cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Minimum effective bolus dose of oxytocin during elective Caesarean delivery

Background The aim of this study was to determine the lowest effective bolus dose of oxytocin to produce adequate uterine tone (UT) during elective Caesarean delivery (CD). Methods Seventy-five pregnant patients undergoing elective CD under spinal anaesthesia were randomized to receive oxytocin (0.5, 1, 3, 5 units) or placebo. UT was assessed by a blinded obstetrician as either adequate or inadequate, and using a verbal numerical scale score (0–10; 0, no UT; 10, optimal UT) at 2, 3, 6, and 9 min after oxytocin administration. Minimum effective doses of oxytocin were analysed (ED50 and ED95) using logistic regression. Oxytocin-related side-effects (including hypotension) were recorded. Results There were no significant differences in the prevalence of adequate UT among the study groups at 2 min (73%, 100%, 93%, 100%, and 93% for 0, 0.5, 1, 3, and 5 units oxytocin, respectively). The high prevalence of adequate UT after placebo and low-dose oxytocin precluded determination of the ED50 and ED95. UT scores were significantly lower in patients receiving 0 unit oxytocin at 2 and 3 min compared with 3 and 5 units oxytocin (P Conclusions The routine use of 5 units oxytocin during elective CD can no longer be recommended, as adequate UT can occur with lower doses of oxytocin (0.5–3 units).
Noninvasive assessment of vascular mechanics in mice

With the growth of genetic engineering, mice have become common as models of human diseases. Because of the small size and high heart rates in mice, high spatial and temporal resolutions are required for cardiovascular measurements. We have developed and applied high-resolution Doppler probes and signal processing to measure blood velocity in the heart and peripheral vessels of anesthetized mice noninvasively. We can measure velocity pulse arrival times for determining pulse-wave velocity and arterial stiffness; peripheral velocity waveforms as indices of arterial resistance, compliance, and wave reflections; and tail artery velocity for determining systolic and diastolic blood pressure using a tail-cuff. These noninvasive methods are convenient and easy to apply and have been used to detect and evaluate numerous cardiovascular phenotypes in mutant mice.
Efficient Digital System Design Methodology with SystemC Register Transfer Level Modeling

In this competitive industrial market, maximizing time compression for new product development and release is paramount to achieving and sustaining strategic position. Designing applications for complex integrated circuits (IC) composed of tens of millions of transistors is the norm. These systems are composed of complex hardware modules integrated to create a System-On-Chip (SoCs) design. In today?s technology, Register Transfer Level (RTL) digital system designs and associated modeling of complex ICs have been based on two prominent hardware description language (HDLs)s known as VHDL and Verilog. However, a new arising HDL language being integrated in the design of these complex system is known as SystemC. The authors will discuss the digital designs around SystemC.
Cephalometric and fiberoptic evaluation as a case-selection technique for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS).

In order to obtain relatively simple and useful parameters to estimate the severity of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), cephalometric and fiberoptic studies were performed in 64 clinical cases previously diagnosed with either OSAS or snoring. Fourteen cephalometric parameters, 13 parameters derived from physical examination and 18 fiberoptic parameters were compared with the apnea index (AI), the apnea-hypopnea index and lowest SaO2 values. Statistically significant correlations were found between the Al and the shortest linear distance from the posterior line of the soft palate to the posterior pharyngeal wall measured along a line parallel to the supramentale-Gonion line (PAS-epipharynx distance), the distance from the mandibular plane to the most anterior and superior point on the body of the hyoid bone obtained from cephalometry (MP-H distance) and the degree of redundancy of mucosa in the arytenoid/aryepiglottic fold obtained from videoendoscopy. An increased Al was observed when the PAS-epipharynx distance was 27.4 mm and the mucosa of the arytenoid/aryepiglottic fold was markedly redundant. As these three parameters are relatively easy to obtain on an outpatient basis, it is suggested that they could be used in an outpatient setting to provide a good prediction of the severity of OSAS.
Emerging Lessons From The Drug Effectiveness Review Project

