cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Oxidative stress and diabetic complications

Oxidative stress plays a pivotal role in the development of diabetes complications, both microvascular and cardiovascular. The metabolic abnormalities of diabetes cause mitochondrial superoxide overproduction in endothelial cells of both large and small vessels, as well as in the myocardium. This increased superoxide production causes the activation of 5 major pathways involved in the pathogenesis of complications: polyol pathway flux, increased formation of AGEs (advanced glycation end products), increased expression of the receptor for AGEs and its activating ligands, activation of protein kinase C isoforms, and overactivity of the hexosamine pathway. It also directly inactivates 2 critical antiatherosclerotic enzymes, endothelial nitric oxide synthase and prostacyclin synthase. Through these pathways, increased intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) cause defective angiogenesis in response to ischemia, activate a number of proinflammatory pathways, and cause long-lasting epigenetic changes that drive persistent expression of proinflammatory genes after glycemia is normalized ("hyperglycemic memory"). Atherosclerosis and cardiomyopathy in type 2 diabetes are caused in part by pathway-selective insulin resistance, which increases mitochondrial ROS production from free fatty acids and by inactivation of antiatherosclerosis enzymes by ROS. Overexpression of superoxide dismutase in transgenic diabetic mice prevents diabetic retinopathy, nephropathy, and cardiomyopathy. The aim of this review is to highlight advances in understanding the role of metabolite-generated ROS in the development of diabetic complications.
Water Use by Agricultural Crops and Riparian Vegetation: An Application of Remote Sensing Technology

New Mexico is experiencing great changes in land use, population growth and cropping patterns. These changes, combined with extended drought, provide challenges to the management and appropriation of the state’s limited water supplies. Currently, more than 75 percent of New Mexico’s water is used in agriculture. Furthermore, exotic riparian vegetation such as saltcedar results in signifi cant water consumption throughout the state. Evapotranspiration (ET), or water use by crops and riparian vegetation, is a true depletion or loss from a hydrologic system. Estimates of ET values are used in irrigation water management, water rights allocation, hydrologic modeling, as well as overall water resource planning and management. Traditionally, crop ET is estimated by multiplying aggregate crop coeffi cients (Kc) by a standardized reference evapotranspiration (ETsz) (Allen et al. 2005). The Kc represents plants and the soil environment while ETsz represents climatological factors that provide the energy that drives ET. However, this methodology is limited to localized estimation of ET and is not practical or economical for large scale use due to spatial and temporal variability of vegetation, soils, and management techniques. Recently developed technologies use sensors that can directly measure ET over the vegetation canopy. However, these technologies are costly and are limited to small areas. While direct measurement provides localized values of ET, these measurements are limited and do not account for the diversity of ET across the watershed. Remote sensing technology combines ground measurement of ET with large scale remotely sensed vegetation canopy data and ground level climatological data to calculate regional values of ET. This combination of groundlevel and remotely sensed data provides the most advanced and economical approach for estimating ET over a large area.
Perception of Postural Limits in Elderly Nursing Home and Day Care Participants

This study explored whether, when compared to young community-dwelling individuals, elderly nursing home and day care participants have less accurate perceptions of their postural stability borders (postural limits). Subjects estimated their performance before executing maximum forward reaches while maintaining the feet stationary. Whereas young subjects tended to underestimate their reaching limits, elderly subjects displayed no significant difference between estimated and actual values. Furthermore, errors in estimated reach limits associated with reaching ability, with less-able reachers tending to more greatly overestimate their abilities. This suggests that elderly nursing home and day care participants, and especially those with impaired postural limits, lack the potential "safety factor" observed in young subjects of underestimating their stability borders. Therefore, the link between decreased postural limits and falls in older persons may in part be due to lack of awareness of such declines, and the resulting tendency to plan movements which create loss of balance.
Thomas Hart Benton's union speaking in Missouri

Thomas Hart Benton, senator from Missouri from 1820 to 1850, eloquently defended the Union in the late years of his public life. The purpose of this study is to identify Benton's major Union arguments, the conditions under which they were introduced into Missouri, and some of the political implications of the arguments.
The Future of Biologic Coatings for Orthopaedic Implants

Implants are widely used for orthopaedic applications such as fixing fractures, repairing non-unions, obtaining a joint arthrodesis, total joint arthroplasty, spinal reconstruction, and soft tissue anchorage. Previously, orthopaedic implants were designed simply as mechanical devices; the biological aspects of the implant were a byproduct of stable internal/external fixation of the device to the surrounding bone or soft tissue. More recently, biologic coatings have been incorporated into orthopaedic implants in order to modulate the surrounding biological environment. This opinion article reviews current and potential future use of biologic coatings for orthopaedic implants to facilitate osseointegration and mitigate possible adverse tissue responses including the foreign body reaction and implant infection. While many of these coatings are still in the preclinical testing stage, bioengineers, material scientists and surgeons continue to explore surface coatings as a means of improving clinical outcome of patients undergoing orthopaedic surgery.
Beyond Normalization: Pragmatics of Word Form in Text Messages

