cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
FDG-PET/CT in Lymphoma

Molecular Imaging has played a prominent role in the assessment of lymphoma for now almost three decades since the introduction of (67)Ga-citrate imaging for staging and restaging of both Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL and NHL). Since then other molecular probes have been investigated for more accurate pre- and posttreatment assessment of lymphomas but none of these probes was widely accepted and utilized until the emergence of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET). FDG-PET or FDG-PET/CT, which combines FDG-PET with CT scanning, is now widely utilized for response assessment of lymphoma after completion of therapy, for pretreatment staging, and, increasingly, also for assessment of response during therapy (therapy monitoring). Particularly for response assessment at therapy conclusion, FDG-PET has been shown to be considerably more accurate than CT or conventional MRI because of its ability to distinguish between viable tumor and necrosis or fibrosis in posttherapy residual mass (es) that are frequently present in patients with lymphoma without any other clinical or biochemical evidence of disease. FDG-PET/CT is therefore the noninvasive modality of choice for response classifications of HL and aggressive NHLs consistent with the recently revised, primarily FDG-PET/CT-based, response criteria for lymphoma. This review will highlight the most important applications of FDG-PET (FDG-PET/CT) in lymphoma emphasizing the strengths and pitfalls of this imaging approach, past and ongoing efforts to standardize the use of FDG-PET, particularly in response assessment and therapy monitoring. Other promising molecular probes for lymphoma imaging will also be briefly discussed.
Human trafficking victimization among youth who run away from foster care

Abstract Domestic minor human trafficking (HT) is a growing social justice concern, particularly among youth in the child welfare system. This paper uses administrative data to describe the characteristics and experiences of a population of youth in the child welfare system considered to be at particularly high risk of victimization: youth who have run away from foster care. Analyses are based on nearly 37,000 youth with at least one foster care placement in Florida at age 10 or older between 2011 and 2017. We examine the characteristics of youth with and without at least one foster care runaway episode, and the characteristics and experiences of youth with and without one or more HT allegations while on runaway status. Of the youth with at least one foster placement at age 10 or older, approximately 19% (n = 7039) had at least one foster care runaway episode, and of these youth, 7% (n = 542) had an HT allegation while on runaway status. Youth with HT allegations (compared to those without) during a foster care runaway episode were more likely to: be female, experience prior physical, psychological and sexual abuse, run from care at a younger age, experience more foster care placements since entry into the child welfare system, and experience more foster care runaway episodes. For most (70%) youth with a HT allegation during runaway status, the first identified trafficking allegation occurred during a foster care runaway episode. Most (67%) youth did not have another HT allegation up to a year later. Implications for research and child welfare policy and programs are discussed.
Reinforcement of the Staple Line during Gastric Sleeve: A Comparison of Buttressing or Oversewing, versus No Reinforcement- A Single-Institution Study

Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is a well-established treatment for morbid obesity. Staple line leak (SLL) remains one of the most serious and life-threatening complications after LSG; however, no consensus exists for prevention. The purpose of this study is to review and compare the different methods of staple line management used at our institution. Retrospective review of preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative factors was performed for all patients undergoing LSG at a single institution between September 2010 and August 2015. Primary outcome measure was SLL by reinforcement method (none/Seamguard/Oversewing). A total of 256 patients undergoing LSG were included, 197 (76.95%) were women and 233 (87.11%) were whites. The patients had a mean age of 44.64 years and body mass index of 49.24 kg/m-2. Among those patients, 145 (56.64%) had staple line reinforced with suture (28, 10.94%) or Gore Seamguard (115, 44.92%) and 111 (43.36%) had no reinforcement, with no difference in baseline factors between the groups (all P > 0.05). Gastric leaks were identified in nine patients (3.52%) with no difference between reinforcement (2.7 vs 2.1%, P = 0.54) or leak test method (air vs methylene blue). However, oversewing the staple line was associated with higher incidence of stenosis (P < 0.01). SLL after LSG is a serious complication with significant morbidity and mortality. This study demonstrated that staple line reinforcement does not provide significant leak reduction but does reduce intraoperative staple line bleeding. In addition, oversewing the staple line was associated with postoperative sleeve stenosis without added benefits.
Measuring Domain Portability and ErrorPropagation in Biomedical QA.

