cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Lowering the bariatric surgery minimum body mass index threshold.

JAMA Adjustable Gastric Banding and Conventional Therapy for Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Controlled Trial John B. Dixon, MBBS, PhD; Paul E. O’Brien, MD; Julie Playfair, RN; Leon Chapman, MBBS; Linda M. Schachter, MBBS, PhD; Stewart Skinner, MBBS, PhD; Joseph Proietto, MBBS, PhD; Michael Bailey, PhD, MSc(stats); Margaret Anderson, BHealthMan Context: Observational studies suggest that surgically induced loss of weight may be effective therapy for type 2 diabetes. Objective: To determine if surgically induced weight loss results in better glycemic control and less need for diabetes medications than conventional approaches to weight loss and diabetes control. Design, Setting, and Participants: Unblinded randomized controlled trial conducted from December 2002 through December 2006 at the University Obesity Research Center in Australia, with general community recruitment to established treatment programs. Participants were 60 obese patients (BMI > 30 and Interventions: Conventional diabetes therapy with a focus on weight loss by lifestyle change vs laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding with conventional diabetes care. Main Outcome Measures: Remission of type 2 diabetes (fasting glucose level Results: Of the 60 patients enrolled, 55 (92%) completed the 2-year follow-up. Remission of type 2 diabetes was achieved by 22 (73%) in the surgical group and 4 (13%) in the conventional-therapy group. Relative risk of remission for the surgical group was 5.5 (95% confidence interval, 2.2-14.0). Surgical and conventional-therapy groups lost a mean (SD) of 20.7% (8.6%) and 1.7% (5.2%) of weight, respectively, at 2 years (P Conclusions: Participants randomized to surgical therapy were more likely to achieve remission of type 2 diabetes through greater weight loss. These results need to be confirmed in a larger, more diverse population and have long-term efficacy assessed. Trial Registration: actr.org Identifier:ACTRN012605000159651 JAMA. 2008;299(3):316-323.
Risk preference following adolescent alcohol use is associated with corrupted encoding of costs but not rewards by mesolimbic dopamine

Several emerging theories of addiction have described how abused substances exploit vulnerabilities in decision-making processes. These vulnerabilities have been proposed to result from pharmacologically corrupted neural mechanisms of normal brain valuation systems. High alcohol intake in rats during adolescence has been shown to increase risk preference, leading to suboptimal performance on a decision-making task when tested in adulthood. Understanding how alcohol use corrupts decision making in this way has significant clinical implications. However, the underlying mechanism by which alcohol use increases risk preference remains unclear. To address this central issue, we assessed dopamine neurotransmission with fast-scan cyclic voltammetry during reward valuation and risk-based decision making in rats with and without a history of adolescent alcohol intake. We specifically targeted the mesolimbic dopamine system, the site of action for virtually all abused substances. This system, which continuously develops during the adolescent period, is central to both reward processing and risk-based decision making. We report that a history of adolescent alcohol use alters dopamine signaling to risk but not to reward. Thus, a corruption of cost encoding suggests that adolescent alcohol use leads to long-term changes in decision making by altering the valuation of risk.
A thermodynamic and kinetic approach in the development of expressions for alloy behavior prediction

New functional forms for predictive equations, which are used to describe the influence of alloy additions on microstructure and properties, are introduced. These expressions, which are based on solution thermodynamics and kinetic considerations, include complex interactive terms, and thus are different from the simple multiplicative and additive forms which are in common usage. Experimental weld data were used to determine the ability of the expressions to predict alloy transformation behavior. Results from multiple regression analyses showed that the equations developed in this work do allow better correlations than the conventional carbon equivalent type expressions.
Chromosomes, Reproductive Biology, and Developmental Stages of Aponomma varanensis (Acari: Ixodidae)

The tick Aponomma varanensis attached to a king cobra ( Ophiophagus hannah ) was accidentally imported into the United States and was discovered at the Bronx Zoo. Two generations of tick progeny were reared and investigated under laboratory conditions. A. varanensis males possess 21 chromosomes (20 autosomes and 1 sex chromosome). The processes of spermatogenesis and spermiogenesis are similar to those found in other ticks. However, the males are unusual in that timing of meiosis and spermatid production are not as synchronized among individuals as in other metastriate ticks, and they produce elongated spermatids without having a blood meal. Although elongated spermatids were present in unfed males, they were not transferred to females off the host under our experimental conditions. All stages of A. varanensis fed successfully on rat snakes ( Elaphe obsoleta ). Larvae also fed on eastern box turtles ( Terrapene Carolina ), but not southern toads ( Bufo terrestris ), five-lined skinks ( Eumeces fasciatus ), or laboratory mice ( Mus musculus ). Most of the A. varanensis behaved similarly to a typical three-host tick and dropped from the host after each feeding, but approximately 3% of fed larvae remained attached and ecdysed on the host, and the resulting nymphs immediately began feeding. Unfed larvae were exceptionally long-lived (more than 22 mo).
Fluoroquinolone Resistance in the Rectal Carriage of Men in an Active Surveillance Cohort: Longitudinal Analysis

