cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Assessing the effects of lymphadenectomy and radiation therapy in patients with uterine carcinosarcoma: a SEER analysis.

Abstract Objective The purpose of this analysis is to determine the pathologic prognostic factors and treatment outcome of patients with carcinosarcoma of the uterus. Methods A retrospective analysis of data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program of the National Cancer Institute between January 1, 1988 and November 1, 2003 was conducted. A total of 1855 with AJCC Stages I–III disease were identified who received primary surgical treatment. Overall survival curves were constructed using Kaplan–Meier curves. Cox proportional hazards model was used to identify factors predictive of overall survival. Results AJCC stage of all patients was as follows: 65% Stage I ( n =1099), 14% Stage II ( n =245), 21% Stage III ( n =353). 57% ( n =965) patients underwent LND. The median number of lymph nodes removed was 12 (SD=10.2); 119 (14%) patients had positive lymph nodes. Five-year overall survival (OS), disease free survival, and median survival were significantly improved for patients receiving lymph node dissection (LND) as compared to patients that received no LND, irrespective of radiotherapy. Adjuvant radiation therapy had no improvement on overall survival regardless of LND. There was no overall survival benefit to the addition of radiotherapy regardless of whether patients underwent a lymph node dissection or not. Age, race, marital status, lymph node dissection and stage were predictive of survival on multivariate analysis. Conclusions Lymphadenectomy is significantly associated with improved overall survival in patients with Stage I–III uterine carcinosarcoma compared to no lymphadenectomy. The use of adjuvant radiotherapy conferred no overall survival benefit.
Multiple symbol detection for differential unitary space-time modulation using a stack algorithm

This paper presents a stack algorithm approach as a fast optimization for multiple-symbol detection of differential unitary space-time modulation. The proposed algorithm has low complexity and is optimal, that is, it is equivalent to maximum-likelihood detection. At high SNR, given a signal constellation of size L with N detected symbols, simulations show that the proposed stack algorithm reduces the complexity required to maximize the decision metric from O(LNN2) to O(LN2).
Computer-assisted de-identification of free text in the MIMIC II database

Medical researchers are legally required to protect patients' privacy by removing personally identifiable information from medical records before sharing the data with other researchers. We present an evaluation of methods for computer-assisted removal and replacement of protected health information (PHI) from free-text nursing notes collected in the intensive care unit as part of the MIMIC II project. A semiautomated method was developed to allow clinicians to highlight PHI on the screen of a tablet PC and to compare and combine the selections of different experts reading the same notes. An analysis of the performance of three human expert de-identifiers and of an automated system is presented. Expert adjudication demonstrated that inter-human variability was high, with few false positives and many false negatives. The sensitivity of human experts working alone ranged from 0.63 to 0.93, with an average of 0.81, and the average positive predictive value was 0.98. An algorithm generated few false negatives but many false positives. Its sensitivity was 0.85, but its positive predictive value was only 0.37. The de-identified database of nursing notes was re-identified with realistic surrogate (but unprotected) dates, serial numbers, names, and phrases to provide a gold standard database of over 2600 notes (approximately 340,000 words) with over 1700 instances of PHI. This reference gold standard database of nursing notes and the Java source code used to evaluate algorithm performance will be made freely available on Physionet in order to facilitate the development and validation of future de-identification algorithms.
Stretching the limits of clock-gating efficiency in server-class processors

Clock-gating has been introduced as the primary means of dynamic power management in recent high-end commercial microprocessors. The temperature drop resulting from active power reduction can result in additional leakage power savings in future processors. In this paper we first examine the realistic benefits and limits of clock-gating in current generation high-performance processors (e.g. of the POWER4/spl trade/ or POWER5/spl trade/ class). We then look beyond classical clock-gating: we examine additional opportunities to avoid unnecessary clocking in real workload executions. In particular, we examine the power reduction benefits of a couple of newly invented schemes called transparent pipeline clock-gating and elastic pipeline clock-gating. Based on our experiences with current designs, we try to bound the practical limits of clock gating efficiency in future microprocessors.
Exotic containers for capillary surfaces

This paper discusses 'exotic' rotationally symmetric containers that admit an entire continuum of distinct equilibrium capillary free surfaces. The paper extends earlier work to a larger class of parameters and clarifies and simplifies the governing differential equations, while expressing them in a parametric form appropriate for numerical integration. A unified presentation suitable for both zero and nonzero gravity is given. Solutions for the container shapes are depicted graphically along with members of the free-surface continuum, and comments are given concerning possible physical experiments.
A Randomized Multicenter Trial of Paricalcitol versus Calcitriol for Secondary Hyperparathyroidism in Stages 3–4 CKD