In this work we present Google's submission to the BioASQ 7 biomedical question answering (QA) task (specifically Task 7b, Phase B). The core of our systems are based on BERT QA models, specifically the model of \cite{alberti2019bert}. In this report, and via our submissions, we aimed to investigate two research questions. We start by studying how domain portable are QA systems that have been pre-trained and fine-tuned on general texts, e.g., Wikipedia. We measure this via two submissions. The first is a non-adapted model that uses a public pre-trained BERT model and is fine-tuned on the Natural Questions data set \cite{kwiatkowski2019natural}. The second system takes this non-adapted model and fine-tunes it with the BioASQ training data. Next, we study the impact of error propagation in end-to-end retrieval and QA systems. Again we test this via two submissions. The first uses human annotated relevant documents and snippets as input to the model and the second predicted documents and snippets. Our main findings are that domain specific fine-tuning can benefit Biomedical QA. However, the biggest quality bottleneck is at the retrieval stage, where we see large drops in metrics -- over 10pts absolute -- when using non gold inputs to the QA model.
Plasmid-Mediated Gene Therapy in Mouse Models of Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy

We delivered plasmid DNA encoding therapeutic genes to the muscles of mouse models of limb girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) 2A, 2B, and 2D, deficient in calpain3, dysferlin, and alpha-sarcoglycan, respectively. We also delivered the human follistatin gene, which has the potential to increase therapeutic benefit. After intramuscular injection of DNA, electroporation was applied to enhance delivery to muscle fibers. When plasmids encoding the human calpain3 or dysferlin cDNA sequences were injected into quadriceps muscles of LGMD2A and LGMD2B mouse models, respectively, in 3-month studies, robust levels of calpain3 and dysferlin proteins were detected. We observed a statistically significant decrease in Evans blue dye penetration in LGMD2B mouse muscles after delivery of the dysferlin gene, consistent with repair of the muscle membrane defect in these mice. The therapeutic value of delivery of the genes for alpha-sarcoglycan and follistatin was documented by significant drops in Evans blue dye penetration in gastrocnemius muscles of LGMD2D mice. These results indicated for the first time that a combined gene therapy involving both alpha-sarcoglycan and follistatin would be valuable for LGMD2D patients. We suggest that this non-viral gene delivery method should be explored for its translational potential in patients.
Association of Social Media Use With Social Well-Being, Positive Mental Health, and Self-Rated Health: Disentangling Routine Use From Emotional Connection to Use

Most studies addressing social media use as a normal social behavior with positive or negative effects on health-related outcomes have conceptualized and measured social media use and its effects i...
Optimal escort dispatch for airport travelers with reduced mobility

Abstract An important component of airport landside operations involves providing assistance to passengers with reduced mobility. These operations are typically managed by third-party contractors, which leverage a team of escorts and a set of wheelchairs to provide mobility assistance services. The performance of these systems relies critically on the dispatch of escorts and wheelchairs to serve each traveler request. Sub-optimal dispatch can lead to negative individual and system-wide implications, such as long passenger wait times, customer dissatisfaction or added delays in flight departures. This paper reports the outcomes of a collaboration with the Pittsburgh International Airport that involved three steps. First, the collection and digitization of data provided visibility into demand for mobility assistance services and historical performance of the system. Second, we propose an original integer programming model to optimize and support the assignment of escorts to traveler requests, and we develop an efficient solution approach based on a rolling algorithm to enable the implementation of the model with realistic problem sizes. We verify that the model’s outputs are consistent with insights obtained from the historical records of operations, and identify opportunities to enhance the level of service without increasing system capacity. In particular, the results suggest that improvements in information flows and in communication between airlines, the central dispatcher and passenger escorts can result in significant dispatch improvements. Third, we leveraged these insights by developing a tablet application to provide real-time visibility into traveler requests, dispatch recommendations, and data visualizations for continued performance assessment and enhancement.
Radikale robotische Zystektomie mit intrakorporaler Harnableitung

Die radikale Zystektomie stellt die Therapie der Wahl beim muskelinvasiven Urothelkarzinom und bei Hochstrisikokonstellationen des nichtinvasiven Urothelkarzinoms dar. Neben dem offenen Verfahren hat sich in den letzten Jahren die laparoskopisch roboterassistierte radikale Zystektomie etabliert; mit dieser konnen nicht nur die Entfernung der Harnblase und Lymphadenektomie, sondern auch die Rekonstruktion der Harnableitung minimal-invasiv und vollstandig intrakorporal durchgefuhrt werden. In der von uns adaptierten, standardisierten Technik konnen sowohl die komplexen Schritte zur Anlage des Ileum-Conduits als auch einer Neoblase vollzogen werden. Nach der bisherigen Studienlage zeigt die laparoskopisch roboterassistierte radikale Zystektomie mit intrakorporaler Anlage der Harnableitung verminderte Transfusionsraten und eine verkurzte Spitalaufenthaltsdauer im Vergleich zur offenen radikalen Zystektomie, bei gleichwertigen funktionellen und onkologischen Resultaten.
Pure fat grafting for breast reconstruction: An alternative autologous breast reconstruction.