Non-standard spellings in text messages often convey extra pragmatic information not found in the standard word form. However, text message normalization systems that transform non-standard text message spellings to standard form tend to ignore this information. To address this problem, this paper examines the types of extra pragmatic information that are conveyed by non-standard word forms. Empirical analysis of our data shows that 40% of non-standard word forms contain emotional information not found in the standard form, and 38% contain additional emphasis. This extra information can be important to downstream applications such as text-to-speech synthesis. We further investigated the automatic detection of non-standard forms that display additional information. Our empirical results show that character level features can provide important cues for such detection.
Women as TV Experts: The Voice of Authority?

Three-yeax study shows more women experts selling products for women but still backed up by the “known quantity” of an authoritative male uoice-over.
Outcomes regarding the central nervous system in children with complex congenital cardiac malformations.

The number of children now surviving surgical interventions because of congenital cardiac disease continues to increase. Indeed, it is estimated that, by the end of 2005, there will be more adults than children with congenital cardiac malformations. The complex challenges facing this growing population are only now becoming apparent, including the continued hazard for mortality, the risk of reoperation, and newly-emerging late sequels of surgery. In particular, children with severe lesions requiring intervention in the neonatal period are surviving at levels thought to be highly improbable no more than two decades ago. Heralded by the availability of prostaglandin E 1 in the late 1970s, improvements in technology, such as echocardiography, and color Doppler in particular, intensive care and intraoperative support, have recently allowed surgeons to reconstruct the hearts of many children with otherwise lethal defects. Much of the published literature has focused on the cardiac sequels in this population. Increasing attention has recently been given, nonetheless, to the neurodevelopmental outcomes in this population of patients.
TP53 Disruptive Mutations Lead to Head and Neck Cancer Treatment Failure through Inhibition of Radiation-Induced Senescence

Purpose: Mortality of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is primarily driven by tumor cell radioresistance leading to locoregional recurrence (LRR). In this study, we use a classification of TP53 mutation (disruptive vs. nondisruptive) and examine impact on clinical outcomes and radiation sensitivity. Experimental Design: Seventy-four patients with HNSCC treated with surgery and postoperative radiation and 38 HNSCC cell lines were assembled; for each, TP53 was sequenced and the in vitro radioresistance measured using clonogenic assays. p53 protein expression was inhibited using short hairpin RNA (shRNA) and overexpressed using a retrovirus. Radiation-induced apoptosis, mitotic cell death, senescence, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) assays were carried out. The effect of the drug metformin on overcoming mutant p53-associated radiation resistance was examined in vitro as well as in vivo , using an orthotopic xenograft model. Results: Mutant TP53 alone was not predictive of LRR; however, disruptive TP53 mutation strongly predicted LRR ( P = 0.03). Cell lines with disruptive mutations were significantly more radioresistant ( P TP53 mutations significantly decreased radiation-induced senescence, as measured by SA-β-gal staining, p21 expression, and release of ROS. The mitochondrial agent metformin potentiated the effects of radiation in the presence of a disruptive TP53 mutation partially via senescence. Examination of our patient cohort showed that LRR was decreased in patients taking metformin. Conclusions: Disruptive TP53 mutations in HNSCC tumors predicts for LRR, because of increased radioresistance via the inhibition of senescence. Metformin can serve as a radiosensitizer for HNSCC with disruptive TP53 , presaging the possibility of personalizing HNSCC treatment. Clin Cancer Res; 18(1); 290–300. ©2011 AACR .
The Minichromosome Maintenance Replicative Helicase

The eukaryotic replicative helicase, the minichromosome maintenance (MCM) complex, is composed of six distinct, but related, subunits MCM(2-7). The relationship between the sequences of the subunits indicates that they are derived from a common ancestor and indeed, present-day archaea possess a homohexameric MCM. Recent progress in the biochemical and structural studies of both eukaryal and archaeal MCM complexes are beginning to shed light on the mechanisms of action of this key component of the replisome.
Using the OPI to Place Heritage Speakers of Russian

This study explored the possibility of using an ACTFL oral proficiency interview (OPI) to assess the spoken proficiency of heritage language speakers of Russian for the purpose of placing them in Russian language classes. The authors also considered whether the norm of an educated native speaker could be used as a valid reference point for Russian heritage speakers. The OPI was administered to a group of college-age Russian heritage speakers with little or no formal instruction in the language. The results indicated that the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines could be used to assess oral proficiency of Russian heritage speakers and that the standard of an educated native speaker ofRussian could be used as a norm.
Utilizing Design Layout Information to Improve Efficiency of SEM Defect Review Sampling