Purpose: Rectal swabs can identify men with fluoroquinolone resistant bacteria and decrease the infection rate after transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy by targeted antimicrobial prophylaxis. We evaluated the rate of fluoroquinolone resistance in an active surveillance cohort with attention to factors associated with resistance and changes in resistance with time.Materials and Methods: We evaluated 416 men with prostate cancer on active surveillance who underwent rectal swabs to assess the rate of fluoroquinolone resistance compared to that in men undergoing diagnostic transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy. The chi-square test and Student t-test were used to compare categorical and continuous variables, respectively. Poisson regression analysis was used for multivariate analysis.Results: On the initial swab fluoroquinolone resistance was found in 95 of 416 men (22.8%) on active surveillance compared to 54 of 221 (24.4%) in the diagnostic biopsy cohort (p = 0.675). Diabetes was found in 4...
Kirton adaption-innovation theory: organizational implications

Abstract M.J. Kirton's cognitive style theory (adaption-innovation) is considered from two points of view. First, the adaptor-innovator profiles typically used to describe the adaption-innovation (AI) variable are developed to specify the AI continuum in terms of structural inclusion. A content analysis of Kirton's theoretical statements is then presented as a collation of 47 theory elements organized into eight descriptor categories. An analysis of those categories suggests that Kirton's A-I theory is essentially a theory of organizational behavior, rather than an intraindividual theory of psychological process.
Using Forms as Springboards for Conversation in the Foreign Language Classroom

Standardized target language forms that require the furnishing of biographical information can be used as springboards for personalized conversation in the foreign language classroom. They encourage the immediate and meaningful employment of language between two class members in a directly personalized context. A sampling of forms is accompanied by guidelines for their productive classroom employment. These activities are characterized by total student involvement, with all class members participating simultaneously. Such forms may be used in a variety of instructional settings: from high school through university or adult education. They may be employed at any level of language instruction, and with any target language, including ESL. These lessons can be used independently at any time to complement a textbook or curriculum, or to introduce or review some practical target language vocabulary, while providing a stimulating and motivational change of pace.
Concerning the role of mechanical twinning on the stress-strain behavior of Cu-4.9 At. pct Sn alloy

The effects of mechanical twinning on both the tensile and compressive stress-strain behavior of Cu-4.9 at. pct Sn were investigated at 77, 193, and 298 K using polycrystalline specimens with a mixed - wire texture. In tension, twinning occurred mainly in the structure component while in compression it occurred preferentially in the component in agreement with the relevant Schmid factors for twinning. The volume fraction of twins was larger in the compression than in the tension specimens. The stressstrain curves in tension and compression differed significantly with the compression curves lying below the tensile curves. This difference can be rationalized in terms of the effect of twinning on the stress-strain behavior. The start of twinning is accompanied by a decrease in the work hardening rate, since at low strains twins tend to be parallel in any given region of the structure. At larger strains the tendency for twins to form on intersecting planes should act to increase the flow stress due to grain subdivision. Microhardness data obtained from twinned and untwinned regions of compression specimens support this hypothesis.
A note on the manova model with double linear restrictions

In this note we show how one may construct goodness-of-fit tests to test hypotheses for the restricted MANOVA and GMANOVA models using the multivariate seemingly unrelated regression (MSUR) model.
Synoptic Storms and the Development of the 1997 Warming and Freshening Event in the Beaufort Sea

The climatic state in the Beaufort Sea in 1997 was characterized by warmer atmosphere, smaller areal coverage of sea ice in summer than average, and an oceanic mixed layer with a relatively low salinity that persisted into fall and and early winter. The most remarkable change occurred near the end of 1997 when both salinity and temperature in the upper layer varied dramatically in a short-time period. The evolution of the air-sea-ice condition was observed by an autonomous buoy. The buoy observation revealed that deep mixing that penetrated through the Arctic halocline occurred in response to enhanced wind-stress forcing associated with an intense storm and was mainly responsible for the abrupt change of temperature and salinity in the mixed layer near the end of 1997. Similar events were inferred from storms in the Eurasian basin in 1994. We postulate that synoptic storms plays a very important role in the variations of the heat and salt budgets in the upper Arctic Ocean.
Smooth-and-dive accelerator: a pre-MILP primal heuristic applied to scheduling