Background and objectives Calcitriol is used to treat secondary hyperparathyroidism in patients with CKD. Paricalcitol is less calcemic and phosphatemic in preclinical studies and in some trials in dialysis patients, but head-to-head comparisons in nondialysis patients are lacking. A large meta-analysis of trials concluded that these agents did not consistently reduce parathyroid hormone (PTH) and increased the risk of hypercalcemia and hyperphosphatemia. Therefore, the objective of this multicenter trial was to compare the rate of hypercalcemia between calcitriol and paricalcitol, while suppressing PTH 40%–60%. Design, setting, participants, & measurements Patients with stages 3–4 CKD ( n =110) with a PTH level >120 pg/ml were recruited and randomized to 0.25 μ g/d of calcitriol or 1 μ g/d of paricalcitol between April 2009 and July 2011. Subsequent dose adjustments were by protocol to achieve 40%–60% PTH suppression below baseline. The primary endpoint was the rate of confirmed hypercalcemia of >10.5 mg/dl between groups. Results Forty-five patients in each group completed the 24 weeks of treatment. Both agents suppressed PTH effectively (−52% with paricalcitol and −46% with calcitriol; P =0.17), although the paricalcitol group reached a 40% reduction in PTH sooner at a median 8 weeks (interquartile range [IQR], 4, 12) versus 12 weeks (IQR, 8, 18; P =0.02) and had a lower pill burden of 240 (IQR, 180, 298) versus 292 (IQR, 231, 405; P =0.01). Confirmed hypercalcemia was very low in both groups (three with paricalcitol and one with calcitriol) and was not significantly different ( P =0.36). Both groups had small increases in calcium and phosphorus levels (0.3–0.4 mg/dl in each electrolyte) and significant decreases in alkaline phosphatase, a marker of high bone turnover, with no significant differences between groups. Conclusions These results show that both calcitriol and paricalcitol achieved sustained PTH and alkaline phosphatase suppression in stages 3–4 CKD, with small effects on serum calcium and phosphorus and a low incidence of hypercalcemia.
The Ecology of Nest Movement in Social Insects

Social insect colonies are typically mobile entities, moving nests from one location to another throughout the life of a colony. The majority of social insect species-ants, bees, wasps, and termites-have likely adopted the habit of relocating nests periodically. The syndromes of nest relocation include legionary nomadism, unstable nesting, intrinsic nest relocation, and adventitious nest relocation. The emergence of nest movement is a functional response to a broad range of potential selective forces, including colony growth, competition, foraging efficiency, microclimate, nest deterioration, nest quality, parasitism, predation, and seasonality. Considering the great taxonomic and geographic distribution of nest movements, assumptions regarding the nesting biology of social insects should be reevaluated, including our understanding of population genetics, life-history evolution, and the role of competition in structuring communities.
High-risk Infants The Need for Nursing Follow-up

The goal of perinatal care can no longer focus only on the medical management of mother and infant, but instead must take a more global approach and focus on the entire family. One aspect of family care is to provide comprehensive nursing follow-up to the high-risk family at the time of the mother's and infant's discharge. To meet this need, a program was developed to educate all interested community nurses to the specific needs of the high-risk family. Evaluation indicates that the program helped nurses to provide consistent comprehensive care to these families, who were very grateful for home visits by a community nurse.
The effect of corticosteroid injection on aldosterone secretion.

THE isolation of aldosterone from adrenal extracts (Simpson and coworkers, 1953; Mattox and Mason, 1953; Knauff, Nielson and Haines, 1953) and the demonstration of its presence in the adrenal effluent (Simpson, Tait and Bush, 1952; Farrell and co-workers, 1953, 1954) have aroused interest as to its role in normal physiology and the factors which regulate its secretion. Much is known as to its biological activity (Swingle and coworkers, 1954; Gaunt and co-workers, 1954; Gross and Gysel, 1954). The urinary content of the steriod has been the subject of considerable study and has been found to be altered in a variety of pathological conditions (Singer and Venning, 1953; Singer and Wener, 1953; Luetscher and Johnson, 1954; Luetscher, Neher and Wettstein, 1954; Cope and Garcia-Llaurado, 1954; Gordon and co-workers, 1954; Axelrad and co-workers, 1955; Neher and Wettstein, 1955). Although these studies suggest a role for aldosterone in disease states, the definitive physiological mechanism which regulates the ra...
The topological Vaught's conjecture and minimal counterexamples