SEM review samples of bright field inspection results can be one or more orders of magnitude smaller than the defect count. Because of this, there is a risk of the sample set not adequately representing the actual yield risk of the defect population, especially if systematic defects are present. Furthermore, SEM review based on this method is often inefficient due to "SEM non-visual", nuisance defects, or dummy fill patterns dominating the sample Pareto. The quality of the defect Pareto can be significantly improved using design based binning, or DBB. DBB couples layout information from design data with the relative location of each detected defect. This enables binning by key features of the pattern geometry surrounding the defect, thus providing more information about the yield risk of that defect. This paper describes the various components of DBB technology, and shows examples of improving SEM review efficiency by employing DBB to effectively bin out nuisance and other systematic defect types.
A programmable simulator for analyzing the block data flow architecture

A programmable simulator has been developed for analyzing the performance of a class of parallel computers. The simulator provides detailed information about the timing, resource usage, and output results for an algorithm executing on the parallel computer. A user specifies the configuration and performance characteristics of the computer to be simulated. The user also describes the algorithm to be executed on the computer. The use of the simulator for QR factorization is briefly described and the results are presented. Our approach is compared with other simulation methods. >
Development of a Simple Method for Detecting Presumptive Escherichia coli on Fresh Retail Beef

A simple method of detecting Escherichia coli on retail beef was developed. Diluent used in spongesampling of meat was added to a tube containing double-strength lauryl sulfate tryptone broth + 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl β-D-glucuronide (X-GlcA) and a Durham tube. Tubes with blue color and gas after 24 h incubation at 35 °C were presumptive-positive. Chi-squared analysis showed a significant (P Une methode simple de detection d'une contamination possible de la viande de boeuf par E.coli est presentee. Le diluant de prelevement est ajoute a un tube contenant un bouillon tryptone-sulfate de lauryl avec 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl β-D-glucuronide. Apres 24h, les tubes contenant du gaz et ayant une coloration bleue sont probablement contamines. Cette methode est quantitativement comparable a la methode Petrifilm TM . Elle permet un test rapide meme dans les petites structures de transformation.
Visual discrimination testing of ultraviolet transmitting and ultraviolet blocking acrylic thermoplastics.

Background: Visual perception has hindered the development of blinded, placebo-controlled ultraviolet light exposure conditions in humans. New acrylic thermoplastics that block or transmit ultraviolet light have visual properties that may provide a solution. Methods: In a series of triangle taste tests, 60 subjects were tested for the ability to visually perceive ultraviolet light transmission by two of four types of acrylic thermoplastics. Results: Forty-six of sixty (67%) subjects were unable to visually detect ultraviolet light transmitting acrylics among ultraviolet blocking acrylics in both an ambient light background condition and an ambient light background condition with ultraviolet A light supplementation. Conclusion: Acrylic thermoplastics allow for the production of blinded, placebo-controlled ultraviolet light exposure conditions by eliminating visual discrimination differences between active and control groups.
A Public Key Cryptographic Method for Denial of Service Mitigation in Wireless Sensor Networks

The challenging characteristics of sensor nodes, including the constrained resources, the ad-hoc nature of their deployment and the vulnerability of wireless media, pose a need for unique security solutions. The advantages of Public Key Cryptography (PKC) for sensor network security are widely acknowledged and include resilience, scalability and decentralized management. Recent work has indicated that PKC is feasible in the wireless sensor network (WSN) environment, paving the way for many new security services and opportunities. However, the computational effort involved in performing PKC operations remains substantial. From an energy consumption perspective, it is imperative that the processing and communication resources be utilized only when required. To that end, PKC implementations are more vulnerable to Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, when compared to traditional security methods that require less resources. In particular, if a malicious party attacks a sensor node by repetitive requests to establish a key, the resources of the attacked node can be exhausted quite rapidly. In this paper, we propose a novel RSA-based framework for combating DoS attacks in WSN by ensuring that the malicious party will exhaust its resources prior to exhausting those of its counterparts. Under the proposed approach, the mathematical operations performed by the malicious party require two or three orders of magnitude more resources than those required by the attacked party. We also present three methodologies for establishing an ephemeral key, in which the proposed DoS mitigation mechanism is an embedded component. Implementation results on the Intel Mote 2 platform substantiate the clear advantages of the proposed method.
Opportunistic programming: how rapid ideation and prototyping occur in practice