Plastic surgeons offer various options for breast reconstruction based on patient preference, underlying disease, and comorbidities. An alternative form of breast reconstruction exists, which includes tissue expansion with tissue expander and subsequent fat grafting without the use of implant or flap. We retrospectively reviewed the breast cancer patients who underwent breast reconstruction at our institution to identify those with pure fat grafting. Demographic information, complications, operative details, and BREAST-Q scores were abstracted. From 2010-2015, 10 patients were identified. Patients with unilateral or bilateral mastectomy followed by pure fat grafting had a median of 3.5 or 4 sessions and a total median fat grafting volume of 380 or 974.5 cc, respectively. Patients were followed for 12 months, and no complications or breast cancer recurrences were noted. Finally, BREAST-Q scores at the 12-month follow-up were comparable to the preoperative values.
Muslim Pediatric Fasting Practices Among Diabetic Children: A Mixed Method Approach

Background/Purpose Fasting during the holy month of Ramadan is one of the primary pillars of Islam. Muslims abstain from all water, food, and medications from dawn to dusk for the duration of the entire month. Exemptions are made for multiple subgroups, including children before the age of puberty and those with chronic medical conditions. Currently, the existing medical literature focuses on health outcomes among Muslim adults who fast, especially among diabetic patients. To date, there is no study that assesses fasting practices among diabetic children in the …
Deep Learning Based Staging of Bone Lesions From Computed Tomography Scans

In this study, we formulated an efficient deep learning-based classification strategy for characterizing metastatic bone lesions using computed tomography scans (CTs) of prostate cancer patients. For this purpose, 2,880 annotated bone lesions from CT scans of 114 patients diagnosed with prostate cancer were used for training, validation, and final evaluation. These annotations were in the form of lesion full segmentation, lesion type and labels of either benign or malignant. In this work, we present our approach in developing the state-of-the-art model to classify bone lesions as benign or malignant, where (1) we introduce a valuable dataset to address a clinically important problem, (2) we increase the reliability of our model by patient-level stratification of our dataset following lesion-aware distribution at each of the training, validation, and test splits, (3) we explore the impact of lesion texture, morphology, size, location, and volumetric information on the classification performance, (4) we investigate the functionality of lesion classification using different algorithms including lesion-based average 2D ResNet-50, lesion-based average 2D ResNeXt-50, 3D ResNet-18, 3D ResNet-50, as well as the ensemble of 2D ResNet-50 and 3D ResNet-18. For this purpose, we employed a train/validation/test split equal to 75%/12%/13% with several data augmentation methods applied to the training dataset to avoid overfitting and to increase reliability. We achieved an accuracy of 92.2% for correct classification of benign vs. malignant bone lesions in the test set using an ensemble of lesion-based average 2D ResNet-50 and 3D ResNet-18 with texture, volumetric information, and morphology having the greatest discriminative power respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest ever achieved lesion-level accuracy having a very comprehensive data set for such a clinically important problem. This level of classification performance in the early stages of metastasis development bodes well for clinical translation of this strategy.
Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome and Inflammation

The pathophysiology underlying metabolic disease and Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) is a complex orchestration of deregulated metabolic pathways in multiple target tissues. Molecular interactions between white adipose tissue, the gastrointestinal tract, the gut microbiome, and the immune cells within each tissue depot contribute to the development of metabolic disease in diet-induced and genetic mouse models of obesity and in obese and insulin resistant humans. Next generation sequencing and comprehensive analyses of different tissue metabolomes in response to dietary and pharmacological interventions reveals novel molecular signatures, pathways and functional metabolites with therapeutic potential to enhance host health. These major advances in resolving cellular phenotype and function underscores the complexity of inter-organ interactions in metabolic disease. In this review, we discuss key immunomodulatory cell types and effector molecules from white adipose tissue, the gastrointestinal tract, and the gut microbiome and highlight their mechanisms of action that contribute to the pathophysiology of obesity and Metabolic Syndrome. Understanding the molecular cross-talk between metabolic tissues in response to chronic overnutrition may lead to the identification of novel therapeutic targets that can improve host metabolism throughout the lifespan.
An Integrative Summer Field Course in Geology and Biology for K-12 Instructors and College and Continuing Education Students at Eastern Washington University and Beyond

For the last fifteen years, a small group of faculty members in the departments of geology and biology at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, WA have offered a seven to ten day interdisciplinary summer field course. The course is designed for college students, K-12 instructors, and for those seeking continuing education experiences. We have been successful in attracting students who take the course repeatedly and continue to draw a pool of new students by providing a different route each year within a 1280 km (800 mi) radius of our institution. Our academic expectations are rigorous and include reading assignments, pre-trip questions, field notebooks and journal entries as well as a research paper and follow-up post-trip questions all of which are designed to capitalize on the integration of the two disciplines. This field course is one way in which we get our students out in the field for a trip longer than a day trip or weekend trip to learn about the interaction of geology and biology on both smal...
Regulation of human tissue factor expression by mRNA turnover.