Let G be a Polish topological group, let X be a Polish space, let J : G × X → X be a Borel-measurable action of G on X , and let A ⊂ X be a Borel set which is invariant with respect to J , i.e., a Borel set of orbits. The following statement, or various equivalent versions of it, is known as the Topological Vaught's Conjecture . Let ( G, X, J, A ) be as above. Either A contains only countably many orbits, or else, A contains perfectly many orbits. We say that A contains perfectly many orbits if there is a perfect set P ⊂ A such that no two elements of P are in the same orbit. (Assuming ¬ CH , A contains perfectly many orbits iff it contains 2 ℵ0 orbits.) The Topological Vaught's Conjecture implies the usual, model theoretic, Vaught's Conjecture for L ω 1 ω , since the isomorphism classes are the orbits of an action of the group of permutations of ω ; we give details in §0. The “Borel” assumption cannot be weakened for either A or J . Given a Borel-measurable Polish action ( G,X,J ) and an invariant Borel set B ⊂ X , we say that B is a minimal counterexample if ( G,X,J,B ) is a counterexample to the Topological Vaught's Conjecture and for every invariant Borel C ⊂ B , either C or B \ C contains only countably many orbits. This paper is concerned with counterexamples to the Topological Vaught's Conjecture (of course, there may not be any), and in particular, with minimal counterexamples. First, there is a theorem on the existence of minimal counterexamples. This theorem was known for the model theoretic case (it is due to Harnik and Makkai), and is here generalized to arbitrary Borel-measurable Polish actions. Second, we study the properties of minimal counterexamples. We give two different necessary and sufficient conditions for a counterexample to be minimal, as well as some consequences of minimality. Some of these results are proved assuming determinacy axioms.This second part seems to be new even in the model theoretic case.
White Racial Identity Attitudes as a Predictor of Client Perceptions of Cross-Cultural Working Alliances.

Racial identity has been theorized to significantly influence cross-racial counseling relationships. In this study, the authors examined the influence of White racial identity on working alliance perceptions in a cross-racial vicarious counseling analogue. A significant interaction effect was found between race of the counselor vignette and White racial identity attitudes. Se ha teorizado que la identidad racial influye significativamente en las relaciones consejeras multirraciales. En esta investigacion, los autores examinan la influencia de la identidad racial Blanca en las percepciones de alianza vigente en un equivalente vicario de la consejeria multirracial. Se descubrio un efecto significante de interaccion entre la raza del consejero y las actitudes raciales blancas.
Aprotinin's effect on blood product transfusion in off-pump bilateral lung transplantation☆

In lung transplants necessitating cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), aprotinin has been shown to decrease transfusion requirements. More recently, off-pump transplantation has become the standard of care. The efficacy of aprotinin use in this population has yet to be definitively examined. We completed a retrospective review of all adult OP-BOLTs performed between January 2000 and January 2006 at a single university center (n=215). Aprotinin use was determined by the attending anesthesiologist or surgeon. It was administered at the time of induction. The primary outcome was total blood products utilized in terms of units transfused during postoperative days 0, 1 and 2. One-hundred and one patients received aprotinin and 114 did not. An overall analysis of all of the patients in this study demonstrated a trend towards statistical significance for reduced total blood product transfusion for the aprotinin group compared to the non-aprotinin group (P=0.13). A subgroup analysis was performed in relation to each diagnosis. The use of aprotinin was associated with a significant reduction in peri-operative total blood products transfused in COPD patients (P=0.03) undergoing OP-BOLT. Subgroup analysis demonstrated that the use of aprotinin in the COPD population did result in a statistically significant decrease in total blood products transfused, specifically the total number of units of packed red blood cells given. These findings suggest that aprotinin administration should be considered for all patients undergoing OP-BOLT to reduce exposure to blood products and potential immune sensitization and infectious complications.
Nonparametric Bayesian Multiple Imputation for Missing Data Due to Mid-Study Switching of Measurement Methods

Investigators often change how variables are measured during the middle of data-collection, for example, in hopes of obtaining greater accuracy or reducing costs. The resulting data comprise sets of observations measured on two (or more) different scales, which complicates interpretation and can create bias in analyses that rely directly on the differentially measured variables. We develop approaches based on multiple imputation for handling mid-study changes in measurement for settings without calibration data, that is, no subjects are measured on both (all) scales. This setting creates a seemingly insurmountable problem for multiple imputation: since the measurements never appear jointly, there is no information in the data about their association. We resolve the problem by making an often scientifically reasonable assumption that each measurement regime accurately ranks the samples but on differing scales, so that, for example, an individual at the qth percentile on one scale should be at about the qth...
Mediators of Suicidal Ideation Within a Sheltered Sample of Raped and Battered Women

The relationship between suicide attempts and the experience of intimate partner physical violence has been examined in recent literature. The present study extended this literature by examining the relationship between intimate partner rape and suicidal ideation in a sheltered sample of battered women. Fifty women were recruited from a regional shelter setting for battered women in a Midwestern city in the United States. Fifty-eight percent had experienced intimate partner rape. More than one-third of the sample confirmed experiencing suicidal ideation at least "some of the time" within the past week. Experiencing intimate partner rape was significantly associated with suicidal ideation and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Tests of mediation revealed that both PTSD and depressive symptoms mediated the relationship between intimate partner rape and suicidal ideation.
Novel therapeutic approaches to the treatment of Wilson’s disease