At times, programmers work opportunistically, emphasizing speed and ease of development over code robustness and maintainability. They do this to prototype, ideate, and discover; to understand as quickly as possible what the right solution is. Despite its importance, opportunistic programming remains poorly understood when compared with traditional software engineering. Through fieldwork and a laboratory study, we observed five characteristics of opportunistic programming: Programmers build software from scratch using high-level tools, often add new functionality via copy-and-paste, iterate more rapidly than in traditional development, consider code to be impermanent, and face unique debugging challenges because their applications often comprise many languages and tools composed without upfront design. Based on these characteristics, we discuss future research on tools for debugging, code foraging and reuse, and documentation that are specifically targeted at this style of development.
Targeted Lesion Generation Through the Skull Without Aberration Correction Using Histotripsy

This study demonstrates the ability of histotripsy to generate targeted lesions through the skullcap without using aberration correction. Histotripsy therapy was delivered using a 500-kHz 256-element hemispherical transducer with an aperture diameter of 30 cm, and a focal distance of 15 cm fabricated in our laboratory. This transducer is theoretically capable of producing peak rarefactional pressures, based on linear estimation, (p-) $_{\text{LE}}$ , in the free field in excess of 200 MPa with pulse durations $\leq$ 2 acoustic cycles. Three excised human skullcaps were used displaying attenuations of 73%–81% of the acoustic pressure without aberration correction. Through all three skullcaps, compact lesions with radii less than $1\,\text{mm}$ were generated in red blood cell agarose tissue phantoms without aberration correction, using estimated (p-) $_{\text{LE}}$ of $28\text{-}39\,\text{MPa}$ , a pulse repetition frequency of $1\,\text{Hz}$ , and a total number of 300 pulses. Lesion generation was consistently observed at the geometric focus of the transducer as the position of the skullcap with respect to the transducer was varied, and multiple-patterned lesions were generated transcranially by mechanically adjusting the position of the skullcap with respect to the transducer to target different regions within. These results show that compact targeted lesions with sharp boundaries can be generated through intact skullcaps using histotripsy with very short pulses without using aberration correction. Such capability has the potential to greatly simplify transcranial ultrasound therapy for noninvasive transcranial applications, as current ultrasound transcranial therapy techniques all require sophisticated aberration correction.
Transfer Coefficients in Stratified Channel Flow

Empirical equations based on laboratory data were developed to predict the turbulent momentum and solute transfer coefficients in stratified open channel flows. In flows where the primary source of turbulence was the bottom boundary and the density stratification was continuous, a high degree of correlation was found to exist between the momentum transfer coefficient and a bulk Richardson number based on the shear velocity, the depth of flow, the average density, and the maximum change in density across the flow. The degree of correlation between the solute transfer coefficient and this Richardson number was not as high. Although several limitations are noted, the work represents an improvement over alternative theories.
Internal Conversion in Hg 198

The $K$-shell conversion coefficients of the 676-kev and the 1088-kev gamma rays of ${\mathrm{Hg}}^{198}$ have been measured to be ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{K}(676)=0.019\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.005$ and ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{K}(1088)=0.0046\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.0006$. The 676-kev gamma ray is shown to be a mixture of $M1$ and $E2$ radiations in approximately equal amounts.
Calculation of Moments for a Cantor-Vitali Function

(1957). Calculation of Moments for a Cantor-Vitali Function. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 64, No. 8P2, pp. 22-27.
Philonthus theveneti: Life History and Predatory Habits Against Stable Flies, House Flies, and Face Flies Under Laboratory Conditions

In a feedlot in Lancaster County, NB, in 1968, the authors observed adults of Philonthus theveneti Horn feeding on dipteran eggs in breeding areas of the stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans (L.), and the house fly, Musca domestica L. Subsequent surveys of several feedlots in Lancaster and Saunders Counties determined that the beetles were present in all fly-breeding areas within the feedlots.
Photocurrent Enhancement from Solid-State Triplet–Triplet Annihilation Upconversion of Low-Intensity, Low-Energy Photons

We present a red-to-blue upconversion system based on triplet–triplet annihilation in a solid-state film configuration that significantly enhances the photocurrent of a model solar cell device. The film is robust against oxygen quenching and can be readily tailored to existing solar cell architectures. The photovoltaic performance of upconversion-assisted dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical cells was measured under both high-power coherent laser and low-power incoherent light irradiation (light-emitting diode and simulated AM1.5G sunlight). By utilizing low-energy photons that would otherwise be wasted, the photocurrent is enhanced by as much as 35% under one-sun light intensity when a model solar cell device is coupled with a TTA film and a reflector.
Monuments and Literary Posterity in Early Modern Drama

Introduction: 'raptures of futurity' 1. 'Let All things End': Marlowe's immortality 2. Jonson's textual monument 3. Webster's 'worthyest monument': the problem of posterity in The Duchess of Malfi 4. 'Mocking life': preemptive commemoration in The Winter's Tale 5. Fletcher's future: dynasty and collaborative posterity in Henry VIII Coda: what they hath left us Select bibliography Index.
Suppression of B-cell proliferation to lipopolysaccharide is mediated through induction of the nitric oxide pathway by tumor necrosis factor- alpha in mice with acute graft-versus-host disease