Abstract This article describes an effective and simple primal heuristic to greedily encourage a reduction in the number of binary or 0–1 logic variables before an implicit enumerative-type search heuristic is deployed to find integer-feasible solutions to ‘hard’ production scheduling problems. The basis of the technique is to employ well-known smoothing functions used to solve complementarity problems to the local optimization problem of minimizing the weighted sum over all binary variables the product of themselves multiplied by their complement. The basic algorithm of the ‘smooth-and-dive accelerator’ (SDA) is to solve successive linear programming (LP) relaxations with the smoothing functions added to the existing problem's objective function and to use, if required, a sequence of binary variable fixings known as ‘diving’. If the smoothing function term is not driven to zero as part of the recursion then a branch-and-bound or branch-and-cut search heuristic is called to close the procedure finding at least integer-feasible primal infeasible solutions. The heuristic's effectiveness is illustrated by its application to an oil-refinery's crude-oil blendshop scheduling problem, which has commonality to many other production scheduling problems in the continuous and semi-continuous (CSC) process domains.
Scintillating fiber applications in nuclear research

This paper provides a brief summary of the scintillation process in organic and inorganic materials, the properties and uses of fiber lightguides made from these materials. Also presented are some recent data on a new application of scintillating fiber lightguides in nuclear medicine.© (1996) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
The allantoin and uracil permease gene sequences of Saccharomyces cerevisiae are nearly identical

We have determined the structure of the allantoin permease (DAL4) gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The gene patatively encodes a hydrophobic protein with a Mr of 71 755. It possesses the alternating hydrophobic–hydrophilic regions similar to those found in many other integral membrane proteins. The most striking feature of the allantoin permease component encoded by DAL4 is its striking similarity to the uracil permease component encoded by FUR4 Although data available indicate that these proteins do not share any overlap of function, their predicted protein sequences are 68% identical, 81% similar, and their DNA sequences are 70% identical. The upstream regulatory region of DAL4 contains all lof the characterized cis-acting elements previously reported for inducible allantoin pathway genes: six sequences homologous to UASNTR, the element responsible for nitrogen catabolite repression-sensitive activation of allantoin pathway gene expression, and two sequences homologous to the cis-acting element responsible for inducere-responsiveness of the allantoin pathway genes, UIS. The finding of these homologous sequences predicted to exist on the basis of DAL4's expression characteristics, supports and strengthens the suggestion that these elements mediate the functions we have we have previously ascribed to them.
Abundance, diversity and body size: patterns from a grassland arthropod community

1. The empirical relationships among body size, species richness and number of individuals may give insight into the factors controlling species diversity and the relative abundances of species. To determine these relationships, we sampled the arthropods of grasslands and savannahs at Cedar Creek, MN using sweep nets (90 525 individuals of 1225 species) and pitfall traps (12 721 individuals of 92 species). Specimens were identified, enumerated and measured to determine body size. 2. Both overall and within abundant taxonomic orders, species richness and numbers of individuals peaked at body sizes intermediate for each group. Evolution could create unimodal diversity patterns by random diversification around an ancestral body size or from size-dependent fitness differences. Local processes such as competition or predation could also create unimodal diversity distributions. 3. The average body size of a species depended significantly on its taxonomic order, but on contemporary trophic role only within the context of taxonomic order. 4. Species richness (Si) within size classes was related to the number of individuals (Ii) as Si = Ii0·5. This relationship held across a 100 000-fold range of body sizes. Within size classes, abundance distributions of size classes were all similar power functions. A general rule of resource division, together with similar minimum population sizes, is sufficient to generate the relationship between species richness and number of individuals. 5. Smaller bodied species had slightly shallower abundance distributions and may, in general, persist at lower densities than larger species. 6. Our results suggest there may be fewer undescribed small arthropod species than previously thought and that most undescribed species will be smaller than arthropods.
Give students a clue: a course-project for undergraduate artificial intelligence

We have developed a simple yet motivating course-project for use in a one-semester undergraduate course in Artificial Intelligence. The project is well-suited to small liberal arts college environments that lack specialized hardware, software, and faculty, fulfilling an unmet need for many faculty at such institutions.We describe the project and how to deploy and use supporting software for faculty wishing to adopt this project.
Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (ATRP): Current Status and Future Perspectives

Current status and future perspectives in atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) are presented. Special emphasis is placed on mechanistic understanding of ATRP, recent synthetic and process development, and new controlled polymer architectures enabled by ATRP. New hybrid materials based on organic/inorganic systems and natural/synthetic polymers are presented. Some current and forthcoming applications are described.
Coexistence of Bose-Einstein paraexcitons with Maxwell-Boltzmann orthoexcitons in Cu2O.

Time-resolved photoluminescence studies in ${\mathrm{Cu}}_{2}$O at high excitation levels and intermediate lattice temperatures (${\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{L}}$\ensuremath{\simeq}30 K) exhibit a nearly classical orthoexciton distribution with gas temperature somewhat higher than ${\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{L}}$ during the excitation pulse. Simultaneously, a paraexciton spectrum with width less than half that of the classical distribution is observed during the pulse, indicating the quantum-statistical nature of this high-density component.
Can a state-of-the-art D-dimer test be used to determine the need for CT imaging in patients suspected of having pulmonary embolism?

