical models in the analysis phase.
Cross-Cultural Cool: Consumer Implications of Urban Identification in the United States and Hong Kong

Abstract Identification with a particular subculture can mitigate feelings of animosity toward a country and its brands, making steps toward a truly global marketplace. The current research introduces a scale measure of urban identification and tests the urban construct cross-culturally on U.S. and Hong Kong populations. This scale measure shows the effects of urban identification on sources of consumer information, influence, and attitudes toward the United States and American products.
Legacies of Legal Realism: The Sociology of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice

In this article, I trace the history of the sociology of law from its roots at Yale Law School to the present. The legal realists, situated at Yale Law in the 1930s, saw the law as an instrument of policy. Building on this foundation, the Yale Law faculty pioneered the sociology of law in the 1950s, and the Russell Sage Foundation supported the then-emerging field's development in the 1960s. Philip Selznick was a major theorist and institution builder in the field, and my own writing has stressed how the sociology of law has challenged American ideology regarding economic, gender, and social equality. Nowhere is this more evident today than in the current racial distribution of the prison population. The legal realist vision first developed at Yale Law—of constitutional law as an instrument of social policy—was also confirmed by the most recent 2012 US Supreme Court decisions on immigration and health care.
Telethermography in the Diagnosis of the Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy

Reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) is a syndrome. It consists of persistent pain and vasomotor instability. The entity was recognized over a century ago,1 and subsequent reports have described a number of clinical variants, differing primarily in their associated features and predisposing factors. A clear concept of this disorder has been frustrated by the lack of clear diagnostic criteria, the numerous terms applied to the syndrome, the absence of proven therapeutic modalities and a poor understanding of its pathophysiology.2
Graphical models for object segmentation

Object segmentation, a fundamental problem in computer vision, remains a challenging task after decades of research efforts. This task is made difficult by the intrinsic variability of the object's shape, appearance, and its surrounding. It is compounded by the uncertainties arising from mapping the 3D world to the image plane and the noise in the acquisition systems. However, the human visual system often effectively entails the segmentation of the object from its background by fusing the bottom-up image cues with the top-down context. In this thesis we propose a novel probabilistic graphical modeling framework for object segmentation that effectively and flexibly fuses different sources of information, top and bottom, to produce highly accurate segmentation of objects in a computationally efficient manner. The main contributions of our work are: (1) We present a graphical model representing the relationship of the observed image features, the true region labels, and the underlying object contour based on the integration of Markov Random Fields (MRF) and deformable models. We propose two different solutions to this otherwise intractable joint region-contour inference and learning problem in the graphical model. (2) We introduce a Profile Hidden Markov Model (PHMM) built on the shape curvature sequence descriptor to improve the segmentation of specific objects. The special states and structure of PHMMs allow considerable shape contour perturbations and provide efficient inference and learning algorithms for shape modeling. Further embedding of the PHMM parameters captures the long term spatial dependencies on a shape profile, hence the global characteristics of a shape class. (3) We incorporate the proposed methods in a spatio-temporal MRF model to solve the video-based object segmentation problem. Our new model is a simultaneous object segmentation, background modeling, and pose estimation framework, which combines the top-down high-level object shape constraints with the bottom-up low-level image cues, and features a flexible graph structure induced by the motion information for more reliable temporal smoothness. We demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of all our methods in a wide variety of thorough experiments.
Toxic Work Environments: What Helps and What Hurts

Toxic or harmful working conditions are an important problem for workers and organizations. Fully understanding the consequences of such conditions has been difficult because in-depth information across organizational contexts is scarce. The current article makes use of a new data set based on content coding the full population of organizational ethnographies (N = 212) to secure in-depth evaluations across a wide range of organizational contexts. The analysis confirms the role of lack of autonomy and lack of skills as toxic working conditions but suggests an equally important role for organizational chaos. Importantly, returning to the narrative accounts allows exploration of the buffering and exacerbating roles of coworker relations and employee involvement and the mechanisms through which these work to moderate other conditions.
A Research Note on Adult Friendship Contact: A Dyadic Perspective

