cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Incidence and Geographic Distribution of Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in the State of Georgia

Abstract 4309 We investigated an apparent increase in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) referral from north Georgia to Emory University Hospital, a tertiary care center located in Atlanta, Georgia. Cases reported between 1999 and 2008 to the Georgia Comprehensive Cancer Registry (GCCR) and the national Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) cancer registry were analyzed. Age-adjusted incidence rates were calculated for all counties and public health regions within the state of Georgia and compared to national rates calculated using SEER 17 data for those ages 20 and above. Cases of adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML) served as control for health referral patterns, completeness of data collection and healthcare availability. The associations between geographic residence and acute leukemia were analyzed using Poisson regression analysis, and additional models were created to control for the effects of race and ethnicity. The age-adjusted incidence rate of adult ALL (0.8/100,000) and AML (4.6/100,000) for the state of Georgia were comparable to the national rates (0.9/100,000 and 5.2/100,000 respectively). Overall, the rate of ALL observed in parts of the North Georgia region (1.1 (95% CI 0.8, 1.5) were similar when compared to the rest of the state; and not affected after adjusting for race. We conclude that the higher number of cases of ALL cases referred from North Georgia is likely related to a physician-related referral pattern rather than an increased incidence. Age-adjusted incidence rate of ALL by state and public health region and rate ratios comparing the rate of ALL within each region to the pooled rates demonstrated in all other Georgia public health regions. Rates are per 100,000 and age-adjusted to the 2000 US Std Population (19 age groups - Census P25–1130) standard; Confidence intervals (Tiwari mod) are 95% for rates. Disclosures: Waller:Outsuka: Research Funding.
Rethinking the Land: An Exhibition of Ulster Maps

The author curates a touring exhibition of Northern Ireland cartography, called Mapping Alternative Ulster. The project emerged from a dissatisfaction with how Northern Ireland is represented in ma...
A novel MERTK mutation causing retinitis pigmentosa

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a genetically heterogeneous inherited retinal dystrophy. To date, over 80 genes have been implicated in RP. However, the disease demonstrates significant locus and allelic heterogeneity not entirely captured by current testing platforms. The purpose of the present study was to characterize the underlying mutation in a patient with RP without a molecular diagnosis after initial genetic testing. Whole-exome sequencing of the affected proband was performed. Candidate gene mutations were selected based on adherence to expected genetic inheritance pattern and predicted pathogenicity. Sanger sequencing of MERTK was completed on the patient’s unaffected mother, affected brother, and unaffected sister to determine genetic phase. Eight sequence variants were identified in the proband in known RP-associated genes. Sequence analysis revealed that the proband was a compound heterozygote with two independent mutations in MERTK, a novel nonsense mutation (c.2179C > T) and a previously reported missense variant (c.2530C > T). The proband’s affected brother also had both mutations. Predicted phase was confirmed in unaffected family members. Our study identifies a novel nonsense mutation in MERTK in a family with RP and no prior molecular diagnosis. The present study also demonstrates the clinical value of exome sequencing in determining the genetic basis of Mendelian diseases when standard genetic testing is unsuccessful.
Effects of vesical and perfusion pressure on perfusate flow, and flow on vesical pressure, in the isolated perfused working pig bladder reveal a potential mechanism for the regulation of detrusor compliance

Aims Although there is evidence that deficits in bladder blood flow negatively impact bladder function, the effects of vesical, and perfusion pressures on bladder perfusion (perfusate flow), and of perfusate flow on vesical pressure, remain poorly understood. The present study used the isolated perfused working pig bladder model to examine the relationships between blood flow, and vesical and perfusion pressures. Methods Vesical arteries of pig bladders obtained from a local slaughterhouse were cannulated and perfused with Krebs-Henseleit solution at different pressures, and with carbachol to cause bladder contraction. The urethra of each bladder was cannulated to permit filling (10 mL/min), isovolumetric contraction and emptying. A ureter was cannulated with a pressure sensor to monitor vesical pressure. Results When at rest (50 mL vesical volume), bladder vesical pressure was 8.06 ± 1.5 mmHg and perfusate flow driven by a pressure gradient of 105 mmHg was 22.5 ± 2 mL/min (58.9 ± 7.8 mL/min-100 g). During filling, vesical pressure increased and flow decreased, but not necessarily in-parallel. Perfusate flow decreased transiently during isovolumetric contraction, and flow increased during emptying. A reduction in perfusion pressure from ∼105 to ∼40 mmHg reduced flow from ∼70 to ∼20 mL/min-100g, and reduced flow correlated with reduced vesical pressure. Conclusion Perfusate flow is dependent on bladder perfusion pressure, and not necessarily reciprocally dependent on vesical pressure. Vesical pressure is highly sensitive to the level of perfusate flow, which supports the hypothesis that vesical pressure is dependent on the level of detrusor smooth muscle contractile activity (tone), and that compliance is dependent on bladder perfusion.
Young children playing their way into intercultural understanding