The treatment of Wilson's disease has changed considerably in recent times, from the use of penicillamine (Cuprimine, Merck) for all stages and types of disease, to the use of three other anticopper drugs at appropriate times for appropriate patients. Each type and stage of the disease can be considered as a therapeutic target, for which specialised therapy is appropriate. This paper systematically reviews the various types and stages of Wilson's disease presentation, and provides opinion on the appropriate therapy for each. For patients presenting with neurological disease, the use of tetrathiomolybdate is optimum; for patients presenting with mild-to-moderate hepatic failure, a combination of trientine (Syprine, Merck) and zinc is recommended, whereas liver transplantation is necessary for those with severe failure; zinc therapy alone or trientine alone as second choice is recommended for patients presenting with hepatitis or cirrhosis without liver failure, for maintenance therapy, for treatment of presymptomatic patients and for treatment of paediatric and pregnant patients.
Communication signals and sound production mechanisms of mormyrid electric fish.

The African weakly electric fishes Pollimyrus isidori and Pollimyrus adspersus (Mormyridae) produce elaborate acoustic displays during social communication in addition to their electric organ discharges (EODs). In this paper, we provide new data on the EODs of these sound-producing mormyrids and on the mechanisms they use to generate species-typical sounds. Although it is known that the EODs are usually species-specific and sexually dimorphic, the EODs of closely related sound-producing mormyrids have not previously been compared. The data presented demonstrate that there is a clear sexual dimorphism in the EOD waveform of P. isidori. Females have a multi-phasic EOD that is more complex than the male's biphasic EOD. In this respect, P. isidori is similar to its more thoroughly studied congener P. adspersus, which has a sexually dimorphic EOD. The new data also reveal that the EODs of these two species are distinct, thus showing for the first time that species-specificity in EODs is characteristic of these fishes, which also generate species-specific courtship sounds. The sound-generating mechanism is based on a drumming muscle coupled to the swimbladder. Transverse sections through decalcified male and female P. adspersus revealed a muscle that envelops the caudal pole of the swimbladder and that is composed of dorso-ventrally oriented fibers. The muscle is five times larger in males (14.5+/-4.4 microl, mean +/- s.d.) than in females (3.2+/-1.8 microl). The fibers are also of significantly larger diameter in males than in females. Males generate courtship sounds and females do not. The function of the swimbladder muscle was tested using behavioral experiments. Male P. adspersus normally produce acoustic courtship displays when presented with female-like electrical stimuli. However, local anesthesia of the swimbladder muscle muted males. In control trials, males continued to produce sounds after injection of either lidocaine in the trunk muscles or saline in the swimbladder muscles.
The Effect of Age, Stretchtension During Thaw Rigor and Heat of Selected Quality Characteristics of Beef Sternomandibularis Muscle

Some aspects of the phenomenon of thaw rigor have been studied in order to understand how it affects skeletal muscle as a food. Specifically, studies were conducted to evaluate the tenderness and other quality characteristics of muscle strips retained at rest length or stretched by 50 percent during thaw rigor, and to see whether any observed differences were related to the age or sex of the animals. No statistically significant differences due to the stretched state, age or sex were noted in the 24 hr. post thawing pH or water holding capacity as determined by the Carver Press method, although in the latter parameter, individual animals differed significantly (P<0.05) from one another. Differences in the stretched state affected the cooking loss, cooking contraction, shear values, sarcomere length and fiber diameter. Variations in the cooking loss, cooking contraction and sarcomere length were not significant when considered on between group basis while significant variations were observed in the shear values (P <0.05) and fiber diameters (P<0.01). Significant differences in the response of individual animals within t!e different groups were noted in the cooking loss, cooking contraction (P<0.01) and shear values (P<0.05). Within group) differences were not observed in the estimates of sarcomere length and fiber diameter. Significant differences were not noted in the total collagen, alkali-soluble collagen, and elastin contents of the cow, steer and heifer groups. However, the collagen content of the veal group was significantly greater (P<0.005) and was more readily soluble in dilute alkali than the three other groups. No significant differences in the collagen content or solubility was attributable to the stretched state. Heating of the muscle strips significantly affected col!agen solubility (P<0.005) in all the different groups
Sharp Interface Simulations of High Speed Multimaterial Impact and Penetration Mechanics