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is associated with impaired B-cell responses. We investigated the mechanism of impaired proliferation of B cells in response to the mitogen lipopolysaccharide (LPS) by analyzing the production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and nitric oxide (NO), both of which have independently been described as important effector mechanisms in the pathogenesis of acute GVHD. A threefold decrease of mature surface Ig-positive (slg+) B cells was observed in GVHD spleens isolated 2 weeks after transplant. However, proliferation of these cells in response to LPS was suppressed by more than 35-fold. Activated GVHD splenocytes secreted large amounts of TNF- alpha and NO in culture. Neutralization of TNF-alpha with anti-TNF- alpha antibody (Ab) both abrogated NO production and restored LPS- induced proliferation of B cells to levels found in non-GVHD control mice. The specific inhibition of NO synthesis with LG-monomethyl- arginine (NMMA) restored splenocyte responses but did not significantly reduce TNF-alpha levels, showing that TNF-alpha per se did not cause immunosuppression. These data show that, during GVHD, induction of the NO pathway is an important mechanism that mediates B-cell hyporesponsiveness to LPS and that this pathway is induced by TNF-alpha.
Chapter e4 – Coordinated Frequency Regulation of BESS with Renewable Generation in Microgrid

Compared with frequency regulation by wind generation system, a battery energy storage system (BESS) is a better alternative for providing frequency regulation and inertial response in a faster, more accurate and flexible manner. So, participation of BESS in an islanded microgrid frequency regulation can assist renewable distributed generators (DGs) in operating at their maximum efficiency without excessive power curtailment. Furthermore, a BESS can mitigate the frequency variation with a faster response when the frequency disturbance occurs in an islanded microgrid. If the energy capacity of the BESS is limited, a wind turbine generator can gradually take over the mid-to-long term frequency regulation tasks through emulated droop response and Automatic Generation Control (AGC) control. In this chapter, we will focus on the coordinated frequency regulation and control of BESSs and wind power in the islanded mode of microgrid or microgrid cluster. The objective of microgrid frequency regulation is to regulate the frequency of an islanded microgrid to the specified nominal value in the event of frequency disturbance, and at the same time to maintain the tie-line power interchange among different microgrids within a microgrid cluster, or between two virtual areas within a single islanded microgrid at the scheduled value by coordinating the outputs of wind power generation and BESS through virtual inertial response, frequency droop control and load frequency control.
Lithography-based methods to manufacture biomaterials at small scales

Along with the search for new therapeutic agents, advanced formulation and fabrication of drug carriers are required for better targeting, sensing, and responding to environmental stimuli as well as maximizing treatment efficiency. The emergence of intelligent therapeutics involves the use of functional biomaterials to mimic biological system for prolonged circulation and to work harmoniously with the body. One of the main concerns lies in the feasibility of creating systems with well-defined architectures including size, shape, components, and functionality. This review provides an overview regarding current challenges and potential of manufacturing and fabrication of biomaterials at small scales for various biomedical applications. Accordingly, novel lithography-based fabrication approaches are introduced together with their remarkable applications. Besides being popular in microelectronics, lithography techniques have demonstrated a great potential use for drug delivery, tissue engineering, and diagnostic tools.
Posttraumatic Reconstruction of the Foot and Ankle in the Face of Active Infection

Posttraumatic infection of the foot and ankle is a challenging issue for orthopedic surgeons. Making the diagnosis often requires combining laboratory and radiologic testing, patient examination, and history. Patient comorbidities should be identified and optimized whenever possible. Treatment must combine effective antibiotic therapy with thorough debridement of the infected zone. Reconstruction often requires a 2-staged approach using antibiotic spacers and temporary external fixation, with the goal of obtaining a functional, pain-free limb that is free of infection.
Synthesis of Highly Oxygenated Carbocycles by Stereoselective Coupling of Alkynes to 1,3- and 1,4-Dicarbonyl Systems.

Densely substituted and highly oxygenated carbocycles are challenging targets for synthesis. In particular, those possessing numerous contiguous, fully substituted carbon atoms (i.e., tertiary alcohols and quaternary centers) are often not accessible in a direct fashion, necessitating the strategic decoupling of ring-formation from the establishment of functionality about the system. Here, we describe an approach to the construction of highly oxygenated mono-, di-, and polycyclic carbocycles from the reaction of disubstituted alkynes with β- or γ-dicarbonyl systems. These processes embrace a variant of metallacycle-mediated annulation chemistry where initial alkyne–carbonyl coupling is followed by a second, now intramolecular, stereoselective C–C bond-forming event. In addition to revealing the basic reactivity pattern in intermolecular settings, we demonstrate that this class of reactivity is quite powerful in a fully intramolecular context and, when terminated by a stereoselective oxidation process, can...
The Diplomatic Background of the Congress