Children’s life experiences can position their exploration of global cultural communities within early childhood classrooms. Some early childhood educators, however, are concerned that many young c...
Challenging the System? The Potential for Radical Politics in the Age of Ferguson

As a social movement continues to grow challenging the justice system that fails to prosecute and convict police officers use of deadly force, it is crucial to note what hegemonic constructs maintain the institutional power structures that continue to harm people of color. When police officers are acquitted when they inflict deadly harm on unarmed citizens the justice system is working to maintain the power structures that devalues Black lives. When hegemonic power structures perpetuate injustice it appears necessary to challenge and deconstruct the system as a whole. Do the protest movements choose to challenge hegemony or rather seek to conform to the ideals of the justice system? I ask this question utilizing a Cultural Studies framework putting Stuart Hall, Antonio Gramsci, and Slavoj Zizek in conversation with each other in order to illuminate how activism must contend with hegemony. Activist movements do not seek to radically dismantle hegemony, but work within it in ways that reform and redefine how the concept of justice can be present in the lived realities of communities of color.
Deep Mean Field Theory: Layerwise Variance and Width Variation as Methods to Control Gradient Explosion

A recent line of work has studied the statistical properties of neural networks to great success from a {\it mean field theory} perspective, making and verifying very precise predictions of neural network behavior and test time performance. In this paper, we build upon these works to explore two methods for taming the behaviors of random residual networks (with only fully connected layers and no batchnorm). The first method is {\it width variation (WV)}, i.e. varying the widths of layers as a function of depth. We show that width decay reduces gradient explosion without affecting the mean forward dynamics of the random network. The second method is {\it variance variation (VV)}, i.e. changing the initialization variances of weights and biases over depth. We show VV, used appropriately, can reduce gradient explosion of tanh and ReLU resnets from $\exp(\Theta(\sqrt L))$ and $\exp(\Theta(L))$ respectively to constant $\Theta(1)$. A complete phase-diagram is derived for how variance decay affects different dynamics, such as those of gradient and activation norms. In particular, we show the existence of many phase transitions where these dynamics switch between exponential, polynomial, logarithmic, and even constant behaviors. Using the obtained mean field theory, we are able to track surprisingly well how VV at initialization time affects training and test time performance on MNIST after a set number of epochs: the level sets of test/train set accuracies coincide with the level sets of the expectations of certain gradient norms or of metric expressivity (as defined in \cite{yang_meanfield_2017}), a measure of expansion in a random neural network. Based on insights from past works in deep mean field theory and information geometry, we also provide a new perspective on the gradient explosion/vanishing problems: they lead to ill-conditioning of the Fisher information matrix, causing optimization troubles.
Precursor Additive Manufacturing Inventions

Most modern Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes were invented and commercialized in a short period of time spanning 1984–2000. This paper reports on AM processes invented in the 1974–1987 time period, known as precursor AM processes. The critical difference between the two periods is public knowledge and utilization of distributed computing.
Interviewing a Therapist in the Presence of a Couple: A Description of the Therapeutic Process

A therapy research team interviewed a therapist in the presence of a couple. Following each of six consecutive sessions with a couple, an interviewer posed questions to the therapist and couple. While one question was standard to each interview, other questions were generated by team members who tracked the entire process via live observation. These questions were directed first at the therapist, then at the couple, and then focused on therapeutic process and outcome. Findings of this process for the therapy system included decreasing the hierarchy within the client/therapist relationship; increasing the client ownership and energy in the therapy process; discovering the presence of parallel processes between the systems; and informing the direction of future therapy sessions. Practical, clinical implications are discussed for a variety of therapy settings.
Considerations of a Flutter Prediction Methodology Using a Combined Analytical-experimental Procedure

A non-destructive procedure enabling one to predict the flutter instability boundary from the data acquired in the subcritical flight speed regime is presented. The proposed technique combines an analytical approach with the experimental tests carried out in flight or in a wind tunnel. The expected outcomes of this study are: a) to reduce the risks of flying in the proximity of the flutter critical boundary, and b) to reduce significantly the amount of flight tests required in any flight clearance test program, that are both time consuming and costly.
Direct stochastic simulation of Ca2+ motion in Xenopus eggs.