Tissue factor serves as the cellular receptor for circulating blood coagulation factor VII and is the principal physiological initiator of blood coagulation. Tissue factor is not normally expressed in cells that contact blood, such as endothelial cells and monocytes, but can be induced in these cells by tumor necrosis factor or tumor-promoting phorbol esters. Following induction, the human tissue factor mRNA is degraded with a half-life of approximately 0.75-1.5 h. The cellular mechanisms responsible for this rapid mRNA turnover were investigated with chimeric tissue factor.beta-globin constructs expressed in stably transfected mouse NIH/3T3 cells. These constructs were expressed with the transiently inducible c-fos promoter which eliminated the need to use transcriptional inhibitors to determine mRNA half-lives. Sequences capable of conferring rapid turnover to the normally stable beta-globin transcript were localized to the last 600 nucleotides of the tissue factor mRNA. The 3' end of this fragment is similar to previously described AU-rich mRNA destabilizing elements. Activity of the tissue factor element was dependent on its specific sequence and not simply a high AU nucleotide content. The degradation of unstable chimeric tissue factor.beta-globin mRNAs was prevented by inhibition of transcription with actinomycin D. Chimeric tissue factor.beta-globin mRNAs were superinduced by the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide, and this superinduction may be due in part to stabilization of the mRNA.
Financial Reporting Transparency

This discussion raises issues concerning financial reporting transparency. We first observe that transparency is not well-defined in a financial reporting context. Extrapolating from the ways transparency is used in other contexts, we define financial reporting transparency as the extent to which financial reports reveal an entity's underlying economics in a way that is readily understandable by those using the financial reports. We discuss limitations of this definition relating to its two components, but observe that the conceptual frameworks of the IASB and FASB provide a standard setter perspective on them. We next point out that theoretical research suggests that increased reporting transparency can reduce the cost of capital provided that transparency reduces information risk, and empirical research using a variety of measures of financial reporting transparency provides evidence of an association between transparency and cost of capital. Thus, research supports the notion that transparency is a des...
DNA double-strand break repair functions defend against parvovirus infection.

The majority of human cancers appear to arise from mutations caused by DNA damage (5). One significant source of mutations is error-prone repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSB). DSB can result from normal oxidative metabolism, replication errors, and exposure to X-rays. Cells eliminate most of this damage through DNA repair pathways by homologousrecombinationornonhomologousend-joiningpathways. The latter are more heavily utilized in mammalian cells and more error prone. These repair pathways are essential for maintenance of the overall integrity of the DNA genome. Mammalian cells that are defective in repairing DSB are significantly more sensitive to X-rays than are their normal counterparts. A number of cell lines with defective DNA DSB repair and V(D)J recombination have been established from Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells (23). V(D)J recombination is necessary for normal B- and T-cell immunity, and these specialized forms of DNA rearrangements interface with the system for generic DNA break repair. Defects in this recombination pathway can result in severe combined immune deficiency and sensitivity to ionizing radiation (17). Because parvoviruses have a linear DNA genome (3), we investigated what role DNA repair functions may play in parvovirus infection. We hypothesized that the linear viral genomes may be substrates for the DNA repair machinery. For
Effect of pH on the Kinetics of Frog Muscle Phosphofructokinase

Under appropriate conditions, the activity of phosphofructokinase of skeletal muscle from frog and mouse is extremely sensitive to small changes in pH in the physiological range, a low pH decreasing the affinity of the enzyme for fructose 6-phosphate. It is concluded that shifts in intracellular pH are important in the regulation of phosphofructokinase, but that this effect makes interpretation of data from intact muscle quite difficult.
The landscape of international computing

Publisher Summary The landscape of international computing is highly diverse from country to country, reflecting national differences and cultures. The chapter discusses national differences; and transnational systems and MNCs. Developments at the international level such as the post-war liberalization of international trade, and the activities of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Intergovernmental Bureau for Informatics (IBI), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and other international organizations have done much to aid the global proliferation of information technology. Dependency theory, development theory, and structuralism have all made contributions to understanding the effects of this global inequality, and nation states have responded to this inequality according to both their economic status and their relative place within the worldwide system of innovation, manufacturing, and utilization of information technology. They have responded by throttling the supply of information technology within their borders, its geographical reach, and its applications range. The chapter describes three dimensions of influence are: supply, range, and reach. Research in the future should focus on several key areas of inquiry, including understanding the global proliferation of information technology, intensifying the effort to understand the social and cultural effects of information systems, particularly in non-Western countries and cultures, and assessing the broader effects of the rise of transnational information systems.
Capillary alterations in scleroderma

Electron microscopy of capillaries was performed in scleroderma skin. The main alterations were (1) gaps, vacuolization and eventual destruction of endothelial cells, (2) reduplication of the basal lamina, (3) perivascular cellular infiltrates consisting of lymphocytes, plasma cells, macrophages, or monocytes, and (4) fibroblasts and pericytes with enlarged, rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) accompanied by perivascular fibrosis. Perivascular cellular infiltrates and endothelial cell damage appear to precede the stage of fibrosis.
Effects of Transformed Visual-Motor Spatial Mappings and Droplines on 3-D Target Acquisition Strategy and Performance

This study investigated effects of transformed visual-motor mappings and a depth cue dropline on a 3-D target acquisition task. A cursor and target were displayed within a 3-D reference framework “Box” and participants were instructed to move the cursor into the target as quickly and accurately as possible by manipulating a 3-D input device called a “Spaceball.” The Box was presented with several lateral orientations. By tying the Spaceball movements to the frame of reference defined by the Box, the visual-motor mapping was transformed. Additionally, a depth cue dropline was manipulated. With the transformed mappings, movement times and path lengths to acquire the targets increased as the Box rotation angle increased. Droplines reduced movement times and path lengths. Participants' general acquisition strategy was to sequentially acquire the azimuth, elevation, and then range dimensions of the target, i.e., first visually overlapping the target with the cursor, and then acquiring the target along the line...
School Choice: An Educational Myth or a Panacea?