The interaction of shocks with multi-material interfaces can occur in multitude of applications, including high-speed flows with droplets, bubbles and particles, and hypervelocity impact and penetration. To simulate such complicated interfacial dynamics problems, a fixed Cartesian grid approach in conjunction with level set interface tracking is attractive. In an earlier work, a unified Riemann solver based Ghost Fluid Method (GFM) was developed to accurately resolve and represent the embedded solid and fluid object(s) in high speed compressible multiphase flows. In this work, the GFM approach is extended to simulate the effects of high velocity multi-material impact and penetration processes. The impact and penetration processes are often characterized by the propagation of elasto-plasic stress waves and associated high strain-rate deformation of the interacting materials. The GFM approach is currently being applied to resolve the interface conditions for such intense loading conditions. For performing computationally efficient and high fidelity calculations, the GFM approach is augmented with a quad-tree based local adaptive mesh refinement technique.
SAT0124 Follow -up of safety and long-term efficacy of etanercept in 1596 patients with active rheumatoid polyarthritis in belgium

Objectives To describe the long-term efficacy and types of adverse events (AEs) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients treated with etanercept in a daily clinical setting in Belgium. Methods A prospective, multi-center, open-label, observational study in patients with active RA, who have previously failed 2 disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARD’s), one of which being methotrexate (MTX). Patients were treated with etanercept 25 mg subcutaneously twice a week or 50 mg OW, Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ-DI) was completed, swollen joint count was made, and adverse events (AEs) occurring during the previous period were registered. Results Demographics and disease characteristics of 1596 patients are listed in table 1. 1596 patients were treated with etanercept, representing a total of 4461 Patient-Years. Patients were followed for at least 1 year and a maximum of 5.5 years. 730 patients discontinued treatment. The main reason (out of 6) for discontinuation was non-response (primary and secondary, at the discretion of the treating physician) (n=276). The other 2 main reasons are safety (n=227) and loss to follow-up (n=95). 878 (56.87%) patients reported adverse events of which 788 events were related to the treatment. 246 (15.93%) patients reported a serious adverse event (death, life-threatening, hospitalization, persistent disability, congenital anomaly or birth defect, pregnancy, overdose, abuse or new malignancy) of which 226 events are considered to be related to the treatment. Safety outcomes are listed in Table 2. Infections were the most frequent AE’s. Injection site reactions were uncommon (n=46). No cases of tuberculosis were reported. Efficacy was evaluated by measuring number of joints with active synovitis and HAQ-DI. At baseline, the mean number of joints with active synovitis was 15.1±7.6. At month 6, the mean number of joints with active synovitis decreased to 4.0±5.4. At month 78, the mean number of joints with synovitis further decreased to 1.6±2.7. This represents a statistically significant decrease at both time points from baseline. At baseline, the mean HAQ-DI-score (/60) was 31.2±9.5. At month 6, the mean HAQ- DI score decreased to 15.9±11.3. At month 78, the HAQ-DI-score was 10.4±9.4. This represents a statistically significant decrease at both time points from baseline. Conclusions This very first report with results from 1596 patients treated with etanercept in Belgium confirms the safety and efficacy profile in rheumatoid arthritis when used in daily clinical practice. No new safety signals were detected. Disclosure of Interest C. Boone Employee of: Pfizer
Organophosphazenes. 26. Factors controlling the pathways observed in the reactions of ethynyl lithium reagents with hexafluorocyclotriphosphazene.

In contrast to previously studied reactions of ethynyl lithium reagents, the reactions of propynyl and hexynyl lithium with N3P3F6 lead to predominantly nongeminal isomers. A modest cis stereo sele...
Recovery of Salmonella from retail broilers by a whole-carcass enrichment procedure.

Fresh whole broiler carcasses were purchased from grocery stores over a 20-week period. Carcasses were selected on the basis of their having intact packages and unique U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plant numbers and sell-by dates, such that each bird represented a single processing plant-processing day combination. Carcasses were tested for Salmonella with a rinse aliquot obtained after whole-bird incubation in the rinse media for 24 h. On the basis of the number of unique processing plants (USDA plant numbers) and expiration dates involved, the number of birds available each week ranged from 6 to 17. Over the 20-week period, 251 independent carcasses from 14 processing plants were tested. The percentages of carcasses testing positive for Salmonella ranged from 0 (for 1 week) to >60% (for 3 weeks). For only 4 of the 20 weeks was an incidence of Salmonella-positive carcasses of 10 carcasses were obtained, the percentages of carcasses testing positive for Salmonella ranged from 40% (four plants). These results indicate that a whole-carcass enrichment may be more sensitive for the detection of Salmonella-positive carcasses than the traditional whole-carcass rinse followed by immediate testing of a subsample aliquot when small numbers of Salmonella are expected.
Detection of a unique 32-kd protein in the peritoneal fluid of women with endometriosis