The release of important intracellular ions has been widely modeled using two approaches, namely, (1) Fickian diffusion, in which sometimes tensorial diffusion coefficients are used to fit observed temporally varying concentrations of calcium, and (2) cellular automata, which produce a set of localized finite difference equations that result in complex global behavior. Here, we take a different approach, employing some assumed, a priori, distribution of ion-binding proteins in the cell, and some assumed biochemical capture and release characteristics to explain ionic motion, and ultimately, distribution. We study several scenarios for ion distribution, based on differences in binder action and distribution. The numbers and strengths of ion binders, spatial variation in inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate concentration, together with the escalating distribution of ionic diffusion speed, are found to be key factors leading to concavity in the ${\mathrm{Ca}}^{2+}$ wave shape. We also offer an explanation for geometrical effects on previously observed ion diffusion speeds in the cellular cortex of the Xenopus laevis egg during fertilization, based on an angle-of-view correction.
Managing campus entrepreneurship: Dynamic capabilities and university leadership

Much has been written about university–industry partnerships, but relatively little research has focused on the effects of such collaboration on conflict among university departments or on broader types of entrepreneurial behavior involving local, regional, and even global initiatives. This broader perspective, which we call “campus entrepreneurship,” offers more avenues for universities to establish a foundation for long‐term success at a time when public support for higher education appears to be in decline. The dynamic capabilities framework and leadership theory developed in the fields of strategic management and organizational behavior, respectively, are applied herein to provide guidance to university leaders seeking to embrace a comprehensive multifaceted entrepreneurial approach to campus priorities and activities.
THE EFFECT OF HEPATIC MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION ON GLUCONEOGENESIS IN HEMORRHAGIC SHOCK

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the effect of hepatic mitochondrial dysfunction on gluconeogenesis in hemorrhagic shock. Gluconeogenesis decreases in late hemorrhagic shocks, despite a favorable hormonal milieu. This decrease parallels both decreased oxygen consumption and a reduction in flavin and pyridine-linked nucleotides. In an experiment described in the chapter, paired, non-fasted, adult male guinea pigs were anesthetized with intraperitoneal sodium pentobarbitol. A carotid artery was cannulated in each, and one of the pairs was subject to hemorrhagic shock by graded withdrawal of 50% of the calculated blood volume. After 180 min of shock, the blood glucose as determined and a small portion of the liver was excised for glycogen determination. Uncoupled oxidative phosphorylation was associated with a significantly decreased ability to form phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP), whether exogenous ADP or ATP was used as an energy source. There was a significant correlation among all shock animals between the ability to synthesize PEP with ADP and the remaining hepatic glycogen content. The ability to continue glucose production by gluconeogenesis during hemorrhagic shock may preserve hepatic glycogen stores.
The Unethical Practice of Omitting Language in State Science Standards: Denying Students True Democratic Freedom

Climate change due to global warming is impacting the natural environment and humanity. Yet, legislators in states whose economies are in oil production, a major contributor of carbon dioxide emissions through the combustion of fossil fuels, continue to reject the evidence. Legislators go as far to say these findings are “hyperbole” and teaching such ideas would influence young students to a one sided argument. Legislators, through bills and resolutions rejecting such language in state science academic standards, deny students access to equitable science education opportunities. I submit this denial is unethical. It denies students opportunities to analyze and develop solutions to a problem that jeopardizes their future and generations to come. I use the frameworks of Karl Marx and Antonio Gramsci to identify the underlying causes of this problem. Understanding the underlying causes of the problem provides educators with a clearer vision of our responsibilities to act in providing equitable science education for our students.
Shifting a training clinic to teletherapy during the COVID-19 pandemic: a trainee perspective

The COVID-19 pandemic has led many counselors and therapists to transition from in-person therapy to teletherapy services. Doctoral trainees in their first year of training, faculty, and staff at t...
Using Data Analytics to Optimize Public Transportation on a College Campus

Using a large volume of bus data in the form of GPS coordinates (over 100 million data points) and automated passenger count data (over 1 million data points) we have developed (1) a system of analysis and prediction of future public transportation demand (2) a new model that uses concepts specific to college campuses that maximizes passenger satisfaction. Using these concepts, we improve service of a model college public transportation service and more specifically the Indiana University Campus Bus Service (IUCBS) by decreasing overall fuel usage by nearly 20% while increasing passenger participation by 15%. The scheduler, which forms the nexus of the system, is generated with a modified simulated annealing algorithm using the entire class schedule for the entire campus of all students, then measured against previous traffic data to select a near optimal new schedule.
Disposable versus reusable medical gowns: A performance comparison.

Abstract Background Medical gowns are essential personal protective equipment (PPE) that prevents the spread of microorganisms and bodily fluids. During surge capacity situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, reusable PPE is often recommended due to shortages. Methods This research evaluated the performance of disposable versus reusable medical gowns by assessing their ability to provide adequate protection across their expected service lifespan. Level I, II, and III gowns were tested for water resistance and hydrostatic pressure, along with other durability assessments (breaking, tear, and seam strength, pilling resistance, dimensional stability, and air permeability, colorfastness, and fabric hand) per standard test methods. Data were collected at new for the disposable gowns and after 1, 25, 50, and 75 industrial launderings for the reusable gowns. Results were compared to the Association of the Advancement Instrumentation® (AAMI) PB70 performance specifications. Results Level I and II disposable gowns did not meet AAMI performance specifications for impact penetration water resistance. All 3 levels of disposable gowns also failed to meet the American Society for Testing and Materials performance requirements for breaking strength in the crosswise direction. Conclusions The adoption of reusable gowns may result in increased protection and significant cost savings due to their superior durability and sustainability when compared to disposable gowns.
Unveiling cosmic X-ray/gamma-ray sources from their scattering screen