While the school choice movement offers real advantages in producing a market-driven, competitive, performance-based system, it is not an educational panacea. Many fundamental changes must occur be...
MODELING THE SOLIDIFICATION OF FOUNDRY CASTINGS

Abstract A comprehensive technique is described for performing the simulation of the solidification of foundry castings. A finite element method (FEM) mesh is produced for the pattern of the part, using geometric modeling techniques. Results are presented to demonstrate selection rules for the mesh size. The size of the heat transfer problem is reduced by replacing the FEM mesh in the mold material by appropriate boundary conditions on the surface of the casting. The boundary conditions are found automatically by a program which relates local surface curvature on the part to a pre-calculated library of solutions. Methods for ensuring that all of the latent heat of fusion is included are presented, and comparisons are made between different solution methods.
Competence and Resilience in Development

The first three waves of research on resilience in development, largely behavioral in focus, contributed a compelling set of concepts and methods, a surprisingly consistent body of findings, provocative issues and controversies, and clues to promising areas for the next wave of resilience research linking biology and neuroscience to behavioral adaptation in development. Behavioral investigators honed the definitions and assessments of risk, adversity, competence, developmental tasks, protective factors, and other key aspects of resilience, as they sought to understand how some children overcome adversity to do well in life. Their findings implicate fundamental adaptive systems, which in turn suggest hot spots for the rising fourth wave of integrative research on resilience in children, focused on processes studied at multiple levels of analysis and across species.
Dimensionality control of coupled scattering equations using partitioning techniques

Abstract A method of variable reduction of the dimensionality of the coupled equations for inelastic scattering is presented, based upon a projection operator P with a restricted range of orbital angular momentum states. For rotational states in the range O⩽ j ⩽ j * and total angular momentum large, the coupled equations have dimensionality ( j * + 1) ⩽ N ⩽( j * + 1) 2 , where the value of N is controlled by the choice of P . This is in contrast to conventional partitioning techniques which utilize further restrictions on the important molecular rotational states. The equations for the P subspace and its complementary Q subspace are decoupled by an approximation on the equation of motion of Q ψ scat . Information about scattering into the Q subspace is retained, within this degree of approximation, and is reintroduced at the end of the computation with little additional labor. The theory is developed in terms of atom-rigid-rotor scattering, although addition of vibrational modes would not in any way interfere with the basic techniques used.
Thermal behaviors of concrete and steel bridges after slab replacements with GFRP honeycomb sandwich panels

Abstract During the last several decades, fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) panels have been applied as one of the alternatives for slab retrofits and replacements in bridge engineering. Even though with many benefits, e.g., high strength, light weight, long-term durability, and good corrosion resistance, the FRP structures have not been widely adopted. It is partly due to the lack of national design guidelines and the uncertainties on long-term performances. Many studies have been conducted to investigate the static and dynamic performances of FRP bridges, while the studies on their thermal responses are not adequate. Therefore, the present study demonstrates an investigation on the thermal behavior of a FRP bridge based on a slab replacement project conducted by the Kansas State Department of Transportation, i.e., a steel deck replaced by glass FRP (GFRP) panels. The temperatures of the bridge and ambient air are recorded from December 2002 to July 2004. Firstly, a finite element model is developed using a sub-structuring method. This method is particularly efficient for modeling structures with complex configurations and subjected to the traffic and temperature loadings. Then, the model is verified by comparing the predicted live load distribution factors with that of a live load test; and it is further adopted to study the thermal responses using the measured temperatures from January 24 to July 13 in 2004. Finally, a parametric study is performed to study two general slab replacement cases, i.e., bridges with concrete beams and steel girders, respectively. Different loading conditions are considered, including the uniform temperature variations, temperature gradients, self-weights, and HS-20 live loads. Results from this study indicate that careful attentions should be paid to the thermal responses of bridges. The temperature gradients and uniform variations evidently affect the performance of bridges after replacing the concrete slabs with GFRP panels, such as the induced vertical deflections, horizontal movements, and stresses of steel girders or concrete beams.
Invariant factors and output feedback

The problem of assigning invariant factors by internally stable output feedback configurations is considered. The emphasis is placed on the input-output invariant factors of the final feedback configuration, whereas the internal hidden modes of the final system are disregarded after their stability is ensured. Two types of output feedback configurations are considered: (i) a combination of unity feedback and dynamic pre-compensation, and (ii) pure dynamic output feedback. It is shown that in both cases the possibilities of assigning invariant factors depend on certain integer invariants which are determined, roughly speaking, by the unstable poles, by the unstable zeros, and by the zeros at infinity of the transfer matrix of the given system.
Induced accumulation of citrate in therapy of experimental lead poisoning.