The Drug Effectiveness Review Project (DERP) is an alliance of fifteen states and two private organizations, which have pooled resources to synthesize and judge clinical evidence for drug-class reviews. The experience shines a bright light on challenges involved in implementing an evidence-based medicine process to inform drug formulary decisions: When should evidence reviewers accept surrogate markers and assume therapeutic class effects? How open and participatory should review procedures be? Should reviewers consider cost-effectiveness information? What is the appropriate role of the public sector in judging evidence? The DERP illustrates that attempts to undertake evidence-based reviews, apart from the methods themselves, which continue to evolve, involve questions of organization, process, and leadership.
Grain Price Expectations of Illinois Farmers and Grain Merchandisers

The study's purpose is to measure the extent to which futures and option prices reflect the subjective price distribution of a subset of market participants, farmers, and grain merchandisers in Illinois. Findings suggest that in most instances the futures price is an appropriate proxy for expected price. However, volatilities implied by option premia usually overestimate the subjective variances of producers and merchandisers. These differences between individual and market expectations of variance are consistent with findings of overconfidence in the psychology literature and should be considered by analysts when making observations about hedging decisions and risk aversion.
Adapting Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for Young Children with Separation Anxiety Disorder.

Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is currently the most prevalent, yet most under-researched anxiety disorder in childhood. To date, there have been few studies investigating the efficacy of interventions for young children with SAD. The primary purpose of this paper is to describe the process of tailoring Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) for young children aged 4-8 with SAD. The paper provides a theoretical rationale for using PCIT to treat young children with SAD. The first randomized clinical trial for young children with SAD is then described. The paper focuses on the process of adapting PCIT to make it most relevant for children with SAD. The specific challenges and rewards of conducting PCIT with anxious children and their parents are presented.
Leu1283.43 (L128) and Val2476.40 (V247) of CXCR1 Are Critical Amino Acid Residues for G Protein Coupling and Receptor Activation

CXCR1, a classic GPCR that binds IL-8, plays a key role in neutrophil activation and migration by activating phospholipase C (PLC)β through Gα15 and Gαi which generates diacylglycerol and inositol phosphates (IPs). In this study, two conserved amino acid residues of CXCR1 on the transmembrane domain (TM) 3 and TM6, Leu1283.43 (L128) and Val2476.40 (V247), respectively, were selectively substituted with other amino acids to investigate the role of these conserved residues in CXCR1 activation. Although two selective mutants on Leu128, Leu128Ala (L128A) and Leu128Arg (L128R), demonstrated high binding affinity to IL-8, they were not capable of coupling to G proteins and consequently lost the functional response of the receptors. By contrast, among the four mutants at residue Val247 (TM6.40), replacing Val247 with Ala (V247A) and Asn (V247N) led to constitutive activation of mutant receptors when cotransfected with Gα15. The V247N mutant also constitutively activated the Gαi protein. These results indicate that L128 on TM3.43 is involved in G protein coupling and receptor activation but is unimportant for ligand binding. On the other hand, V247 on TM6.40 plays a critical role in maintaining the receptor in the inactive state, and the substitution of V247 impaired the receptor constraint and stabilized an active conformation. Functionally, there was an increase in chemotaxis in response to IL-8 in cells expressing V247A and V247N. Our findings indicate that Leu1283.43 and Val2476.40 are critical for G protein coupling and activation of signaling effectors, providing a valuable insight into the mechanism of CXCR1 activation.
Factors Affecting Pink Discoloration in Annatto‐colored Pasteurized Process Cheese