This Commentary discusses the widespread impact of the milestone 1980 paper by Sunyaev and Titarchuk on Comptonization and points out a new possible application to the temporal broadening of the most distant Gamma Ray Bursts.
Fast Food and Fatness in Popular Media: Interrogating the Link

Fast food sits at the nexus of a number of complex cultural issues within foodways, including meat consumption, industrial food production, labour relations, globalization and ideas of health. Within critiques of fast food, one common assumption is that there is a causal link between consuming fast food and being “overweight” or “obese”. Fast food thus becomes a prime target for those concerned about the so-called global obesity epidemic. Because this link appears to be obvious, media often rely on easy visual and verbal logics to tell their stories, eliding more complex relations between foodways and bodies. This article examines some well-known examples, including popular documentaries Samsara and Super Size Me, as well as news articles about contemporary India, all of which operate under the assumption that fast food and fat are directly linked. Ultimately, the article argues the construction of this link indicates larger cultural anxieties about globalization and modernity rather than an in-depth understanding of metabolism. In this context, interrogating this link becomes essential to deconstruct the cultural anxieties underpinning fat-phobic responses to larger bodies across cultures.
A Conceptual Framework for a Mindfulness Intervention

A significant number of students reside in high stress, high risk, and under-resourced communities in the USA. Social and cultural factors are often reported to contribute to low educational outcomes in distressed communities. However, students attending under-resourced schools demonstrate a great deal of positive traits that are conducive to high academic achievement. For those students from challenging backgrounds, a constellation of traits contributes to academic success. Grouped together, they come under the term resilience. How is resilience impacted by values education? What specific components of Sathya Sai Education in Human Values (SSEHV) are most effective in helping students become better students? What role does a conceptual theory play in replicating the effects of SSEHV? After providing evidence for a sound theoretical framework, we seek to answer these questions using an illustrative form of a knowledge case study.
Environmental factors associated with silver carp presence and relative abundance near an invasion front to inform removal efforts

Management of invasive fishes has relied heavily upon understanding their spatial distributions and habitat use at fine spatial scales to guide treatments and removals. In the USA, targeted removal is used in management of bigheaded carps (Hypophthalmichthys spp.) in the Mississippi River system to reduce invasion potential into the Laurentian Great Lakes from the upper Illinois Waterway. Our study tested factors linked to fine-scale spatial distributions of the most prevalent bigheaded carp species—silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix)—in the upper Illinois River to increase effectiveness of removal efforts. Bi-monthly mobile hydroacoustic sampling was conducted from 2017 to 2018 and paired with continuous environmental data collection in the two northern-most invaded reaches of the upper Illinois River. Model selection was used to describe habitat conditions associated with silver carp presence and density. Depth was the most consistent predictor of silver carp presence and density, with shallower depths consistently associated with higher abundance. During summer months, shallow areas in large backwater habitats with lower temperature and higher dissolved oxygen concentration held more silver carp. These results may help managers focus targeted removal efforts through time, increase harvest effectiveness, and reduce the potential for further invasion toward the Laurentian Great Lakes.
Computed Tomography-Derived Myosteatosis and Metabolic Disorders

The role of ectopic adipose tissue infiltration into skeletal muscle (i.e., myosteatosis) for metabolic disorders has received considerable and increasing attention in the last 10 years. The purpose of this review was to evaluate and summarize existing studies focusing on computed tomography (CT)-derived measures of myosteatosis and metabolic disorders. There is consistent evidence that CT-derived myosteatosis contributes to dysglycemia, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and inflammation, and, to some extent, dyslipidemia, independent of general obesity, visceral fat, and other relevant risk factors, suggesting that it may serve as a tool for metabolic risk prediction. Identification of which muscles should be examined, and the standardized CT protocols to be employed, are necessary to enhance the applicability of findings from epidemiologic studies of myosteatosis. Additional and longer longitudinal studies are necessary to confirm a role of myosteatosis in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus, and examine these associations in a variety of muscles across multiple race/ethnic populations. Given the emerging role of myosteatosis in metabolic health, well-designed intervention studies are needed to investigate relevant lifestyle and pharmaceutical approaches.
Laser chirping in inverse Compton sources at high electron beam energies and high laser intensities