The origins of the Congress of Verona are as important as they are obscure, stretching back, as they do, to the Laibach conference of 1821. There, on February 25, while the Austrian expedition was marching through the Papal States, the three eastern powers resolved to reunite at Florence in September of the following year to discuss Italian affairs. In April, after the revolts in Naples and Piedmont had been suppressed, the allies reaffirmed this decision and announced that the Florentine congress specifically would determine whether Austrian forces in these kingdoms should be continued, diminished, or withdrawn. For more than a year, the great powers assumed that this would be an Italian conference, since Austria had successfully opposed placing the Spanish revolution on its agenda, and Russian objections had effectively proscribed collective consideration of the Turko-Greek conflict.2 Nonetheless, the statement is made repeatedly that the Congress of Verona was summoned originally to debate the Spanish and Greek revolutions. To make this assertion is simply to retroject later developments.3
An evaluation of the availability, accessibility, and quality of online content of vascular surgery training program websites for residency and fellowship applicants.

Abstract Background Vascular surgery residency and fellowship applicants commonly seek information about programs from the Internet. Lack of an effective web presence curtails the ability of programs to attract applicants, and in turn applicants may be unable to ascertain which programs are the best fit for their career aspirations. This study was designed to evaluate the presence, accessibility, comprehensiveness, and quality of vascular surgery training websites (VSTW). Methods A list of accredited vascular surgery training programs (integrated residencies and fellowships) was obtained from four databases for vascular surgery education: the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, Electronic Residency Application Service, Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database, and Society for Vascular Surgery. Programs participating in the 2016 National Resident Matching Program were eligible for study inclusion. Accessibility of VSTW was determined by surveying the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, Electronic Residency Application Service, and Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database for the total number of programs listed and for the presence or absence of website links. VSTW were analyzed for the availability of recruitment and education content items. The quality of VSTW was determined as a composite of four dimensions: content, design, organization, and user friendliness. Percent agreements and kappa statistics were calculated for inter-rater reliability. Results Eighty-nine of the 94 fellowship (95%) and 45 of the 48 integrated residencies (94%) programs participating in the 2016 Match had a VSTW. For program recruitment, evaluators found an average of 12 of 32 content items (35.0%) for fellowship programs and an average of 12 of 32 (37%) for integrated residencies. Only 47.1% of fellowship programs (53% integrated residencies) specified the number of positions available for the 2016 Match, 20% (13% integrated residencies) indicated alumni career placement, 34% (38% integrated residencies) supplied interview dates, and merely 17% (18% integrated residencies) detailed the selection process. For program education, fellowship websites provided an average of 5.1 of 15 content items (34.0%), and integrated residency websites provided 5 of 14 items (34%). Of the fellowship programs, 66% (84.4% integrated residencies) provided a rotation schedule, 65% (56% integrated residencies) detailed operative experiences, 38% (38% integrated residencies) posted conference schedules, and just 16% (28.9% integrated residencies) included simulation training. Conclusions The web presence of vascular surgery training programs lacks sufficient accessibility, content, organization, design, and user friendliness to allow applicants to access information that informs them sufficiently. There are opportunities to more effectively use VSTW for the benefit of training programs and prospective applicants.
The Anatomy of Dementias

In this chapter we provide an overview of the patterns of cerebral cortical and subcortical pathological changes that occur in the various dementias. When viewed in this manner, the dementias can be categorized into five major groups based on the topography of their cerebral cortical involvement. These are: (1) the preferential involvement of the temporal lobes and adjacent parietal, occipital, and frontal lobes in Alzheimer’s disease (AD); (2) the predilection for frontal and parietal lobes in progressive subcortical gliosis (PSG); (3) the combined involvement of the cerebral cortex of frontal and temporal lobes in Pick’s disease (PiD) and dementia of the frontal type (DFT); (4) diffuse Lewy body disease (DLBD) and Huntington’s disease (HD) with prominent cortical and subcortical pathology; and (5) a group characterized predominantly by subcortical pathological changes such as corticobasal degeneration (CBD), multisystem atrophy (MSA) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Although not strictly a dementia, schizophrenia (SZP) has been included because of its prominent cerebral cortical pathology and the frequent presence of a residual state resembling dementia. First, an overview of each dementia will be presented, followed by discussion of each of the five groups. Schizophrenia will be discussed separately as a developmental disease of subcortical, limbic, and paralimbic systems.
Tobacco and nicotine delivery product use in a U.S. national sample of women of reproductive age.