Abstract Rationale and Objectives The purpose of this study was to determine whether a simple rapid blood test can obviate computed tomography (CT) in a sizable percentage of patients suspected of having pulmonary embolism, based on the hypothesis that negative d -dimer results could eliminate any further search for pulmonary embolism. Materials and Methods At the authors' institution, 2,121 sequential patients underwent a whole-blood antibody agglutination test for cross-linked fibrin degradation products ( d -dimer). Of these patients, 844 had positive test results and were not further considered. A retrospective review included reports of all multisection combined CT venographic and pulmonary angiographic studies obtained within 48 hours of the d -dimer assay for the 1,277 patients with negative d -dimer results; 229 (18%) of these 1,277 patients underwent combined CT venography and pulmonary angiography, usually within 24 hours. Results Retrospective review of the imaging examinations that were discrepant with the d -dimer results revealed only three false-negative d -dimer results. Of the 229 patients in whom combined CT venography and pulmonary angiography was performed for suspected pulmonary embolism, 226 (98.7%) had no evidence of acute pulmonary embolism or deep venous thrombosis. The negative predictive value of a negative d -dimer result was therefore 98.7% (confidence interval, 96.2%–99.7%). Conclusion The d -dimer assay is a simple rapid blood test that is sensitive to the presence of acute thrombosis. Very few patients with negative results have acute deep venous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism, with combined CT venography and pulmonary angiography used as the reference standard.
Molecular properties of small-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channels expressed in murine colonic smooth muscle.

Small-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ (SK) channels are important participants in inhibitory neurotransmission in gastrointestinal smooth muscles. Three isoforms of an SK channel family were cloned f...
The effect of resveratrol on normal and osteoarthritic chondrocyte metabolism

Background Resveratrol is a polyphenolic compound commonly found in the skins of red grapes. Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) is a human gene that is activated by resveratrol and has been shown to promote longevity and boost mitochondrial metabolism. We examined the effect of resveratrol on normal and osteoarthritic (OA) human chondrocytes. Methods Normal and OA chondrocytes were incubated with various concentrations of resveratrol (1 µM, 10 µM, 25 µM and 50 µM) and cultured for 24, 48 or 72 hours or for six weeks. Cell proliferation, gene expression, and senescence were evaluated. Results SIRT1 was significantly upregulated in normal chondrocytes with resveratrol concentrations of 25 µM and 50 µM on both two- (2D) (both p = 0.001) and three-dimensional (3D) cultures (p = 0.008 and 0.001, respectively). It was significantly upregulated in OA chondrocytes treated with 10 µM, 25 µM and 50 µM resveratrol on 2D cultures (p = 0.036, 0.002 and 0.001, respectively) and at 50 µM concentration on 3D cultures (p = 0.001). At 72 hours, the expression of collagen (COL)-10, aggrecan (AGG), and runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2) was significantly greater in both 25 µM (p = 0.011, 0.006 and 0.015, respectively) and 50 µM (p = 0.019, 0.004 and 0.002, respectively) resveratrol-treated normal chondrocyte cultures. In OA chondrocytes, expression of COL10 and RUNX2 was significantly greater in 25 µM (p = 0.004 and 0.024) and 50 µM (p = 0.004 and 0.019) cultures at 72 hours on 3D cultures. Conclusions At concentrations of 25 µM and/or 50 µM, resveratrol treatment significantly upregulates SIRT1 gene expression in normal and osteoarthritic chondrocytes. Resveratrol induces chondrocytes into a hypertrophic state through upregulation of COL1, COL10, and RUNX2. Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2014;3:51–9.
Elevated plasma levels of hyaluronic acid indicate endothelial cell dysfunction in the initial stages of alcoholic liver disease in the rat

Abstract Background/Aims: We used the intragastric feeding rat model for alcoholic liver disease to evaluate the relationship between morphologic and functional indicators of endothelial cell dysfunction. Methods: Twelve groups of rats (4–5 rats/group) were fed the following diets: saturated fat and dextrose (SD), saturated fat and ethanol (SE), corn oil and dextrose (CD), corn oil and ethanol (CE). Four of the 12 groups were sacrificed at 2 weeks, four groups at 4 weeks and remaining four groups at 8 weeks. The following were evaluated at sacrifice: pathologic changes in the liver, endothelial cell proliferation using a monoclonal antibody to proliferating cell nuclear antigen, factor VIII-related antigen staining of endothelial cells in liver, plasma endotoxin, hyaluronan and prostaglandin F 2α . Results: Only CE rats at 4 and 8 weeks showed pathologic changes. The plasma levels of HA were significantly higher in the CE groups compared to the other groups at all time intervals studied. In the CE rats, a significant correlation was obtained between plasma endotoxin and hyaluronan ( r =0.84, p 1 /S arrested hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cells ( r =0.61, p 2α , in causing endothelial dysfunction, was suggested by a significant correlation between plasma hyaluronan and prostaglandin F 2α levels ( r =0.95, p Conclusion: We propose that endotoxin, mediating part of its effect through prostaglandin F 2α , plays a role in hepatic sinusoidal endothelial cell G 1 /S arrest. This morphologic change, associated with increased plasma hyaluronan levels, precedes capillarization in this model of alcoholic liver injury.
Stochastic, spatial routing for hypergraphs, trees, and meshes