This paper examines how often adult friends see each other. These questions are addressed: How do social and demographic characteristics of both members in a friendship affect their contact frequency? Do friends with similar characteristics see each other more than status-dissimilar ones do? Do friends who have known each other a long time or who live near each other get together more than recent or distant friends? Does deep affection increase contact? The first and last questions involve characteristics of both members; the second and third, characteristics of the dyad itself. Prior research on adult friendship has emphasized an egocentric perspective: interviewed people (egos) name their best friends (alters) and report on activities with those friends. In data analysis, ego's characteristics are used to predict the friendship behaviors. This is clearly one-sided; a friendship is intrinsically dyadic and depends on both people for its formation and maintenance. A dyadic perspective becomes possible if egos are asked about characteristics of their friends, or the friends are located and interviewed. Then, features of both ego and alter can be used to predict friendship behaviors. Dyadic models are more faithful to reality and are preferable.
Gamma and ion-beam irradiation of DNA: Free radical mechanisms, electron effects, and radiation chemical track structure

Abstract The focus of our laboratory's investigation is to study the direct-type DNA damage mechanisms resulting from γ-ray and ion-beam radiation-induced free radical processes in DNA which lead to molecular damage important to cellular survival. This work compares the results of low LET (γ-) and high LET (ion-beam) radiation to develop a chemical track structure model for ion-beam radiation damage to DNA. Recent studies on protonation states of cytosine cation radicals in the N1-substituted cytosine derivatives in their ground state and 5-methylcytosine cation radicals in ground as well as in excited state are described. Our results exhibit a radical signature of excitations in 5-methylcytosine cation radical. Moreover, our recent theoretical studies elucidate the role of electron-induced reactions (low energy electrons (LEE), presolvated electrons (epre−), and aqueous (or, solvated) electrons (eaq−)). Finally DFT calculations of the ionization potentials of various sugar radicals show the relative reactivity of these species.
Establishment and application of in vitroexperimental method for inhibition of non-enzyme glycosylation

Reaction conditions for in vitro non-enzyme glycosylation(NEG) were studied via single factor analysis.Optimal conditions were found as follows:1.7 g bovine serum albumin and 1.0 g glyoxal is to be added to 100 mL phosphate buffer in turn;and 0.2 g sodium azide is to be added as preservative.The mixture is incubated at 37 ℃ for 72 h.Optimal conditions for fluorescence detection were as follows:excitation wavelength is 440 nm with 10 nm slit,emission wavelength is 480 nm with 10 nm slit,and detection range is from 460 to 600 nm.Twelve plant extracts were detected by NEG method in vitro.Tea polyphenols,Portulaca oleracea extract and Magnolia officinalis extract show stronger inhibiting efficacy(99.5%,99.0% and 97.6%).Portulaca oleracea extract and Magnolia officinalis extract were selected for evaluation by LAB method in vivo and the results are consistent with that of NEG method in vitro.
Contemporary Responses to the Problem of the Common Good: Three Anglo-American Theories

Contemporary political philosophy has not overlooked the problem of the common good; indeed, scholars of political thought and normative theory have recently reviewed the question of the common good from a variety of vantage points. Anglo-American (or broadly “analytic”) political thought is no exception. Not surprisingly, given the contours of the current Anglo-American world, some prominent representatives of this tradition of inquiry are sensitive to the desirability of balancing (or completing, or replacing) rights-based theoretical and civic discourse with a deeper appreciation of shared goals and goods, including goods of character. Against the backdrop of the previous chapter's explication of the promise and problem of the common good, this chapter surveys the approaches to the common good found in seminal works by three prominent Anglo-American theorists: John Rawls, Michael Sandel, and William Galston. I will argue that Rawls's academic blockbuster A Theory of Justice ( TJ : 1971; rev. ed. 1999), philosophically more important and engaging, in my view, than Rawls's later writings postdating his pragmatic or “political” turn (see Rawls 1985, 1993), accords an unusually significant place for a liberal theory to the concept of the common good. I paint in broad strokes Rawls's deontological contractarian theory of the common good, one paradoxically built on a strong recognition of the radical separateness of desires and ends pursued by diverse human beings, as Rawls presents it in Part Three of TJ .
Multiple timescale mixed bursting dynamics in a respiratory neuron model