Abstract This study examined prevalence and correlates of using cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and other tobacco/nicotine delivery products in a U.S. national sample of women of reproductive age. Weighted data were obtained from women aged 15–44 years who were not currently pregnant in the first wave of the Population Assessment of Health and Tobacco (PATH, 2013–2014) study (N = 12,848). 20.1% of women were current cigarette smokers, 5.9% current e-cigarette users, 4.9% current cigar smokers, and 6.5% current hookah users. Prevalence of current use of other tobacco products was
Using information theoretic learning techniques to train neural networks

This paper describes a method to train a multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network using Information Theoretic Learning (ITL) techniques. The backpropagation algorithm, which is used to train MLPs, seeks to minimize the mean square error (MSE) between the output of the neural network and the target values. This paper describes a method to train MLPs by utilizing the minimum error entropy (MEE) of the error samples. The MSE is a second order statistic whereas the MEE uses the probability density function of the error samples. Therefore, the MEE technique uses higher order statistical information from the error samples to adapt the weights of the neural network. When the error distribution is non-gaussian, higher order statistical information can lead to faster training and smaller residual training error.
Low Calorie Diets and Obesity

Obesity is a multifactorial disease that is difficult to treat. Genetic factors play a major role in the etiology, as do alterations of both energy intake and energy expenditure. The fat content of the diet influences complications and response to treatment. Diets containing 400 to 1400 kcal per day may rapidly improve complications of obesity such as diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and sleep apnea; although complications of dieting include gout, gallstones, cardiac arrhythmias, and sudden death. The use of very low calorie diets should be restricted to very obese patients and requires close follow up. It is clear that successful treatment of obesity requires a long term change in dietary and exercise habits and continued psychological support. More research is needed into the mechanisms of obesity to facilitate development of better treatment modalities.
Use and Abuse of EIS in Studying the Mechanisms of CO2/H2S Corrosion of Mild Steel

Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) is a powerful transient technique which enables an insight into the corrosion process not easily obtained by other predominantly DC techniques. However the EIS technique presents a large challenge both from a theoretical as well as an experimental point of view. Collecting accurate EIS raw data is not easy as EIS is plagues with errors not seen by the DC techniques. Building mechanistic models to capture the EIS data is a very complex task which enables extraction of valuable information about the corrosion process, however the time and effort investment required is very large. In this study of CO2/H2S corrosion of mild steel it was found that a “minor” detail in the experimental set-up caused erroneous acquisition of EIS raw data. These data were “successfully” modeled by using a complex electrochemical theory, which appeared plausible. When the experimental mistake was discovered the EIS data were retaken, the analysis was redone and the conclusions about the corrosion process were completely revised.
Redesigning Prostate Cancer Screening Strategies to Reduce Overdiagnosis.

It is remarkable that even though 30 years have passed since the introduction of prostate-specific antigen (PSA)2 into US clinical practice, researchers and clinicians are still debating its value for prostate cancer screening. The US Preventive Services Task Force has seesawed from stating that PSA testing was a personal decision for the individual man in 2008, to concluding “moderate or high certainty that … the harms outweigh the benefits” in 2012, to recommending shared decision-making once again in 2018 (1). In most industrialized countries, government-sanctioned guideline groups recommend against population-based screening, yet PSA testing remains common in everyday practice throughout the Western world. My own view is that the PSA debate has lost the forest for the trees. White papers and recommendation statements focus on subtle points of scientific methodology—such as whether postrandomization consent results in the loss of allocation concealment—while giving sparse attention to some larger facts and principles. Here, I lay out 3 simple, established, and accepted propositions about PSA screening and argue that these lead to some straightforward conclusions. For many years, it was open to reasonable debate as to whether PSA screening did, in fact, reduce prostate cancer mortality. Recent data have ended this debate. There has been only 1 methodologically acceptable randomized trial of PSA screening, the European Randomised Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC), and this trial clearly showed a reduction in prostate cancer mortality (2). Similarly, recent US population trends showing reductions of 40% to 50% in prostate cancer mortality since the pre-PSA era cannot be explained without reference to a screening effect (3). The harms of PSA screening, on the other hand, are well known. Prostate cancer generally has a very indolent course, such that a large proportion of screen-detected cancers would never have been diagnosed during the patient's …
Human ALKBH3-induced m1A demethylation increases the CSF-1 mRNA stability in breast and ovarian cancer cells.