Objective To test the hypothesis that endometriotic tissue secretes endometriotic-specific proteins into the peritoneal fluid (PF) of women with endometriosis. Design A prospective design was utilized in this study. Setting Tertiary care, university-based center and reproductive endocrinology laboratory. Participants Women of reproductive age who were infertile with endometriosis (n=19), as well as without endometriosis (n=7), and fertile women undergoing tubal ligation (n=6). Interventions Collection of PF fluid via laparoscopy. Main Outcome Measures Peritoneal fluid proteins were isolated and assessed by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Results Two-dimensional electrophoresis of PF proteins isolated a group of proteins ( M r =32 to 40 kd, p I=4.5 to 5.2) in all PF samples that was similar to the rat endometriotic implant-specific protein, Endo-1. This group of proteins consisted of 5 to 12 individual proteins with endometriosis PF containing a significantly higher number of proteins (median=11) compared with either PF from infertile women without endometriosis (median=8) or from women undergoing tubal ligation (median=7). In addition, one protein ( M r =32 kd, p I=5.8), termed EPF-32, was detected predominantly (18 of 19 samples analyzed) in PF from women with endometriosis. This protein was also detected in PF from infertile women without endometriosis (2 of 7 samples) but not in the PF of fertile women undergoing tubal ligation (0 of 6 samples). The appearance of this protein was not associated with the severity of endometriosis. Conclusion It is concluded from this study that PF from women with endometriosis predominantly contains a 32-kd protein (EPF-32) compared with the PF of women without the disease. The role of EPF-32 in the pathophysiology of endometriosis is not established but this protein may function as a diagnostic marker for endometriosis.
Highlighting the sceptical strain: An interview with Tariq Ali

AbstractThis interview with Tariq Ali focuses on his historical novel sequence the Islam Quintet, and took place over several email exchanges in spring and summer 2015. Over the course of the correspondence, Mr Ali graciously offered further insights into his initial responses, which allows the interviewer to link specific discussions of his novel Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree and the rest of the Islam Quintet to wider issues of the interplay between fiction and history, the place of academic discourse, and the role of an anti-imperialist critique.
Loca Malinalli: Centering the Spiritual in Ana Castillo’s So Far From God

This chapter takes a closer look at the supernatural and religious symbolism within Castillo’s novel. Beginning with La Loca and moving through the circumstances and descriptions of each of the other three daughters, this chapter suggests that the spiritual vision enacted through the “ill-fated” daughters actually points toward a revisionist perspective on the sacred symbols of Catholicism. The chapter outlines how La Loca is actually symbolic herself of a centering healing that is both spiritual and material.
Cross-Disciplinary Thematic Special Series: Special Education and Mathematics Education

This article introduces the thematic special series on intersection of mathematics education and special education. This special series will include four research papers and one commentary. The four research papers rooted in a working group from the annual conferences of the International Group of the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME) as well as its North American Chapter (PME-NA).
A Theoretical and Experimental Implementation of a Control Method Based on Saturation

A novel approach for implementing an active nonlinear vibration absorber is presented. The absorber, which is built in electronic circuitry, takes advantage of the saturation phenomenon that occurs when two natural frequencies of a system with quadratic nonlinearities are in the ratio of two-to-one. When the system is excited at a frequency near the higher natural frequency, there is a small ceiling for the system response at the higher frequency and the rest of the input energy is channeled to the low-frequency mode.
Induction-motor field efficiency evaluation using instantaneous phasor method

The new instantaneous phasor method originated by the author is applied for the evaluation of efficiency of induction motors installed in the field. The unique property of the instantaneous phasor method is that the phasors of one phase can be used to represent all three phases. The active power components that include the fundamental-frequency, positive-sequence, negative-sequence, and the harmonic power components are studied in this paper.
Hard international law-contributing organizations as networks

This paper explores the networks that intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) create in the international system and explore how states relate to each other in such networks. It focuses in particular on the network of IGOs that act as creators of and agents for hard international law. We introduce new data that allows us to investigate which institutional traits and functions are most closely related to IGOs’ contribution to the implementation and enforcement of informal international law. We map out and explore the network of “highly legalized” IGOs for the years 1980–2005 as well as the affiliation networks emerging from states’ membership in such IGOs. Combining international relations theory with network theory, we raise novel hypotheses on the potential impact of highly legalized IGO networks on states’ conflict behavior and peace.
Abstract 3323: Anticancer activity of medicinal plant and neuroglioma