The onset of nonlinear effects, such as ponderomotive broadening, increases the radiation bandwidth and thereby places a stringent limitation on the laser intensity used in inverse Compton sources. Recently, we have shown that a judicious longitudinal laser frequency modulation (``chirping'') can perfectly compensate for this ponderomotive broadening and restore the narrow band property of scattered radiation in the Thomson regime, when electron recoil during the collision with the laser can be neglected. Consequently, using QED, the laser chirping has been extended to the Compton regime, where electron recoil is properly accounted for. Here we present a new, semiclassical model for computation of scattered spectra in the Compton regime. We also derive a comprehensive generalization of the expressions for chirping prescription for linearly polarized laser pulses in 1D plane-wave approximation with arbitrary shapes and arbitrary scattering angle in the Compton regime. We use these new expressions to show that the higher-order harmonics in sources with high laser fields and high electron beam energies (nonlinear Compton regime) will be nonlinearly redshifted when compared to those with lower beam energies (Thomson regime). The chirping prescription will act to correct ponderomotive broadening in very high harmonics.
Supersonic cavity flow with a downstream-sliding door

A rectangular cavity with a novel downstream-sliding door was constructed in order to analyze and compare the evolution of resonance through quasi-static and dynamic door openings. Pressure data from quasi-static opening (fixed door positions) demonstrated a transition from purely acoustic resonance when nearly closed to Rossiter-type resonance when nearly open. Two complex, intermediary states were observed on either side of 50% open. The spatial distributions of resonance were qualitatively consistent with door position, suggesting that they are the product of an acoustic standing wave phenomenon. For dynamic opening, door opening times of less than 100 freestream convective times were achieved, displaying an unsteady process. A standard deviation threshold definition was applied to define resonance startup delay, and nine dynamic openings showed that resonance startup occurred prior to the door reaching its fully open position. The average resonance startup delay and door position at startup were 46 freestream convective times and 63% open, respectively.
Prolonged neonatal-onset hyperinsulinism in the absence of predisposing factors

This patient series reports on prolonged hyperinsulinism in four newborn infants without characteristic perinatal risk factors. The condition presented with asymptomatic hypoglycemia soon after birth and was accompanied by inappropriately elevated plasma insulin levels and suppressed ketogenesis and lipolysis. Glucose infusion rates between 11 and 20 mg/kg/min were necessary for correction of hypoglycemia. Sustained euglycemia could be achieved only after starting diazoxide. In all infants, diazoxide could be weaned off within weeks without the recurrence of hypoglycemia. This case series illustrates the varied perinatal history and clinical course of prolonged neonatal-onset hyperinsulinism and highlights the importance of considering this condition in infants without typical predisposing factors.
Abstract 15876: The Safety of Transesophageal Echocardiography in Patients With Gastroesophageal Varices

Introduction: The presence of gastroesophageal varices (GEV) is considered a relative contraindication to performing Trans esophageal echocardiography (TEE) however; the safety of TEE in patients with GEV is unknown. Hypothesis: Bleeding complications related to TEE in patients with GEV are dependent on the severity of the GEV. Methods: 55 patients (G1) with GEV undergoing clinically indicated TEE were studied. Each patient was matched by age and gender to a control subject (C). GEV were graded using esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD). There were 39 males and 16 females in either group. Complications related to TEE were defined as upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleed, decline in hemoglobin by more than 2 g/dl, esophageal perforation, aspiration, respiratory compromise requiring intubation and/or need for sedative reversal agents that occurred within 48 hours of the procedure. Results: In G1 grade 1, grade 2, and grade 3 GEV were present in 21, 24, and 12 patients, respectively. Of the 12 patients with grade 3 GEV, one patient had GI bleed. TEE findings included vegetation in 8 patients of G1 and in — patients of C and thrombus in 3 patients of G1 and 3 patients of C. Conclusions: TEE appears safe in patient with grade 1 or 2 GEV. However, caution should be advised when performing TEE in patients with grade 3 GEV. TEE showed significant findings of vegetation or thromus in at least 20% of the patients with GEV.
Defect design of insulation systems for photovoltaic modules

A defect-design approach to sizing electrical insulation systems for terrestrial photovoltaic modules is presented. It consists of gathering voltage-breakdown statistics on various thicknesses of candidate insulation films where, for a designated voltage, module failure probabilities for enumerated thickness and number-of-layer film combinations are calculated. Cost analysis then selects the most economical insulation system. A manufacturing yield problem is solved to exemplify the technique. Results for unaged Mylar suggest using fewer layers of thicker films. Defect design incorporates effects of flaws in optimal insulation system selection, and obviates choosing a tolerable failure rate, since the optimization process accomplishes that. Exposure to weathering and voltage stress reduces the voltage-withstanding capability of module insulation films. Defect design, applied to aged polyester films, promises to yield reliable, cost-optimal insulation systems.
Dependency networks for inference, collaborative filtering, and data visualization

We describe a graphical model for probabilistic relationships--an alternative to the Bayesian network--called a dependency network. The graph of a dependency network, unlike a Bayesian network, is potentially cyclic. The probability component of a dependency network, like a Bayesian network, is a set of conditional distributions, one for each node given its parents. We identify several basic properties of this representation and describe a computationally efficient procedure for learning the graph and probability components from data. We describe the application of this representation to probabilistic inference, collaborative filtering (the task of predicting preferences), and the visualization of acausal predictive relationships.
A pilot study of team learning on in-patient rounds.