SummaryThe concept of interference in a metabolic cycle as a means of modifying metal toxicity has been tested. The accumulation of citric acid in certain soft tissues of the rat has been induced by administration of small, non-lethal doses of sodium fluoroacetate. This has been found to give partial protection to rats acutely poisoned with lead nitrate. Of rats given the LD90 of lead nitrate, 53% survived when treated with sodium fluoroacetate. The LD50 of lead nitrate was increased from 58.2 mg/kg (as Pb) in saline controls to 67.7 mg/kg in fluoroacetate-treated rats.
In vitro BALB/3T3 cell transformation assay of nonoxynol‐9 and 1,4‐dioxane

The spermicidal surfactant nonoxynol-9 (Igepal CO-630, GAF Corp.) and a potential impurity, 1,4-dioxane, were tested in the in vitro cell transformation assay using BALB/3T3 cells. Two treatment periods, 48 hr and 13 days, were used. Nonoxynol-9, tested at levels up to 10 /sup +/g/ml, did not induce transformation, whereas dioxane was very active in the induction type II foci in the cultured BALB/3T3 cells.
Quickest Detection of State-Transition in Point Processes: Application to Neuronal Activity

Abstract Quickest detection is the problem of detecting a change in the probability distribution of a sequence of random observations with as little delay as possible and with low probability of false alarm. To date, algorithms for quickest detection exist mainly for cases where the random observations are independent, and linear or exponential cost functions of the delay are used. We propose a dynamic programming-based algorithm to solve the quickest detection problem when dependencies exist among the observations, and for any nondecreasing cost function of the detection delay. We implement the algorithm for a Bayesian formulation (i.e., the change time T in the probability distribution of the observations is a random variable with a priori fixed geometric distribution) when the observations distribute according to two distinct point processes. We apply the algorithm to spiking activity observations from neurons recorded in the subthalamic nucleus of Parkinson's disease patients during the execution of a motor task. The algorithm exploits the point-process characterization of the spike trains before and during the movement (two states), and optimally detects the state transition at movement onset. Performances significantly (i.e., with a p-value p
On runs of consecutive quadratic residues and quadratic nonresidues

Based on results of Weil and of Burgess, we have obtained a boundK(l) such that all primesp ≧K(l) have a sequence of at leastl consecutive quadratic residues and a sequence of at leastl consecutive nonresidues in the interval [1,p − 1]. The bound forl=9 being 414463, we have computed, for primes less than 420000, the lengths of the longest sequences of consecutive residues and of nonresidues. We present these data and make some observations concerning them. One of the observations is that there is an observed difference in the length of the maximal sequence between primes congruent to 1 (mod 4) and primes congruent to 3 (mod 4).
Electroencephalographic correlations of extracranial and epidural electrodes in temporal lobe epilepsy.

Summary: Thirty patients with medically intractable complex partial seizures of temporal lobe origin, but no structural abnormalities on neuroradiologic investigations, had both extracranial (scalp) and epidural EEG recordings. Fifteen patients (50%) had localized, unilateral, ictal, scalp EEGs, but one of these had bilateral independent temporal seizure onset according to epidural recordings. Of the 15 patients in whom scalp EEGs were non-localizing, 12 had well-localized epidural ictal EEGs, and 3 had multifocal or bilateral independent temporal ictal recordings. Epidural recordings provide information for determination of site of onset of temporal lobe seizures in selected patients. RESUME Chez Trente patients presentant des crises partielles complexes rebelles ďorigine temporale, sans anomalie sur les investigations neuroradiologiques, ont beneficiea la fois ďenregistrements EEG extracrâniens et epiduraux. 15 ďentre eux (50%) presentaient des anomalies paroxystiques localisees, unilaterales, mais ľun de ceux-ci avait sur les enregistrements epiduraux des crises de debut temporal bilateral independant. Chez les 15 patients pour lesquels ľEEG de surface n'etait pas localisateur, 12 presentaient des EEG critiques epiduraux bien localisateurs, et 3 des enregistrements critiques multifocaux ou temporaux bilateraux et independants. Les enregistrements epiduraux fournissent des informations sur la determination du site de debut des crises temporales chez des patients selectionnes. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG 30 Patienten mit therapieresistenten, komplex-partiellen Anfallen temporalen Ursprungs ohne strukturelle Abnormalitaten bei der neuroradiologischen Untersuchung wurden einer extra-kraniellen (Skalp) und epiduralen Elektroenzephalographie un-terzogen. 15 Patienten (50%) hatten lokalisierende, unilaterale, iktale Skalp-EEGs, einer davon einen bilateral unabhangige temporalen Anfallsbeginn bei der epiduralen Aufzeichnung. Von den 15 Patienten, bei denen die Skalp-EEGs nicht lokalisierend waren, hatten 12 Patienten gut lokalisierende epidurale iktale EEGs und 3 multifokale oder bilateral unabhangige temporale iktale Aufzeichnungen. Die epiduralen Aufzeichnungen liefern bei ausgewahlten Patienten Informationen zur Bestimmung der Seite des Beginns von TemporallappenAnfallen.
Output privacy in data mining