Experimental results in rodent medullary slices containing the pre-Botzinger complex (pre-BotC) have identified multiple bursting mechanisms based on persistent sodium current (INaP) and intracellular Ca2+. The classic two-timescale approach to the analysis of pre-BotC bursting treats the inactivation of INaP, the calcium concentration, as well as the Ca2+-dependent inactivation of IP3 as slow variables and considers other evolving quantities as fast variables. Based on its time course, however, it appears that a novel mixed bursting (MB) solution, observed both in recordings and in model pre-BotC neurons, involves at least three timescales. In this work, we consider a single-compartment model of a pre-BotC inspiratory neuron that can exhibit both INaP and Ca2+ oscillations and has the ability to produce MB solutions. We use methods of dynamical systems theory, such as phase plane analysis, fast-slow decomposition, and bifurcation analysis, to better understand the mechanisms underlying the MB solution pattern. Rather surprisingly, we discover that a third timescale is not actually required to generate mixed bursting solutions. Through our analysis of timescales, we also elucidate how the pre-BotC neuron model can be tuned to improve the robustness of the MB solution.
Introduction: Regulation and the Level Playing Field

To non-US observers of the US financial scene, Americans must seem to be preoccupied with regulation. Despite the often-repeated promise of deregulation, US financial markets remain the most heavily regulated in the world, and US scholars, legislators and even bankers continue to spend an enormous amount of time studying, analyzing and debating the efficiency and legitimacy of their own regulatory process. Yet despite the considerable amount of time and ink that has been devoted to explaining US financial regulatory structure, its contradictions remain as apparent, and as puzzling to outside observers, as ever. For example, for at least the last two decades, virtually every scholarly work on US financial regulation has begun with the assertion that US financial markets are undergoing a transition to deregulation. Yet, as anyone who has tried to navigate the waters of the US financial regulatory system is painfully aware, significant legal obstacles remain and may be ignored only at one’s peril. Although pundits predict that the passage of comprehensive financial reform legislation will rationalize the regulatory process, even a cursory examination of recent legislative action suggests that US financial reform may be leaving the regulatory waters as dangerous and as difficult to navigate as ever.
Deregulation of microRNAs by HIV-1 Vpr protein leads neuronal dysfunction

H patients develop neurocognitive disorders characterized by neuronal dysfunction. The lack of productive infection of neurons by HIV suggests that viral and cellular proteins, with neurotoxic activities, released from HIV-1infected target cells can cause this neuronal deregulation. The viral protein R (Vpr), a protein encoded by HIV-1, has been shown to alter the expression of various important cytokines and inflammatory proteins in infected and uninfected cells; however the mechanisms involved remain unclear. Using a human neuronal cell line, we found that Vpr can be taken up by neurons causing: (i) deregulation of calcium homeostasis, (ii) endoplasmic reticulum-calcium release, (iii) activation of the oxidative stress pathway, (iv) mitochondrial dysfunction and synaptic retraction. In search for the cellular factors involved, we performed microRNAs and gene array assays using human neurons (primary cultures or cell line, SH-SY5Y) that we treated with recombinant Vpr proteins. Interestingly, Vpr deregulates the levels of several microRNAs (e.g. miR-34a) and their target genes (e.g. CREB), which could lead to neuronal dysfunctions. Therefore, we conclude that Vpr plays a major role in neuronal dysfunction through deregulating microRNAs and their target genes, a phenomenon that could lead to the development of neurocognitive disorders. Ruma Mukerjee, J Cell Sci Ther 2013, 4:4 http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2157-7013.S1.024
Schwefel in der modernen Materialwissenschaft

Schwefel ist eines der haufigsten Elemente im Universum, fallt als Hauptnebenprodukt bei der Erdolraffination an und stellt ein haufiges Reaktionszentrum in biologischen Systemen dar. Die Forschung uber Schwefel ist daher breit gefachert und hat grose Relevanz und Auswirkungen auf unser tagliches Leben. So hat das Interesse an schwefelbasierten Reaktionen in den letzten zehn Jahren eine deutliche Wiederbelebung erfahren. Weitere relevante Themengebiete sind Forschungen zur Verbesserung von Energieeffizienzen, umweltfreundliche Anwendungen fur Abfallprodukte der Erdolraffination, Polymere mit besonderen optischen und mechanischen Eigenschaften sowie Materialien fur biologische Anwendungen. Dieser Aufsatz stellt einige der neuesten Anwendungen von Schwefel und schwefelbasierten Reaktionen fur die Herstellung von Materialien fur den Energiebereich, Umweltschutz und andere praktische Anwendungen vor.
Death Notification: Someone Needs To Call the Family.