FPGA place and route is time consuming, often serving as the major obstacle inhibiting a fast edit-compile-test loop in prototyping and development and the major obstacle preventing late-bound hardware and design mapping for reconfigurable systems. Previous work showed that hardware-assisted routing can accelerate fanout-free routing on Fat-Trees by three orders of magnitude with modest modifications to the network itself. In this paper, we show how these techniques can be applied to any FPGA and how they can be implemented on top of LUT networks in cases where modification of the FPGA itself is not justified. We further show how to accommodate fanout and how to achieve comparable route quality to software-based methods. For a tree network, we estimate an FPGA implementation of our routing logic could route the Toronto Place and Route Benchmarks at least two orders of magnitude faster than a software Pathfinder while achieving within 3% of the aggregate quality. Preliminary results on small mesh benchmarks achieve within one track of vpr-fast.
The Porter Douglass Case: Examining the Impact of Power, Politics, and the Press on Academic Decision-Making.

Mixing political appointments and university operations can prove challenging and, in this case, caused the resignation of three senior officials at State University. Bolman and Deal’s four frames ...
Power enhancement of an actively controlled battery/ultracapacitor hybrid

An actively controlled battery/ultracapacitor hybrid has broad applications in pulse-operated power systems. A converter is used to actively control the power flow from a battery, to couple the battery to an ultracapacitor for power enhancement, and to deliver the power to a load efficiently. The experimental and simulation results show that the hybrid can achieve much greater specific power while reducing battery current and its internal loss. A specific example of the hybrid built from two size 18650 lithium-ion cells and two 100-F ultracapacitors achieved a peak power of 132 W which is a three-times improvement in peak power compared to the passive hybrid power source (hybrid without a converter), and a seven times improvement as compared to the lithium-ion cells alone. The design presented here can be scaled to larger or smaller power capacities for a variety of applications.
Algorithm for safe and effective reoperative thyroid bed surgery for recurrent/persistent papillary thyroid carcinoma.

Background. The aim of this study was to review our experience with reoperative thyroid bed surgery (RTBS) for recurrent/persistent papillary thyroid cancer (PTC), and present
Counseling, artificial intelligence, and expert systems

The models and approaches to applying artificial intelligence and expert systems to counseling are discussed. The limitations of artificial intelligence and expert systems use in counseling are exp...
Sequential clinical and histopathological changes in collagenous and lymphocytic colitis over time

We conducted this retrospective study to evaluate the relationship between symptoms, histological findings, and treatment of collagenous (CC) and lymphocytic colitis (LC). We identified 19 CC and 12 LC patients having multiple colonoscopic procedures with colonic biopsies during their course of illness. A detailed histological review of all biopsies was performed. Clinical history, including symptoms and medications, was obtained in 25 of the 31 patients and was correlated with their histological findings. In all, 25% of the CC patients and 50% of the LC patients who had biopsies prior to their definitive diagnosis had the pathognomonic histological features on their prior biopsies to some extent (but were not recognized by the pathologists); however, these features were more pronounced on the biopsies from the procedure that established the diagnosis. Nonetheless, 10 of 12 such patients with clinical data available had symptoms and were being treated at the time of prior biopsies. Assessment of the relationship among histological, clinical and therapeutic data showed no association between symptoms or histological findings and treatment with any medication. In summary, in this sample of CC and LC patients, symptoms often precede fully developed histological features. No change in symptoms or histological findings was found to be associated with medication.
Primary giant cell carcinomas of the lung: a clinicopathological and immunohistochemical analysis of seven cases.

Aims Seven cases of primary giant cell carcinomas of the lung are presented. Methods and results The patients were five women and two men between the ages of 48 and 72 years (average: 63 years). Clinically, the patients presented with symptoms of cough, chest pain, dyspnoea and general malaise. Diagnostic imaging revealed the presence of intrapulmonary masses; five tumours were located in the right lung and two in the left, with a general predilection for the upper lobes. All patients underwent surgical resection and staging of their tumours. Five patients were staged as T2 and T3 with nodal metastasis, while two patients in stages T1 and T3, respectively, had no nodal disease. Histologically, the giant cells were typed as syncytiotrophoblast-like or ‘null type’, according to the expression of β-human chorionic gonadotrophin or expression of cytokeratin alone. Follow-up information revealed that five patients died within a period of 1–3 years, while two patients remain alive between 1 and 3 years. Conclusions The cases presented herein highlight the importance of separating these tumours from the group of sarcomatoid carcinomas and analysing them carefully by immumohistochemical means, as we believe that these neoplasms represent a specific tumour entity.
Biracial Youth and Their Parents: Counseling Considerations for Family Therapists:

In spite of recent developments in the area of multicultural family therapy, interracial families and their biracial children remain a neglected population in the mental health field. Very little research exists, and few suggestions have been made for working with this unique population. This article addresses the developmental needs of such families and provides suggestions for family counselors and therapists.
Impact of clinical decision support on receipt of antibiotic prescriptions for acute bronchitis and upper respiratory tract infection

Objective Antibiotics are commonly recognized as non-indicated for acute bronchitis and upper respiratory tract infection (URI), yet their widespread use persists. Clinical decision support in the form of electronic warnings is hypothesized to prevent non-indicated prescriptions. The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of clinical decision support on a common type of non-indicated prescription. Materials and methods Using National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey data from 2006 to 2010, ambulatory visits with a primary diagnosis of acute bronchitis or URI and orders for antibiotic prescriptions were identified. Visits were classified on the basis of clinician report of decision-support use. Generalized estimating equations were used to assess the effect of decision support on likelihood of antibiotic prescription receipt, controlling for patient, provider, and practice characteristics. Results Clinician use of decision support increased sharply between 2006 (16% of visits) and 2010 (55%). Antibiotic prescribing for acute bronchitis and URI increased from ∼35% of visits in 2006 to ∼45% by 2010. Use of decision support was associated with a 19% lower likelihood of receiving an antibiotic prescription, controlling for patient, provider, and practice characteristics. Discussion In spite of the increased use of decision-support systems and the relatively fewer non-indicated antibiotic prescriptions resulting from the use of decision support, a secular upward trend in non-indicated antibiotic prescribing offset these improvements. Conclusions The overall effect of decision support suggests an important role for technology in reducing non-indicated prescriptions. Decision support alone may not be sufficient to eliminate non-indicated prescriptions given secular trends.
The role of opioidergic genes in the treatment outcome of drug addiction pharmacotherapy: A systematic review

Background and Objectives Drug addiction is a serious illness with deleterious functional and social consequences for both the affected individuals, their families, and society at large. In spite of the abundant research on substance dependence, there are few effective treatments for this disease. Given the crucial role of the endogenous opioid system in the development and maintenance of substance abuse disorders, this review focuses on the opioidergic system and examines the role of opioidergic genes in the treatment outcome of pharmacotherapies of alcohol, opioid, and cocaine addiction. Methods Scopus (all databases) and Pubmed were systematically searched with no language or year restrictions, up to July 2014, for studies that focused on the relationship between polymorphisms of opioidergic genes and the treatment outcome of pharmacotherapies of alcohol, opioid, and cocaine addictions. Selected search terms were opioid, gene, polymorphism, drug therapy, substance abuse, and response. Results and Conclusions The genetic variability of μ-, δ- and κ-opioid receptors genes OPRM1, OPRD1, and OPRK1 modulates the efficacy of opioid antagonist treatments such as naltrexone and methadone, as well as the cocaine vaccine. Despite the number of promising reports, data from additional cohorts are needed to substantiate these findings. Scientific Significance Gene variant profiling could help predict treatment response and assist in developing effective treatments for alcohol, opioid, and cocaine addiction. (Am J Addict 2015;24:15–23)
New and/or improved aspects of fetal surgery†

Open fetal surgery through a wide hysterotomy is no longer a real option for prenatal intervention, but a minimally invasive approach has emerged as treatment for a small number of indications. Endoscopic ablation of placental vessels is the preferred treatment for severe twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome and it may be the only chance to salvage the most severe forms of congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Several other indications are currently under review and may become justified in the future, provided that diagnostic accuracy and patient selection become more accurate. Before invasive fetal intervention becomes widely accepted, however, we need to better define outcome. It is no longer acceptable to express results in terms of survival at birth. Survival at discharge and long-term morbidity must be considered as well.
Integrated platform for ion channel sensing

Conductance measurement of single ion channels and related stochastic signals is a promising technique for the development of a functional biosensor. We present results showing that silicon substrates can be used as a low noise, universal platform for recording the electrical activity of single ion channels inserted into bilayer membranes. Bilayers were suspended on polytetrafluoroethylene coated, 150mum apertures etched into silicon substrates and then oxidized with common silicon processing techniques. The overall noise of the system was reduced with a 75mum thick SU-8 layer and integrated silver/silver chloride electrodes. Phase sensitive detection of single OmpF porin ion channels using the silicon device and a lock-in amplifier were made and demonstrate the system's capability as a sensor in high noise environments
Interaction of Escherichia coli heat-stable enterotoxin B with cultured human intestinal epithelial cells.