Privacy has been identified as a vital requirement in designing and implementing data mining systems. In general, privacy preservation demands protecting both input and output privacy: the former refers to sanitizing the raw data itself before performing mining; while the latter refers to preventing the mining output (models or patterns) from malicious inference attacks. This article presents a systematic study on the problem of protecting output privacy in data mining, and particularly, stream mining: (i) we highlight the importance of this problem by showing that even sufficient protection of input privacy does not guarantee that of output privacy; (ii) we present a general inferencing and disclosure model that exploits the intrawindow and interwindow privacy breaches in stream mining output; (iii) we propose a light-weighted countermeasure that effectively eliminates these breaches without explicitly detecting them, while minimizing the loss of output accuracy; (iv) we further optimize the basic scheme by taking account of two types of semantic constraints, aiming at maximally preserving utility-related semantics while maintaining hard privacy guarantee; (v) finally, we conduct extensive experimental evaluation over both synthetic and real data to validate the efficacy of our approach.
Statistical atom: Some quantum improvements

The Thomas-Fermi model is improved by simultaneously introducing three different quantum corrections. The first concerns the nonlocality of quantum mechanics; we go beyond the von Weizs\"acker approach by including arbitrary powers of the gradient of the single-particle potential. The second is a special treatment of the strongly bound electrons, which removes the incorrect statistical description of the vicinity of the nucleus. In the third we generalize Dirac's way of handling the exchange interaction by, again, including gradient effects to arbitrary order. All this is done in the framework of a "potential-functional method" and results in a new differential equation for the potential. The comparison of numerical results with both experimental and Hartree-Fock data for the mean-squared distance indicates a superiority of the new statistical theory over the Hartree-Fock theory, at least for the description of the outer reaches of the atom.
Measurement of exercise tolerance on the treadmill in patients with symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis: a useful indicator of functional status and surgical outcome

A prospective study of patients with neurogenic claudication and lumbar spinal stenosis was undertaken to determine whether measurement of exercise tolerance on the treadmill would be useful in defining baseline functional status and response to surgical treatment. Twenty patients with an average age of 73 years, all of whom had intractable neurogenic claudication and radiographically confirmed severe lumbar spinal stenosis, were studied. Lumbar decompressive laminectomy was performed in all patients. Preoperatively and 2 months postoperatively, quantitative assessment of ambulation was conducted on a treadmill at 0 degree ramp incline at two different speeds: 1.2 mph and the patient's preferred walking speed. The following information was recorded: time to first symptoms, time to severe symptoms, and nature of symptoms (leg pain, back pain, or generalized fatigue). The examination was stopped after 15 minutes or at the onset of severe symptoms. In the preoperative 1.2-mph trial, the mean time to first symptoms was 2.68 minutes (median 1.31) and the mean time to severe symptoms was 5.47 minutes (median 3.42). In the postoperative trial at the same speed, 13 patients (65%) were able to walk symptom free for 15 minutes. The mean time to first symptoms was 11.12 minutes (median 15) and the mean time to severe symptoms was 11.81 minutes (median 15). Similar findings were recorded in the preferred walking-speed trials. There were no complications from the treadmill testing procedure. These findings indicate that exercise stress testing on a treadmill is a safe, easily administered, and quantifiable means of assessing baseline functional status and outcome following laminectomy in patients with symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis.
Ligand-dependent antagonism by retinoid X receptors of inhibitory thyroid hormone response elements.

The role of retinoid X receptors (RXRs) on negative thyroid hormone response elements (nTREs) is not well understood. In this report, we demonstrate that an orientation-specific monomeric thyroid hormone receptor (T3R) DNA-binding site mediates thyroid hormone inhibition in the thyrotropin β subunit gene (TSH-β) from human and murine species. Unlike positive TREs, addition of the ligand 9-cis retinoic acid (9-cis RA) to cells transfected with a T3R β1 expression vector significantly reduces thyroid hormone inhibition of the TSH-β gene, indicating that endogenous retinoid receptors antagonize T3R function. Cotransfection of an RXR-α but not a retinoic acid receptor-α expression vector further antagonizes thyroid hormone inhibition, but only in the presence of 9-cis RA. Antagonism by RXR requires both an intact DNA- and ligand-binding domain. Removal of monomeric T3R binding to the TSH-β nTRE also requires both RXR domains. A model is proposed whereby monomeric T3R is removed from a nTRE by RXR occupied by its ligand 9-cis RA. This is the first report of 9-cis RA-dependent antagonism of thyroid hormone inhibition via negative TREs.
Prosody and lexical accuracy in flat affect schizophrenia