Abstract Background: The death notification process can affect family grief and bereavement. It can also affect the well-being of involved physicians. There is no standardized process for making death notification phone calls. We assumed that residents are likely to be unprepared before and troubled after. Objective: We investigated current death notification practices to develop an evidence-based template for standardizing this process. Design: We used results of a literature review and open-ended interviews with faculty, residents, and widows to develop a survey regarding resident training and experience in death notification by phone. Setting/Subjects: We invited all internal medicine (IM) residents at our institution to complete the survey. Measurements: Sixty-seven of 93 IM residents (72%) responded to the survey. Eighty-seven percent of responders reported involvement in a death that required notification by phone. Results: Eighty percent of residents felt inadequately trained for this task. Over 25...
Towards resource-efficient cloud systems: Avoiding over-provisioning in demand-prediction based resource provisioning

Demand-prediction based resource provisioning schemes help assure service level objectives (SLO) in cloud systems. We notice that if a provisioning scheme does not exclude bursts from historical resource demands in normal demand prediction or always uses a large padding to correct under-prediction, it will lead to resource over-provisioning and low resource utilization. To improve the previous schemes, in this paper, we present a Resource-efficient Predictive Resource Provisioning system in clouds (RPRP) that excludes bursts in demand prediction and has algorithms to specifically handle bursts to avoid resource over-provisioning. Rather than setting padding to a possibly high value, RPRP has a load-dependent padding algorithm that adaptively determines padding based on predicted demands. To handle bursts, RPRP embodies a responsive padding algorithm that adaptively adjusts padding to recover from both under-provisioning and over-provisioning. We implemented RPRP on top of Xen and conducted both trace-driven simulation and real-world testbed experiments. The experimental results show that RPRP achieves higher resource utilization, more accurate demand predictions, and fewer SLO violations than previous schemes.
Poorly differentiated carcinoma and germ cell tumors

Although many questions remain unanswered, recent clinical and pathologic studies have shed considerable light on the subject of carcinoma of unknown primary site. It is now clear that some patients in this group have extragonadal germ cell tumors. This is suggested by the superior treatment results in patients with clinical features of extragonadal germ cell tumor and is confirmed by the finding of the diagnostic chromosome abnormality in tumor cells of some patients. These patients have tumors that are unrecognizable using all available pathologic techniques other than molecular genetic analysis; most patients also do not have elevated serum tumor marker levels. Young men with poorly differentiated carcinoma located predominantly in the mediastinum or retroperitoneum should be strongly suspected of having germ cell tumors; chromosomal analysis should be obtained if possible, and these patients should be treated as for germ cell tumor. It is clear that some responsive patients with poorly differentiated carcinoma do not have extragonadal germ cell tumors. A few patients initially thought to have poorly differentiated carcinoma actually have non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. With the widespread availability of immunoperoxidase staining for LCA, this diagnostic error should be minimized. Other responsive patients have poorly differentiated neuroendocrine tumors. The nature and spectrum of neuroendocrine tumors is still being defined; however, our initial documentation of cisplatin responsiveness has been confirmed, even in poorly differentiated neuroendocrine tumors with a known primary site. It is likely that additional responsive subgroups also exist but have not yet been identified. With the availability of a diagnostic chromosomal marker, the answers to other questions regarding the relationship of poorly differentiated carcinoma and germ cell tumors will soon be forthcoming.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Ultrafast Zero-Bias Photocurrent in GeS Nanosheets: Promise for Photovoltaics

Ferroelectric semiconductors have been predicted to exhibit strong zero-bias shift current, spurring the search for ferroelectric semiconductors with band gaps in the visible range as candidates for so-called shift current photovoltaics with efficiencies not constrained by the Schockley–Queisser limit. Recent theoretical works have predicted that two-dimensional IV–VI monochalcogenides are multiferroic and capable of generating significant shift currents. Here we present experimental validation of this prediction, observing ultrafast shift currents by detecting terahertz electromagnetic pulses emitted by the photoexcited GeS nanosheets without external bias. We explore excitation fluence, orientation, and excitation polarization dependence of the terahertz emission to confirm that shift currents are indeed responsible for the observed emission. Experimental observation of zero-bias photocurrents puts GeS nanosheets forth as a promising candidate material for applications in third-generation photovoltaics ...
Taking the Future by the Horns: Making Change Happen From the Ground up

The article responds to the issue article "Making Change Happen: The New Mission and Location of Language Departments" by Rogelio Minana. Topics include the role of leadership in higher education, dealing with divides between higher education administrators and faculty, and the promotion of interpersonal relations and communication on university and college campuses.
Factors associated with prescription opioid misuse in adults aged 50 or older.