SummaryBackground Medical trainees often do not receive structured teaching during in-patient rounds. Objective To assess whether the addition of a collaborative team learning technique would improve the learning experience on a general medicine in-patient team. Methods Eight learners participated in this pilot study. Learning teams consisted of internal medicine residents and third-year medical students on a general medicine in-patient rotation. The experimental curriculum covered four common topics: cardiac stress testing; syncope; pneumonia; and valvular heart disease. Sessions had the following format: (1) each learner answered five self-assessment questions using an immediate feedback technique; (2) learners were divided into groups of two or three to discuss their answers; (3) the teaching doctor led a discussion to clarify and summarise, and also distributed a handout delineating key learning points. Control sessions consisted of the usual teaching rounds. Learners were e-mailed a daily online survey asking them to rate the rounds and handouts on a Likert scale. Medical trainees often do not receive structured teaching during in-patient rounds Results All of the learners rated the collaborative team learning intervention as either ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’. Learners also indicated that they found the take-away handout valuable, and positive responses were also noted in the survey comments. Discussion A novel collaborative team learning technique resulted in high ratings of teaching rounds by medical residents and medical students. Learners found the sessions engaging, high yield, and educationally valuable. This interactive discussion-based teaching method could be used to enhance the learning experience during teaching rounds on medical, surgical and subspecialty services.
Weaving a Web Within the Web: Corporate Consolidation of the Web, 1999–2008

Scholars have repeatedly debated whether the Web serves as an alternative to traditional media consolidation. To explore this issue further, the author examines Web site ownership trends over a 10-year period, finding evidence of ownership consolidation among popular Web properties. In addition, the author finds that traditional media corporations have consolidated their influence over the Web. In the end, the author suggests that the Web does not serve as an alternative to media consolidation.
Expression of Scl in mesoderm rescues hematopoiesis in the absence of Oct-4

In embryonic stem cells, Oct-4 concentration is critical in determining the development of endoderm, mesoderm, and trophectoderm. Although Oct-4 expression is essential for mesoderm development, it is unclear whether it has a role in the development of specific mesodermal tissues. In this study, we have examined the importance of Oct-4 in the generation of hematopoietic cells using an inducible Oct-4 ESC line. We demonstrate that Oct-4 has a role in supporting hematopoiesis after specifying brachyury-positive mesoderm. When we suppressed Oct-4 expression before or after mesoderm specification, no hematopoietic cells are detected. However, hematopoiesis can be rescued in the absence of Oct-4 after mesoderm specification if the essential hematopoietic transcription factor stem cell leukemia is expressed. Our results suggest that, for hematopoiesis to occur, Oct-4 is required for the initial specification of mesoderm and subsequently is required for the development of hematopoietic cells from uncommitted mesoderm.
Relations between compliances of inhomogeneities having the same shape but different elastic constants

Abstract The contributions of inhomogeneities having the same shape but different elastic constants, to the overall elastic properties are interrelated. The utility of these relations lies, in particular, in the possibility to extend available results for pores or rigid inclusions to inhomogeneities of arbitrary elastic properties. The relations are exact for ellipsoids and approximate for non-ellipsoidal shapes. The constructed approximation also constitutes approximate connection between the first Eshelby’s problem (the eigenstrain problem) and the second one (the inhomogeneity problem), for non-ellipsoidal shapes. It also yields approximate formulas for the contribution of a non-ellipsoidal inhomogeneity to effective elastic properties.
Nitric oxide controls cardiac substrate utilization in the conscious dog

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine whether the acute inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) synthase causes changes in cardiac substrate utilization which can be reversed by a NO donor. Methods: NO synthase was blocked by giving 30 mg/kg of nitro-l-arginine (NLA) i.v. to 15 chronically instrumented dogs. Hemodynamics and blood samples from aorta and coronary sinus were taken at control and at 1 and 2 h after NLA. In five dogs, 0.4 mg/kg of the NO donor 3754 was given i.v. 1 h after NLA. In six dogs, angiotensin II was infused over 2 h (20–40 ng/kg/min) to mimic the hemodynamic effects of NLA. Results: Two h after NLA: mean arterial pressure was 153±4 mmHg; MVO2 increased by 38%; cardiac uptake of lactate and glucose increased, respectively, from 20.0±5.0 to 41.0±9.3 μmol/min and from 1.1±0.7 to 6.8±1.5 mg/min (all P <0.05 vs. control). Cardiac uptake of free fatty acids decreased by 43% after 1 h ( P <0.05) and returned to control values at 2 h. Cardiac respiratory quotient increased from 0.76±0.03 to 1.05±0.07, indicating a shift to carbohydrate oxidation. All these changes were reversed by the NO donor. In the dogs receiving angiotensin II infusion, MVO2 increased by 28% and lactate uptake doubled (both P <0.05), but no other metabolic changes where observed. Conclusions: The acute inhibition of NO synthase by NLA causes a switch from fatty acids to lactate and glucose utilization by the heart which can be reversed by a NO donor, suggesting an important regulatory action of NO on cardiac metabolism.
Chlorpromazine effects on brain activity (contingent negative variation) and reaction time in normal women.