Binding of Escherichia coli heat-stable enterotoxin B (STb) to the human intestinal epithelial cell lines T84 and HT29 and to polarized T84 cells was studied to define the initial interaction of this peptide toxin with target cells. Equilibrium and competitive binding isotherms showed that 125I-STb bound specifically to T84 and HT29 cells; however, the toxin-epithelial cell interactions could be characterized by low-affinity binding ( or = 10(6) per cell). STb binding to T84 and HT29 cells as a function of 125I-STb concentration did not approach saturation at levels well above the effective biological concentration of STb for fluid secretion. Treatment of the 125I-STb-bound T84 and HT29 cells with an acidic saline solution to remove surface-bound toxin revealed that only approximately 55% +/- 10% of 125I-STb could be removed by this treatment at 4 degrees C, suggesting that approximately half of the bound STb was stably associated with the plasma membrane and/or internalized into the cytoplasm. Similar results were obtained when binding and internalization experiments were conducted at 22 and 37 degrees C. Immunofluorescence studies demonstrated that the strongest signal for STb appeared in the plasma membrane even after acid treatment. Toxin-treated cells also displayed diffuse cytoplasmic staining, indicating that once cell bound, STb did not appear to preferentially associate with membrane vesicles or cellular organelles. Binding and subsequent internalization of 125I-STb were not affected by treatment of the cells with trypsin, endoglycosidase F/peptide N-glycosidase F, Vibrio cholerae neuraminidase, tunicamycin, or 5 mM sodium chlorate, which blocks sulfation of surface proteoglycans. In addition, the internalization process was not altered by preincubation of the cells with the cytoskeleton inhibitors cytochalasin D and colchicine or cellular perturbants (i.e., 0.45 M sucrose and 5 mM sodium azide), indicating that cell surface proteins or carbohydrates did not function as STb receptors. The binding of 125I-STb to polarized T84 cells was also examined, and the total and nonspecific binding isotherms were found to overlap, indicating that the apical surface of polarized T84 cells did not contain a specific receptor for STb. In comparison to undifferentiated cells, twice the amount of bound STb (approximately 80% +/- 10%) was removable from polarized T84 cells after treatment with acidic solution. The percentage of surface-bound STb to polarized T84 cells did not vary significantly with the transepithelial electrical resistance of the cells or when STb was applied basolaterally. Together, our results indicate that STb binds with relatively low affinity to the plasma membrane of cultured intestinal epithelial cells and polarized T84 cells, probably to membrane lipids, and becomes stably associated with the lipid bilayer. The fact that a significant portion of the bound STb becomes free in the cytoplasm, even at a low temperature, suggests that the bound toxin may directly traverse the membrane bilayer.
Response to: ‘Comment on Transitioning to intravitreal aflibercept following a previous treat-and-extend dosing regimen in neovascular age-related macular degeneration: 24-month results’

Response to: ‘Comment on Transitioning to intravitreal aflibercept following a previous treat-and-extend dosing regimen in neovascular age-related macular degeneration: 24-month results’
Reviews of Science for Science Librarians: Meat Science around the World, 1980-2014

An analysis of 8,339 articles published in 1980–2014 in the journals of meat science and the related fields from which meat science arose, such as the animal, poultry, food, and veterinary sciences, disclosed several important patterns. First, the principal institutional contributors to the meat science literature are national agricultural laboratory networks and university meat scientists who are most often a part of animal science faculties in the United States and veterinary school faculty in Europe. Second, meat science continues to discuss even long-familiar, primary cuts of meat, since their quality and consumer acceptance can be significantly impacted by the fluctuating circumstances under which the livestock that provided them are raised. They also continue to develop new or improved further processed meat products because of market share competition and changing tastes among consumers. While the United States and its universities are major contributors to the meat science of virtually all animals...
Biomass accessibility analysis using electron tomography

Substrate accessibility to catalysts has been a dominant theme in theories of biomass deconstruction. However, current methods of quantifying accessibility do not elucidate mechanisms for increased accessibility due to changes in microstructure following pretreatment. We introduce methods for characterization of surface accessibility based on fine-scale microstructure of the plant cell wall as revealed by 3D electron tomography. These methods comprise a general framework, enabling analysis of image-based cell wall architecture using a flexible model of accessibility. We analyze corn stover cell walls, both native and after undergoing dilute acid pretreatment with and without a steam explosion process, as well as AFEX pretreatment. Image-based measures provide useful information about how much pretreatments are able to increase biomass surface accessibility to a wide range of catalyst sizes. We find a strong dependence on probe size when measuring surface accessibility, with a substantial decrease in biomass surface accessibility to probe sizes above 5–10 nm radius compared to smaller probes.
Toward learning to solve insertion tasks: a developmental approach using exploratory behaviors and proprioception

This paper describes an approach to solving insertion tasks by a robot that uses exploratory behaviors and proprioceptive feedback. The approach was inspired by the developmental progression of insertion abilities in both chimpanzees and humans (Hayashi et al. 2006). Before mastering insertions, the infants of the two species undergo a stage where they only press objects against other objects without releasing them. Our goal was to emulate this developmental stage on a robot to see if it may lead to simpler representations for insertion tasks. Experiments were performed using a shapesorter puzzle with three different blocks and holes.
Medical care at mass gatherings: considerations for physician involvement.