Abstract Background Although prescription opioid misuse in older adults results in serious health complications, this issue has been overlooked. Purpose This study aimed to describe the prevalence of prescription opioid misuse and identify factors associated with misuse in adults aged 50 years or older. Methods This study used a cross-sectional design with a convenience sample. One hundred and thirty patients with chronic pain aged 50 years or older, taking prescription opioids, participated in the study. Findings Approximately 35% of the participants misused their prescription opioids. Factors associated with opioid misuse included age (younger), level of education (higher), level of depression (moderate level), alcohol use problem, illicit drug use, and a higher level of pain interference on walking ability and normal walk. Significant predictors of opioid misuse included education, illicit drug use, depression, and pain interference with normal work. Discussion Our study provided important information to health-care providers about identifying high-risk older adults.
Bone marrow-derived cPLA2α contributes to renal fibrosis progression

The group IVA calcium-dependent cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2α) enzyme directs a complex "eicosanoid storm" that accompanies the tissue response to injury. cPLA2α and its downstream eicosanoid mediators are also implicated in the pathogenesis of fibrosis in many organs, including the kidney. We aimed to determine the role of cPLA2α in bone marrow-derived cells in a murine model of renal fibrosis, unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO). WT C57BL/6J mice were irradiated and engrafted with donor bone marrow from either WT mice [WT-bone marrow transplant (BMT)] or mice deficient in cPLA2α (KO-BMT). After full engraftment, mice underwent UUO and kidneys were collected 3, 7, and 14 days after injury. Using picrosirius red, collagen-3, and smooth muscle α actin staining, we determined that renal fibrosis was significantly attenuated in KO-BMT animals as compared with WT-BMT animals. Lipidomic analysis of homogenized kidneys demonstrated a time-dependent upregulation of pro-inflammatory eicosanoids after UUO; KO-BMT animals had lower levels of many of these eicosanoids. KO-BMT animals also had fewer infiltrating pro-inflammatory CD45+CD11b+Ly6Chi macrophages and reduced message levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Our results indicate that cPLA2α and/or its downstream mediators, produced by bone marrow-derived cells, play a major role in eicosanoid production after renal injury and in renal fibrinogenesis.
A major isoform of the E3 ubiquitin ligase March-I in antigen-presenting cells has regulatory sequences within its gene

Regulation of major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC-II) expression is important not only to maintain a diverse pool of MHC-II-peptide complexes but also to prevent development of autoimmunity. The membrane-associated RING-CH (March) E3 ubiquitin ligase March-I regulates ubiquitination and turnover of MHC-II-peptide complexes in resting dendritic cells (DCs) and B cells. However, activation of either cell type terminates March-I expression, thereby stabilizing MHC-II-peptide complexes. Despite March-I's important role in the biology of antigen-presenting cells (APCs), how expression of March-I mRNA is regulated remains unknown. We now show that both DCs and B cells possess a distinct isoform of March-I whose expression is regulated by a promoter located within the March-I gene. Using March-I promoter fragments to drive expression of GFP, we also identified a core promoter for expression of March-I in DCs and B cells, but not in fibroblasts, kidney cells, or epithelial cells, that contains regulatory regions that down-regulate March-I expression upon activation of DCs. Curiously, we found downstream sequence elements, present in the first coding exon of March-I in APCs, that confer regulation of March-I expression in activated APCs. In summary, our study identifies regulatory regions of the March-I gene that confer APC-specific expression and activation-induced modulation of March-I expression in DCs and B cells.
A SHORT COMPARISON OF MILITARY LEADERSHIP WITH LAW SCHOOL LEADERSHIP—MORE SIMILARITIES THAN DIFFERENCES?