Electrical brain activity (contingent negative variation or CNV) and psychomotor behavior (reaction time or RT) were measured after 50 mg of chlorpromazine (CPZ) or placebo were given orally to 28 normal women. CPZ reduced CNV 2 and 3 hrs post-drug and slowed RT 3 hrs post-drug. CNV amplitude appears to be an accurate indicator of drug-produced changes in alertness.
Does Mandatory Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards Decrease the Voting Premium for Dual-Class Shares?

ABSTRACT : I examine whether voting premiums are reduced following mandatory International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption for firms that have a dual-class share structure. I find that mandatory adopters' voting premiums decrease, on average, by 8 percent subsequent to mandatory IFRS adoption. This effect is statistically significant relative to the corresponding effect for non-IFRS adopters. Further, I find that this effect is more pronounced in countries with strong legal enforcement and for mandatory adopters that experience an increase in the transparency and comparability of reported information under the new accounting regime. Taken together, these results support the view that mandatory IFRS adoption benefits minority shareholders by providing an effective mechanism to constrain the private benefits of control. However, one should interpret these results with caution as concurrent efforts to strengthen corporate governance regimes and the enforcement of corporate and securities laws ...
Air Travel and Cardiovascular Disease

J Travel Med 2004; 11:243–250. Almost two billion passengers undertake international and domestic air travel each year.1,2 As the population ages and our ability to care for patients with cardiac disease improves, an increasing number of people with cardiovascular disease will be traveling long distances.Many such travelers have had pacemakers or automatic defibrillators implanted,have had recent revascularization,or have had surgery which might predispose to deep venous thrombosis (DVT). Recent data drawn from several major US carriers between 1996 and 1997 show 15 deaths among approximately 1.4 million passengers.3 Cardiac events account for the greatest percentage of flight diversions and appear to represent the major cause of in-flight death.3,4 As more patients with severe cardiovascular disease travel, on-board cardiac events might be expected to increase. A general overview with contraindications to air travel and recommendations for the patient with cardiovascular disease is presented in Tables 1 and 2. We will review the pathophysiology and delineate the risk for patients with cardiovascular disease of sudden death, DVT, and ischemia/infarction when they travel by air. On 12 June 2001,the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a final ruling mandating that passengercarrying aircraft of more than 7,500-lb maximum payload capacity with at least one flight attendant carry at least one automated external defibrillator (AED) and an enhanced emergency medical kit (Table 3).All flight attendants will be required to receive initial and recurrent training on AED usage and in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The rule becomes effective on 12 April 2004. Page et al. extrapolated from the data accumulated regarding AED use by one major US airline, and suggested that the widespread availability of AEDs on commercial airlines might prevent up to 93 in-flight deaths from ventricular fibrillation each year worldwide.5 Longterm survival rates in such patients range from 26% to 40%,which compares favorably with the 2% to 5% longterm survival rates often quoted for out-of-hospital arrests.6,7
InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor and RF power amplifier reliability

Abstract Electrothermal stress on advanced InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) was carried out experimentally. It showed a long-term stress-induced base current instability and a decrease in the DC current gain. A class-AB RF power amplifier (PA) was also considered to study the stress effect on the amplifier’s RF performance. The SPICE Gummel–Poon (SGP) model parameters were extracted from the pre- and post-stress HBT data and used in Cadence SpectreRF simulation. The amplifier’s post-stress RF characteristics, such as the output power and power-added efficiency (PAE), remained almost unchanged even though the post-stress HBT’s DC current gain had dropped to 73.6% of its initial value.
Persistence of a Markovian population in a patchy environment

An infinite system of Markov chains is used to describe population development in an interconnected system of local populations. The model can also be viewed as an inhomogeneous Markov chain where the temporal inhomogeneity is a function of the mean of the process. Conditions for population persistence, in the sense of stochastic boundedness, are found.
Cleavage furrow establishment by the moving mitotic apparatus