To test the hypothesis that flat affect in schizophrenia involves a motor-expressive deficiency, but not an emotional deficiency, we compared the acoustic properties of speech that are used to express emotion with the emotional content of the words. DSM-III-R schizophrenic patients were divided into flat (N=20) and non-flat affect (N=26) groups on the basis of rating-scale scores. Twenty normal subjects also were included. Subjects were recorded on audio tape as they described a happy and a sad experience for about 10 min. The recordings were analyzed acoustically for fluency and for two types of prosody: inflection and emphasis. Words from transcriptions of the recordings were sorted by content analysis software into psychologically meaningful categories; we compared 'pleasure' and 'distress' word categories. Patients with flat affect spoke with less inflection, and were less fluent. However, they were similar to the other groups in the rate at which they used 'pleasure' words to describe happy experiences and 'distress' words to describe sad experiences. The behavioral deficiency in flat affect appears to be restricted to reduced activity in communicative motor channels. Other aspects of emotion processing seem intact.
Taxonomy of the coerulans Group of the Genus Chrysis in North America (Hymenoptera: Chrysididae)

Six Nearetic species of the coerulans group of the genus Chrysis are considered, with illustrations and a key for their separation. One new species, Chrysis parkeri , is described, and 2 new cases of synonymy are reported. The reliability of several taxonomic characters within the genus Chrysis is discussed.
Save the torn labrum in hips with borderline acetabular coverage.

Background Hip arthroscopy for labral tears improves short-term function, but reoperations occur in 5% to 47% of patients. The effect of borderline acetabular coverage on reoperation rate has been debated. Labral repair rather than debridement has been proposed to improve function, but the effect on reoperation rate is unclear.
The isothermal piezooptic coefficient and compressibility of some substituted benzenes and cyclic compounds

Abstract The isothermal piezooptic coefficient ( ∂n ∂p ) T of 13 aromatic compounds, of seven cyclic alkanes and alkenes, and of four other compounds has been measured interferometrically at 632.8 nm by centrifugation at two temperatures, 293.15 and 298.15 K. Isothermal compressibilities κT of these liquids were also measured by the ultracentrifugal method. The isotropic part of light scattered by the liquids was calculated, as was the density coefficient of polarizability. Linear relations were observed between ( ∂n ∂p ) T and κT within homologous series.
Lactic Acidosis After Resuscitation with Sodium Acetate

Background At our institution, we began using sodium acetate for resuscitation of trauma patients in 2005. Sodium acetate is used as an alternative to normal saline to help prevent hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis as well as to help buffer metabolic acidosis. Discussion Here we present a case of a 29-year-old trauma patient who began to have severe lactic acidosis after the infusion of sodium acetate. This is the first reported case of lactic acidosis caused by sodium acetate infusion. Up to this point, we have not experienced any adverse events and patients have tolerated sodium acetate well. Conclusion This unique case report presents the first case of lactic acidosis from sodium acetate infusion. The lactic acidosis seen in this patient reminds us of the complex regulation of pyruvate dehydrogenase and the potential for down regulation of the enzyme shunting substrates to formation of lactate.
From atomistics to the continuum: a mesh‐free quasicontinuum formulation based on local max‐ent approximation schemes

A novel quasicontinuum formulation based on mesh-free local maximum-entropy approximation schemes is presented, whose accuracy (compared to full atomistic simulations) is tunable and, in particular, can be designed superior to conventional affine approximation schemes. (© 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
An upper limit to the product of NO and O densities from 105 to 120 km

From the Ogo 6 horizon-scanning-photometer data a useful upper limit can be set to the radiance of nightglow in the O-NO afterglow continuum above 105 km. The upper limit is a factor of about 5 less than the product of observed NO densities and Jacchia (1971) O model densities.
Regulation of Backpropagating Action Potentials in Mitral Cell Lateral Dendrites by A-Type Potassium Currents

Dendrodendritic synapses, distributed along mitral cell lateral dendrites, provide powerful and extensive inhibition in the olfactory bulb. Activation of inhibition depends on effective penetration...
Design of Thermal Initial and Boundary Conditions to Control the Expansion of Water-Based Phase-Change Materials in Low Gravity

ABSTRACT A passive carrier employing water-based phase-change materials is designed to return temperature-critical payloads from the International Space Station. These materials expand by 9% when frozen, which can cause rupture of freezers and/or an inability to fit inside the carrier. To solve this problem a method is devised that decouples the thermodynamic and physical expansion characteristics. Solutions are found simultaneously to the two independent problems by coupling them through pressure. The final numerical models are used to devise a freezing method to ensure desirable final shapes. Finally, ground-based experiments are conducted, adding validity to the model and freezing method.