Although many authorities define a “mass gathering” as a group exceeding 1,000 persons, several times that number likely are to be present. The event for which the group will gather may be anything from a rock concert to an Olympic competition. Preparations for the event can be minor or major. This article reviews the issues that a physician should consider if he or she chooses to become involved in the delivery of medical care to such populations, as well as the evidence suggesting that a physician should be involved in most such gatherings. Emergency medical care at public gatherings is haphazard at best and dangerous at worst. There are surprisingly few data from which to plan the emergency medical needs for public events and no recognized standards or guidelines for providing emergency medical services at mass public gatherings.
Chemical composition of bovine spermatozoa.

SummaryThe chemical composition of bovine spermatozoa has been determined. Data are presented including total N, total lipid, ash, and total phosphoru. Seventeen amino acids were determined by microbiological assays.
New Imperatives for an Old Vitamin (A)VII E. V. McCollum International Lectureship in Nutrition

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the discovery of vitamin A by E.V. McCollum. Interest over the past 40 years has focused almost exclusively on the ocular complications of deficiency. Recent data from Indonesia, India, Thailand, Tanzania, Guatemala and elsewhere are reorienting concerns. Observational studies indicate that vitamin A--deficient children grow poorly, are more anemic, have more infections and are more likely to die than their peers, and that the magnitude of many of these consequences is directly related to the severity of the deficiency, even after adjusting for other variables. The few supplementation trials completed to date support these conclusions. Even after excluding children with frank deficiency at baseline, vitamin A-supplemented children have grown faster, developed higher hemoglobin values, and died less frequently (by 30-60%) than their nonsupplemented peers. The great surprise is not the central role vitamin A plays in each of these areas (McCollum and others recognized this long ago), but that this single nutrient can so profoundly affect children who are subject to multiple adverse influences.
Evaluation of a BICROS System with a Directional Microphone in the Receiver and Transmitter.

BACKGROUND The bilateral contralateral routing of signals (BICROS) system has provided limited benefit for speech recognition in noise for patients with asymmetric sensorineural hearing loss, even when an automatic adaptive multichannel directional microphone (DM) is in the receiver (Rx) and an omnidirectional microphone (OM) is in the transmitter (Tx). A recent BICROS system was introduced that can be programmed with a DM in the Rx and an OM or a DM in the Tx. PURPOSE To examine if significant differences in sentence recognition in noise and subjective preferences are present between an OM and an adaptive broadband DM programmed in the Tx of a BICROS system with an automatic adaptive multichannel DM programmed in the Rx. RESEARCH DESIGN A randomized crossover single-blind design was used to assess differences between the OM and DM programmed in the Tx. STUDY SAMPLE Eighteen adult experienced BICROS system users were recruited. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS The BICROS system was fit using real-ear insertion gain measures. The Tx was programmed with an OM and a DM and the Rx was always programmed with an automatic adaptive multichannel DM. The order of microphone condition in the Tx was counterbalanced. Participants acclimatized to the BICROS system for 4 weeks and returned and completed the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB) for the respective microphone condition. The Tx was then programmed with the other microphone condition and participants acclimatized for another four weeks. At the final visit, the APHAB was completed for the respective microphone condition. After eight weeks of acclimatization, Hearing in Noise Test sentences were presented in the R-Space™ system with the Tx in either the OM or DM condition for three listening conditions: (1) speech from 90° to the Rx and noise from 0°, 90°, and 180° to the Tx (Sp Rx/N Tx), (2) speech from 90° to the Tx and noise from 0°, 90°, and 180° to the Rx (Sp Tx/N Rx), and (3) speech from 0° and noise from eight surrounding loudspeakers separated by 45° (diffuse). RESULTS A two-factor repeated measures analysis of variance revealed no significant differences between the OM and DM microphone conditions for Sp Rx/N Tx listening condition. A significant mean disadvantage of 1.9 dB (p < 0.01) was revealed for the DM compared to the OM for Sp Tx/N Rx listening condition and a mean advantage of 2.6 dB (p < 0.001) for the DM compared to the OM in a diffuse listening condition. There were no significant differences in the APHAB aided problem and resulting benefit scores between the OM and DM for the following subscales: ease of communication, background noise, reverberation, and aversiveness of sounds. CONCLUSIONS No significant differences were revealed between OM and DM for Sp Rx/N Tx. The DM performed significantly poorer than OM for the Sp Tx/N Rx listening condition. Results revealed significant benefit for the DM compared to OM for the diffuse listening condition. No significant differences were revealed between the OM and DM on the APHAB.