Abstract In ovarian and breast cancers, the actions of the cytokine CSF-1 lead to poor prognosis. CSF-1 expression can be regulated post-transcriptionally. RNA methylation is another layer of posttranscriptional regulation. The methylation of N1 atom of adenine (m1A) results in a conformational change of RNA which regulates translational efficiency. Our study indicates that the m1A is also involved in the CSF-1 mRNA decay. The alteration of ALKBH3 expression, an m1A demethylase, regulates the CSF-1 mRNA stability. Demethylation of m1A by ALKBH3 increases the half-life of CSF-1 mRNA without affecting the translation efficiency. The m1A in CSF-1 mRNA is mapped in the 5′UTR near the translation initiation site. YTHDF2, a known m6A reader which interacts with the CCR4-NOT deadenylation complex, is not the reader of m1A-containing CSF-1 mRNA. Overexpression of ALKBH3 increases CSF-1 expression and the degree of cancer cell invasiveness without affecting cell proliferation or migration. Collectively, we showed that CSF-1 mRNA decay can be regulated at an epigenetic level, and that alteration of the N1‑methylation status leads to phenotypic changes in cancer cell behavior.
Estimation of Intraoperative Stimulation Threshold of the Facial Nerve in Patients Undergoing Microvascular Decompression.

Introduction Facial weakness can result from surgical manipulation of the facial nerve. Intraoperative neuromonitoring reduces functional impairment but no clear guidelines exist regarding interpretation of intraoperative electrophysiological results. Most studies describe subjects with facial nerves encumbered by tumors or those with various grades of facial nerve weakness. We sought to obtain the neurophysiological parameters and stimulation threshold following intraoperative facial nerve triggered electromyography (t-EMG) stimulation during microvascular decompression for trigeminal neuralgia to characterize the response of normal facial nerves via t-EMG. Methods Facial nerve t-EMG stimulation was performed in seven patients undergoing microvascular decompression for trigeminal neuralgia. Using constant current stimulation, single stimulation pulses of 0.025 to 0.2 mA intensity were applied to the proximal facial nerve. Compound muscle action potentials, duration to onset, and termination of t-EMG responses were recorded for the orbicularis oculi and mentalis muscles. Patients were evaluated for facial weakness following the surgical procedure. Results Quantifiable t-EMG responses were generated in response to all tested stimulation currents of 0.025, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.2 mA in both muscles, indicating effective nerve conduction. No patients developed facial weakness postoperatively. Conclusions The presence of t-EMG amplitudes in response to 0.025 mA suggests that facial nerve conduction can take place at lower stimulation intensities than previously reported in patients with tumor burden. Proximal facial nerve stimulation that yields responses with thresholds less than 0.05 mA may be a preferred reference baseline for surgical procedures within the cerebellopontine angle to prevent iatrogenic injury.
Bounded UDE-based Controller for Systems with Input Constraints

The uncertainty and disturbance estimator (UDE)-based control is a robust control method, which is proposed as a replacement of the time-delay controller (TDC). With the filter design in the UDE-based controller, the challenging problem of designing a robust controller is converted into designing a filter. In this paper, a bounded UDE-based control is developed to deal with systems subject to uncertainties, disturbances and input constraints. The bounded controller output is achieved through nonlinear Lyapunov analysis, and an additional time-varying variable is introduced into the error dynamics to naturally avoid the integrator windup. The boundedness design is embedded into the existing UDE framework to form a bounded UDE-based controller without integrator windup via a simple structure and clear guidelines of parameter selections. Both theoretical analysis and simulation studies are provided to validate the proposed design.
Assessing student expectations and perceptions of a short-term international service-learning experience

Objectives Despite nursing students' need for cultural education, few studies have measured what students expect from international service-learning experiences and how their perceptions of the actual experience compare to these expectations. To increase understanding of global nursing experiences, the purpose of this study was to examine the similarities and differences between nursing students' anticipated (pre-travel) personal and professional developmental expectations and reported (posttravel) personal and developmental outcomes. Design This study employed a mixed descriptive research design. Quantitative data was secured through survey methodology. Written responses to open-ended questions provided qualitative data for analysis. Sample Between 2012 and 2017, 43 undergraduate and graduate nursing students at a Midwestern university completed surveys and narratives about their participation in an international service-learning course in Kenya. Results Students' anticipated learning was achieved through their international experiences. Participants also experienced personal growth, professional development, cultural competency enhancement, and transformation from the educational experience. They also described how their experiences would change their personal and professional lives. Conclusion The depth and breadth of the growth and learning described by students is consistent with the expectations of high-impact educational practices.
“Silence Is Praise to Thee”: The Name YHWH in the Negative Theology of Medieval Judaism

This chapter examines the critique of three medieval negative theologians with regard to the Name. It begins by illustrating the efforts of R. Bahya Ibn Paqudah and R. Abraham Ibn Daud to abolish the status of YHWH as a proper name. I show how these two thinkers interpreted YHWH as either a common name or a homonym (Ibn Daud), or a mere arbitrary sign (Ibn Paqudah). The chapter then contrasts these views to Maimonides’ audacious proposal in chapters 61–63 in part I of The Guide for the Perplexed. By denying YHWH any grammatical connections to natural language, Maimonides gave this name the status of a Kripkean “rigid designator”. As a rigid designator, the name YHWH succeeds in pointing directly at the named entity—God—without describing Him.