Neuroglioma, also called gliocytoma, is one of the common malignant tumors in central nervous system at present. Neuroglioma can make aggressive growth around brain tissue, so complete radical treatment can be realized by single excision. Nutritional and botanical treatments have been found useful in treating neuroglioma and other types of cancers. Vernonia amygdalina (VA) is a valuable medicinal plant that is widespread in East and West Africa. It has been reported to have not only diverse therapeutic effects for many tropical diseases, but has recently been shown to possess anti-cancer properties. Therefore, the goal of this research was to determine the therapeutic mechanisms of VA leaf extracts in the management of brain tumor. To achieve this goal, Human H4 neuroglioma cells were treated with different concentrations of Vernonia Amygdalina for 24 hr. Cell survival was determined by MTs assay. The extent of oxidative cell/tissue damage was determined by measuring malondialdehyde (lipid peroxidation biomarker) concentrations by spectrophotometry. Cell apoptosis was measured by flow cytometry assessment (Annexin V/PI assay). Data obtained from the MTS assay indicated that VA significantly (p Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: Michael Quincy Shivers. Anticancer activity of medicinal plant and neuroglioma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3323. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-3323
Engagement with a virtual clinician encourages gesture usage in speakers with aphasia

Aphasia is an acquired communication disorder that affects the ability to speak and understand spoken language. The use of gestures during speech is an important nonverbal means of communication that may facilitate speech production. The purpose of this project was to determine whether verbal interaction with a virtual clinician that produced gestures facilitated the use of meaningful gestures in the affected and unaffected upper extremity of individuals with aphasia. Individuals with aphasia engaged in several communication tasks following instructions from a virtual clinician that first did not use gestures, then exhibited gestures, and then again did not use gestures. Upper extremity and head motion of the patient were recorded and analyzed off-line. A taxonomy of gestures was created to identify whether each gesture was communicative or noncommunicative. Frequency of appearance of each type of gesture was calculated. Magnitude of upper extremity motions and trunk motion were analyzed to explore whether immersion in the virtual environment impacted the responses to the virtual clinician. We hypothesized that active engagement with a virtual clinician that produces natural gestures will support the emergence of more upper extremity and coordinated postural actions in patients with aphasia. Our results suggest that individuals with aphasia produced larger gestures after the clinician produced gestures, and they became more engaged with the virtual clinician over time. The results support the use of virtual clinicians for speech rehabilitation purposes.
The Guilded Classroom: Using Gamification to Engage and Motivate Undergraduates.

There is a breadth of psychological research that points to potential cognitive benefits of game play. Games engage and motivate learners while promoting mastery of skills and content knowledge. Further, thoughtfully applying gaming elements and structures to classroom environments, an approach called gamification, has the potential to optimize learning. This paper discusses theory-driven classroom gamification innovations implemented in an undergraduate educational psychology course and uses a case study approach to understand how these changes impacted students’ in-class learning experiences in positive ways. We will discuss specific interventions, students’ perceptions of these interventions, instructor reflection of the effects on student learning outcomes, and implications for classroom practice.
Automated Screening of Emergency Department Notes for Drug-Associated Bleeding Adverse Events Occurring in Older Adults

Objective To conduct research to show the value of text mining for automatically identifying suspected bleeding adverse drug events (ADEs) in the emergency department (ED). Methods A corpus of ED admission notes was manually annotated for bleeding ADEs. The notes were taken for patients ≥ 65 years of age who had an ICD-9 code for bleeding, the presence of hemoglobin value ≤ 8 g/dL, or were transfused > 2 units of packed red blood cells. This training corpus was used to develop bleeding ADE algorithms using Random Forest and Classification and Regression Tree (CART). A completely separate set of notes was annotated and used to test the classification performance of the final models using the area under the ROC curve (AUROC). Results The best performing CART resulted in an AUROC on the training set of 0.882. The model's AUROC on the test set was 0.827. At a sensitivity of 0.679, the model had a specificity of 0.908 and a positive predictive value (PPV) of 0.814. It had a relatively simple and intuitive structure consisting of 13 decision nodes and 14 leaf nodes. Decision path probabilities ranged from 0.041 to 1.0. The AUROC for the best performing Random Forest method on the training set was 0.917. On the test set, the model's AUROC was 0.859. At a sensitivity of 0.274, the model had a specificity of 0.986 and a PPV of 0.92. Conclusion Both models accurately identify bleeding ADEs using the presence or absence of certain clinical concepts in ED admission notes for older adult patients. The CART model is particularly noteworthy because it does not require significant technical overhead to implement. Future work should seek to replicate the results on a larger test set pulled from another institution.
Southern Idaho Plain:: Implications for Fremont-Shoshoni Relationships in Southwestern Idaho

It is proposed that a new pottery type referred to as “Southern Idaho Plain” be recognized to distinguish a more finely made pottery than the classic thick walled, flat-bottomed vessels characteris...
The Crowd is the Territory: Assessing Quality in Peer-Produced Spatial Data During Disasters

Today, disaster events are mobilizing digital volunteers to meet the data needs of those on the ground. One form of this crowd work is Volunteered Geographic Information. This peer-produced spatial...
STUDIES ON THE MODE OF ACTION OF 6-HYDROXYDOPAMINE AND RELATED NEUROTOXINS