HEN some people learn that I was The Judge Advocate General of the Army before becoming Dean at the Texas Tech University School of Law, they ask whether there is a significant difference between being an Army general and a law school dean. In their minds, I suppose, the stereotypical image of a general simply shouting orders to obtain immediate compliance sharply contrasts with the stereotypical image of a tenured academic faculty member ignoring the dean’s desires and direction with impunity. I will admit I have played to the stereotypical view by sometimes responding to the question stating: “Yes, there is a significant difference. I have found being a dean is akin to being a cemetery superintendent in that I still have people under me, but no one listens to what I say.” The cemetery superintendent-law dean analogy never fails to get a laugh. But having now completed over seven years as dean, I have concluded that—at least in terms of relevant leadership skills—there are many more similarities than differences between my former and current positions. In this short article, I will attempt to identify those attributes of leadership that, in my experience, are constants regardless of position. I will also attempt to identify some differences that are particular to law school leadership, especially in today’s environment. Perhaps by doing so I can contribute my small part to the storehouse of knowledge and “lessons learned” that more experienced deans have so kindly shared with me over the last seven years. I do not pretend to have become an expert in the many facets that make up the art and science of leadership, but leadership, including the study of leadership, has always been an interest of mine. Perhaps this is because, as some have said, the Army is the greatest leadership laboratory in the world, and I spent over thirty years in that lab. But also, to paraphrase Dr. Ken Jones, the President of Lubbock Christian University, leadership is a subject of interest because the future of all people is tied to the leader they follow, and effective leadership provides the path for people to rise to the level of their dreams. 1 I think it is always useful to begin leadership discussions by differentiating between leadership and management. Leadership and management are neither
Endovascular Flow Diversion for Hemifacial Spasm Induced by a Vertebral Artery Aneurysm: First Experience.

Background and importance Flow diversion for the treatment of aneurysm-induced hemifacial spasm (HFS) has not been previously described. Clinical presentation The authors present the case of a 60-yr-old woman who presented with 1 yr of progressive left HFS secondary to a vertebral artery aneurysm compressing the root entry zone of cranial nerve VII. The patient's aneurysm was successfully treated with a flow diverting stent. Conclusion In the immediate postoperative period, the patient had near complete resolution of her HFS symptoms. At her 6-mo follow-up the patient had no angiographic filling of the aneurysm and her HFS symptoms had completely resolved.
Institutional Satisfaction and Recommendation: What Really Matters to International Students?

This quantitative study investigates the role of satisfaction variables as predictors of institutional recommendation for over 45,000 international students at 96 different institutions globally. Using data from the International Student Barometer (ISB), it demonstrates which aspects of the university experience are most significant on students’ propensity to recommend their institution to prospective applicants. This article also discusses key implications and policy recommendations for how university administrators and international educators could enhance the international student experience and strengthen recruitment and retention strategies on their respective campuses.
Mechanochemical ablation as an alternative to venous ulcer healing compared with thermal ablation

Abstract Objective We aimed to compare mechanochemical ablation (MOCA) and thermal ablation (radiofrequency ablation and endovenous laser therapy) for venous ulcer healing in patients with clinical class 6 chronic venous insufficiency. Methods Electronic medical records were reviewed of patients with venous ulcers who underwent truncal or perforator ablation between February 2012 and November 2015. These records contained history of venous disease and ulcer history, procedures, complications, follow-up, method of wound care, and current status of the ulcer. The patients were grouped according to the method of ablation for comparison. Results In 66 patients, 82 venous segments were treated, 29 with thermal methods and 53 with MOCA; 16% of patients had prior venous intervention. Before ablation, three patients in the thermal group had a history of deep venous thrombosis compared with seven in the MOCA group. On average, patients treated with MOCA were older (thermal ablation, 57.2 years; MOCA, 67.9 years; P = .0003). Ulcer duration before intervention ranged from 9.2 months for thermal ablation to 11.2 months for MOCA (P = NS). In total, 74% of patients treated with MOCA healed their ulcers compared with 35% of those treated with thermal ablation (P = .01). A healed ulcer was defined as elimination of ulcer depth and superficial skin coverage. The mean time to heal was 4.4 months in the thermal ablation group compared with 2.3 months with MOCA (P = .01). The mean length of follow-up was 12.8 months after thermal ablation and 7.9 months after MOCA (P = .02). Both age (P = .03) and treatment modality (P = .03) independently had an impact on ulcer healing on multiple logistic regression analysis. All but two patients were treated with an Unna boot after venous ablation. Complications included readmission of two patients with nonaccess-related infections, one nonocclusive deep venous thrombosis, and one late death unrelated to the procedure second to pneumonia in the setting of advanced colon cancer. There were three recurrent ulcers at 1 week, 2 months, and 7 months after MOCA that rehealed with Unna boot therapy and continued compression. Conclusions MOCA is safe and effective in treating chronic venous ulcers and appears to provide comparable results to methods that rely on thermal ablation. Younger age and use of MOCA favored wound healing. MOCA was an independent predictor of ulcer healing. Randomized studies are necessary to further support our findings.
Mortality after bariatric surgery: findings from a 7-year multicenter cohort study