The midpoint of the mitotic apparatus is fixed in the future division plane long before the division mechanism develops, and this static relationship has been considered essential in speculations concerning division mechanism establishment. The purpose of the present investigation was to determine whether prevention of the static relationship affects the establishment process. Sand dollar eggs were reshaped into cylinders by confinement in an elastic capillary tube and, beginning about 20 min before cleavage, the mitotic apparatus was kept in reciprocal motion by alternately compressing the poles. When the movement was continuous and the excursions were 25, 50 or 75 μm, furrow activity developed near the midpoint of the region underlain by the mitotic apparatus. The acuteness of the furrow decreased as the distance the mitotic apparatus was moved increased. When the movement was made discontinuous by allowing the mitotic apparatus to pause at the end of each excursion, the results depended upon the duration of the pause. Pauses 30 s long resulted in a single furrow formed in the midpoint of the entire region underlain by the mitotic apparatus. When the pauses were 45s long, furrowing activity developed in both regions where the mitotic apparatus was allowed to pause. The results indicated that the normal static relation between the mitotic apparatus midpoint and the division plane is unnecessary for division mechanism establishment. They also demonstrate that a restricted region of contractile activity can be established in the cortex despite experimentally induced spreading and dilution of mitotic apparatus effect.
Health and GIS: Toward Spatial Statistical Analyses

This study examined the extent to which health studies, mostly in public health and epidemiology, used geographical information systems (GIS). We identified a wide range of tools they used—ranging from geocoding through simple buffer/overlay functions to spatial query functions. However, studies tend to rely on tools outside of GIS for spatial statistical analyses. This may reflect a lack of spatial statistical tools that are suitable for health researchers whose data are rather geographically aggregated count data than continuous data. Implementation within GIS of spatial analytical tools suitable for aggregated data over a region will increase the use of GIS beyond simple GIS operations in health studies.
Evidence for the interaction of imatinib at the transport-substrate site(s) of the multidrug-resistance-linked ABC drug transporters ABCB1 (P-glycoprotein) and ABCG2.

Evidence for the interaction of imatinib at the transport-substrate site(s) of the multidrug-resistance-linked ABC drug transporters ABCB1 (P-glycoprotein) and ABCG2
Metastatic breast cancer cells suppress osteoblast adhesion and differentiation.

Bone is a primary target for colonization of metastatic breast cancer cells. Once present, the breast cancer cells activate osteoclasts, thereby stimulating bone loss. Bone degradation is accompanied by pain and increased susceptibility to fractures. However, targeted inhibition of osteoclasts does not completely prevent lesion progression, nor does it heal the lesions. This suggests that breast cancer cells may also affect osteoblasts, cells that build bone. The focus of this study was to determine the ability of breast cancer cells to alter osteoblast function. MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts were cultured with conditioned medium from MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells and subsequently assayed for changes in differentiation. Osteoblast differentiation was monitored by expression of osteocalcin, bone sialoprotein and alkaline phosphatase, and by mineralization. Osteoblasts cultured with MDA-MB-231 conditioned medium did not express these mature bone proteins, nor did they mineralize a matrix. Inhibition of osteoblast differentiation was found to be due to transforming growth factor β present in MDA-MB-231 conditioned medium. Interestingly, breast cancer conditioned medium also altered cell adhesion. When osteoblasts were assayed for adhesion properties using interference reflection microscopy and scanning acoustic microscopy, there was a reduction in focal adhesion plaques and sites of detachment were clearly visible. F-actin was disassembled and punctate in osteoblasts cultured with MDA-MB-231 conditioned medium rather than organized in long stress fibers. Taken together, these observations suggest that metastatic breast cancer cells alter osteoblast adhesion and prevent differentiation. These affects could account for the continued loss of bone after osteoclast inhibition in patients with bone-metastatic breast cancer.
Using hedgerows as model linkages to examine non-native plant patterns

Abstract Non-native plant distribution and community composition, along with an array of environmental factors, were examined in 31 hedgerows, an archetypal class of conservation linkage, in the northern part of California's Central Valley. Row crop, orchard, and vineyard agriculture dominate this area, and hedgerows have been popular for well over a decade. Seven groups of explanatory data (environmental, historical, landscape, management, spatial, structural, and biological) were used to determine the strongest correlates of spatially-explicit patterns of non-native plants within and immediately surrounding hedgerows. In 15 hedgerows, a field experiment tested the effect of degree of shading on non-native plant diversity and cover. The results of this project showed that: (1) Hedgerows harbored a flora of non-native plants richer than the surrounding matrix and that invasion was spatially structured. (2) Edges were more invaded than interiors in terms of both non-native richness and percent cover. (3) Differences between edges and interiors were likely due to shade. (4) Community-level patterns were most strongly correlated with the environmental, historical, structural and/or landscape explanatory variables. (5) Matrix types affected the non-native plant community in different ways, and the direction of those relationships was influenced by plant dispersal mode. This research revealed that hedgerows can function as barriers to plant invasion if managed appropriately. Results supported the idea that these features may function as invasion conduits but perhaps not as major sources for invasion into agricultural fields. Specific recommendations are made regarding key factors (management, site, and species characteristics) influencing invasion, with particular emphasis on the role of shade, matrix characteristics, and plant dispersal mode.