ABSTRACT In the present study, it is described how cations such as ferrous or cupric, in concentrations found in the brains of experimental animals, markedly enhanced the rates of autoxidation of 6-hydroxydopamine and related neurotoxins. It is concluded that a stimulation of 6-hydroxydopamine oxidation by metal ions in vivo might play an important role in the neurotoxic process.
Reading the Morton Memo Federal Priorities and Prosecutorial Discretion

On June 30, 2010, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), John Morton, issued a memo to the agency that reflected the Obama administration’s oft repeated intent to focus removal efforts on serious offenders. Morton noted: In light of the large number of administrative violations the agency is charged with addressing and the limited enforcement resources the agency has available, ICE must prioritize the use of its enforcement personnel, detention space, and removal resources to ensure that the removals the agency does conduct promote the agency's highest enforcement priorities, namely national security, public safety, and border security. Coupled with last year’s announcement that ICE would not engage in the kind of major worksite raids that became common during the Bush administration, the “Morton Memo” potentially marks a new phase in the enforcement of immigration law. Moreover, the memo gives us insight into the Obama administration’s approach to prosecutorial discretion in immigration enforcement. A close reading of the Morton Memo reveals, however, that it is likely to be subject to multiple interpretations, offering some guidance but little clarity for handling the hundreds of thousands of decisions made annually by ICE agents regarding the arrest, detention, and removal of individual immigrants. This report explains the key provisions of the Morton Memo, points out its strengths and weaknesses, and offers recommendations for additional guidance that should be issued to fulfill the promise of reform suggested in the memo itself.
Access Policy and Social Justice in Higher Education

The Colombian Government, like many governments in Latin America, confronts multiple quandaries where the provision of higher education is concerned. Given limited resources, one dilemma is whether to develop policies and strategies to enhance academic standards or, instead, to stimulate expansion by admitting a large number of less academically prepared students. During the 2002–2010 period, known in Colombia as the ‘Educational Revolution’, the government sought to stimulate expansion by passing a series of national policy initiatives to increase enrollment. These policies, supported by the World Bank, constituted a substantial program to improve equity and access to higher education for underrepresented social groups.
Apneic threshold in intra-operative anesthesia.

The depression of ventilation during general anesthesia has been recognized from the very inception of anesthetic practice1. Spontaneous breathing under general anesthesia results in hypoventilation, leading to arterial hypoxemia and hypercarbia. Therefore, the maintenance of adequate ventilation is of the utmost importance
Investigating proximity of crash locations to aging pedestrian residences.

Abstract Many campaigns promote walking for recreation, work, and general-purpose trips for health and environmental benefits. This study investigated factors that influence the occurrence of crashes involving elderly pedestrians in relation to where they reside. Using actual pedestrian residential addresses, a Google integrated GIS-based method was developed for estimating distances from crash locations to pedestrian residences. A generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) was used to evaluate the effect of factors associated with residences, such as age group, roadway features, and demographic characteristics on the proximity of crash locations. Results indicated that the proximity of crash locations to pedestrian residences is influenced by the pedestrian age, gender, roadway traffic volume, seasons of the year, and pedestrian residence demographic characteristics. The findings of this study can be used by transportation agencies to develop plans that enhance aging pedestrian safety and improve livability.
Developing Leadership Capacity Through Leadership Learning Opportunities

The chapter examines how five LTA leaders developed their leadership skills through engaging in leadership learning opportunities. It draws on some of the findings of a research project that explored how five internationally renowned leaders in English language teaching (ELT) developed their leadership capacities. Through the methodology of narrative inquiry (Clandinin & Connelley, 2000; Trahar, 2013) the study sought to explore how these leaders make sense of their own development as leaders in the world of ELT with rapidly changing characteristics by focusing on their leadership learning at the level of lived experiences situated in the complex, globalized ELT context. Data were drawn from written interviews and were analyzed using an inductive process of identifying themes. The findings reported in this chapter include the critical roles of leadership learning, informal leadership development opportunities; and leadership learning through mentoring/coaching and relational leadership. The chapter concludes with practical insights and recommendations for those who aspire to lead in Language Teacher Associations (LTAs).
Maintaining Momentum: Robert Lightfoot as NASA's Acting Administrator, 2017–2018

Abstract Robert Lightfoot served as Acting Administrator of NASA a record-busting 15 months from January 2017 to April 2018. He led NASA through two budget cycles and coped with the tumultuous transition from President Obama to President Trump. Unusually for an Acting Administrator, he made a difference in policy. Not only did he help raise NASA's budget during his time in office, but he was central in two major decisions. One was the decision not to accelerate a crewed flight around the Moon and the other was the choice to make the Gateway project an official new start for NASA.