Abstract Background Patients having bariatric surgery have lower mortality compared with those with similar body mass index who do not undergo surgery. It is unclear whether mortality post–bariatric surgery is similar to the general population. The benefit of bariatric surgery would be highlighted should people previously at high risk for premature death have comparable, or better, mortality as the general population. Objective To compare mortality after bariatric surgery to the general U.S. population of the same age, sex, and race. Setting The Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery-2 (LABS-2) prospective cohort of 2458 adults who underwent bariatric surgery at 10 U.S. hospitals between 2006 and 2009. Methods Deaths were identified via LABS-2 follow-up and the National Death Index. Standardized mortality ratios (SMR) of post–bariatric surgery mortality observed in LABS-2 versus age-, sex-, race-, and year-adjusted expected mortality in the general U.S. population were calculated and compared with 1, which results when the number of observed and expected deaths are equal. Results LABS-2 median follow-up was 6.6 (interquartile range: 5.9–7.0) years postsurgery. Seventy-six deaths were observed over 15,616 person-years (PY) of observation (4.9 deaths/1000 PY). The rate expected in the general U.S. population with the same age, sex, race, and year distribution was 4.8 deaths per 1000 PY (SMR = 1.02, 95% confidence interval [CI]: .80–1.27). There were no significant differences between observed and expected mortality by surgical procedure. Compared with expected mortality in the general U.S. population, people 35–44 years old at time of surgery had significantly more deaths (SMR = 2.06, 95% CI: 1.22–3.25), while people at least 55 years of age had significantly fewer (SMR = .63, 95% CI: .42–.92). Significantly more deaths than expected occurred in the perioperative period and 5–7 years after surgery. Conclusions Mortality within 7 years of bariatric surgery is comparable to the general U.S. population, which is likely to have better survival than people with severe obesity. However, more deaths than expected were identified 5–7 years after surgery.
Decentering Mañjuśrī: some aspects of Mañjuśrī’s cult in medieval Japan

Many scholars have studied Manjuśrī’s role as bodhisattva of wisdom. However, while Buddhist deities have usually been studied ‘individually,’ I believe that they can only be understood in a broade...
Palliative Endoscopic Treatment of Metastatic Uveal Melanoma to the Upper and Lower Urinary Tract

Abstract We report a rare case of uveal melanoma demonstrating simultaneous metastatic foci to the upper and lower urinary tract. A 60-year-old woman, with metastatic uveal melanoma, was referred for incidental right hydronephrosis. Diagnostic cystoscopy and ureteroscopy confirmed the diagnosis of metastatic malignant melanoma to the bladder and kidney. Both tumor resection and coagulation were possible with the neodymium/holmium laser combination. The goals of treatment in metastatic patients should be cessation of hematuria and relief of obstruction with preservation of functional renal reserve while minimizing morbidity.
Penile nerve block predicts higher revision surgery rate following distal hypospadias repair when compared with caudal epidural block: A consecutive cohort study.

Summary Introduction Recent literature has suggested caudal epidural blocks (CEB) may increase revision surgery rates following hypospadias repair. We sought to investigate this using a large, multi-surgeon series. Objective The primary objective of this study was to identify the impact of CEB or penile nerve blocks (PNB) on revision surgery rates following distal hypospadias repair at our centre. Study design A prospectively maintained database of consecutive patients undergoing primary hypospadias repairs under the supervision of 8 different paediatric surgeons at our centre between January 2015 and December 2018 was queried for the following potential risk factors: Age at surgery, American Society of Anaesthesiologist's (ASA) grade, hypospadias type, type of surgery, CEB or PNB, and training level of primary surgeon. Revision surgery was defined as reoperation for fistulas, dehiscence, strictures or meatal stenosis. Univariate and Multivariate analysis was performed using logistic regression. Results 188 patients underwent primary distal hypospadias repair over the study time period. Patients were aged between 7 months and 15 years of age. Median age at surgery was 14 months. Revision surgery was performed for 31 patients (16.5%). Indications were urethrocutaneous fistula (n = 17, 9.0%), meatal stenosis or stricture (n = 9, 4.8%) and glans dehiscence (n = 5, 2.7%). 114 (60.6%) received a penile block and 74 (39.4%) a caudal block. On univariate analysis, PNB (HR 2.55 95% CI 1.04–6.27, p = 0.04) was statistically significant for revision surgery. This association remained significant on multivariate analysis (HR 2.74 95% CI 1.09–6.92, p = 0.03). All other prognostic factors examined were not statistically significant for revision surgery. Discussion Our findings suggest PNB are associated with higher revision surgery rates following distal hypospadias repair. This contrasts with the findings of other authors. Conclusion Our study is the first to demonstrate an association between PNB and higher revision surgery rates following distal hypospadias repair. Download : Download high-res image (163KB) Download : Download full-size image Summary Figure . Flow-Diagram Summarizing Hypothesized Mechanisms by which Penile Nerve Block (PNB) predicts higher revision surgery rates compared with Caudal Epidural Block (CEB). Note explanations may be interrelated.
Insect Antifreeze Proteins

Insects are the most abundant and diverse group of animals on earth. Therefore, it is not surprising that they have evolved numerous, generally non-mutually exclusive, adaptations to permit survival at subzero temperatures. In general, these adaptations can be divided into those that prevent freezing of freeze susceptible species (freeze avoidance) and those that allow the insect to freeze and survive (freeze tolerance). Three types of ice-binding proteins (IBPs) are often involved in either freeze tolerance or avoidance, but they are not required for either, as numerous other adaptations are often employed either in concert with IBPs or in their absence: (1) Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) in freeze avoiding insects lower the freezing point of the hemolymph below the melting point, generating a difference between the two (thermal hysteresis) of generally 2–9 °C. AFPs (A) inhibit inoculative freezing initiated by surface ice across the cuticle and (B) promote supercooling by inhibiting ice nucleators. (2) Recrystallization inhibition proteins (RIPs), found in many freeze-tolerant species, produce a much smaller hemolymph thermal hysteresis, generally less than 1 °C, and function to prevent damaging recrystallization of ice. (3) Hemolymph ice-nucleating proteins (INPs), present in many freeze-tolerant insects, function to initiate ice nucleation in the extracellular fluid at high subzero temperatures, thereby inhibiting lethal intracellular freezing that can follow freezing after significant supercooling. Details of the physiology and biochemistry of these IBPs will be discussed, along with the roles of the other subzero adaptations. Also, potential AFP functions other than prevention of freezing will be mentioned.
Prevalence of Young Adult Vaping, Substance Vaped, and Purchase Location Across 5 Categories of Vaping Devices

INTRODUCTION The rapidly evolving landscape of vaping devices has complicated analyses of use patterns among youth and young adults. The current study describes the prevalence of use, substances vaped, and purchasing behaviors across five different vaping device categories. AIMS AND METHODS Participants (n = 2505; mean age = 19.2, SD = 0.46) from a cohort in the Los Angeles area completed web-based surveys from June 2018 to October 2019. For each of four device type categories depicted via digital images (any pod-style vape, cigalike, box-mod, vape pen) and for JUUL specifically, participants reported ever and past 30-day use, substance vaped (mostly nicotine, nicotine and tetrahydrocannabinol [THC], mostly THC, neither), ownership of device (yes/no), where they obtained that device (eg, purchased themselves, from a friend), and if purchased, purchase location (eg, vape shop, online). RESULTS Overall, 44.9% reported ever use, and 26.2% reported past 30-day use of at least one of the devices. The prevalence of past 30-day use was highest for pod-style vapes (any pod = 17.0%; JUUL = 15.1%). Among respondents who reported ever owning any device (n = 643 [25.7%]), 59.9% reported purchasing the device themselves, despite not being of legal purchasing age (15.4% of total sample); across all device types, products were most often purchased in vape shops or online. CONCLUSIONS Across all devices, the prevalence of self-purchase of vaping devices among underage young adults in the Los Angeles area was high, and most were purchased from a vape shop or online. Tobacco control policies to prevent underage purchase of tobacco products-particularly among never smokers-are needed. IMPLICATIONS A high proportion of underage young adults reported owning their own vaping device and having purchased it themselves from a vape shop or online. Stronger tobacco control policies and better enforcement efforts are needed to successfully prevent underage purchase of tobacco products.