The effects of cooking temperatures, cooling rates, pH, types of emulsifying salts, age of cheese, and sources of colorant were evaluated. Annatto emulsions showed less stability during continuous heating than annatto solutions or suspensions. Increased cooking temperatures resulted in slight decreases in Hunter a and b values, and overall decreases in hue angles. Emuisifying salt blends with increased amounts of sodium citrate resulted in decreased hue angles. Process cheeses made with more than 25% colored cheese showed lower hue angles than those samples made with uncolored cheese only. Whey powder as a source of added solids in process cheese food promoted discoloration, with acid whey resulting in the most pinking.
CacheCOW: QoS for storage system caches

Managed hosting and enterprise wide resource consolidation trends are increasingly leading to sharing of storage resources across multiple classes, corresponding to different applications/customers, each with a different Quality of Service (QoS) requirement. To enable a storage system to meet diverse QoS requirements, we present two algorithms for dynamically allocating cache space among multiple classes of workloads. Our algorithms dynamically adapt the cache space allocated to each class depending upon the observed response time, the temporal locality of reference, and the arrival pattern for each class. Using trace driven simulations collected from large storage system installations, we experimentally demonstrate the following properties of CacheCOW. First, the CacheCOW algorithms enable a storage cache to meet the feasible QoS requirements that class-unaware cache management algorithms such as LRU do not. Second, if an offline, static partitioning of the cache can meet the QoS requirements, our algorithms also meet them and discover the allocations online. Third, the CacheCOW allocations achieve the same feasibility region as that of the offline static algorithms. Finally, the algorithms not only meet the QoS requirements, but also increase the throughput by achieving a higher hit rate whenever feasible.
Austria and the Danubian Principalities, 1853–1856

One of the views most widely encountered in the literature on the Crimean War is that Austrian policy aimed at acquiring the Danubian Principalities in one form or another. Austria's purposes were not merely defensive, but expansionist. She wanted to replace the existing Russian protectorate by an exclusive protectorate of her own, to make herself the heir to the Ottoman Sultan's suzerain rights, and thereby pave the way to ultimate annexation. Or, if this proved impossible, she wanted at least to exercise an exclusive political influence in the Principalities, and to incorporate them permanently into her economic sphere and military system. The evidence for this view seems, on the surface, quite impressive. For Austria did force Russia to evacuate the Principalities by diplomatic ultimatum and military demonstration in the summer of 1854, and immediately moved in to occupy them herself. Her military commanders attempted to exclude the Turks from a share in the occupation, and failing this, tried to limit the Turkish role as much as possible. During the occupation, they interfered in matters of local administration and supported officials friendly to Austria against the wishes of the Turks and the local magnates. Austria also undertook the development of roads and a telegraph system, surveying, and other projects designed to aid her economic penetration of the territory. Her occupation was prolonged until 1857, and ended then only under heavy pressure from the Western Powers.
Treating Acute Stroke Patients With Intravenous tPA The OSF Stroke Network Experience

Background and Purpose—Since the FDA approved tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) in 1996 for acute ischemic stroke, few data have been obtained during the postmarketing phase, and applicability in rural hospitals does not exist. We attempt to examine the safety and outcome of intravenous tPA for acute ischemic stroke in the OSF Stroke Network. Methods—Fifty-seven consecutive patients treated with tPA were examined from June 1996 through December 1998. Admission and discharge National Institute of Health Stroke Scales (NIHSS), modified Rankin Scales (MRS), and discharge disposition, as well as intracerebral hemorrhage and mortality rates, were compared. Results—Of 20 network hospitals, 12 had the experience of administering tPA. No statistically significant differences in the variables recorded were observed for patients treated at the community hospitals versus those who received tPA at the tertiary medical center. In 35% of patients, tPA was initiated by an emergency room or primary care physician in con...
Disentangling the Interaction of Migration, Mobility, and Labor-Force Participation:

The authors examine the impact of mobility on the labor-force status of two-earner households in the United States, in a longitudinal context. There has recently been a resurgence of interest within industry and academia in the impact of family migration on the labor-force status of women, and on dual-earner families in general. Much of the research in this field has documented the disruptive effects of migration on the labor-force status of women, particularly with respect to unemployment, under-employment, and interrupted careers. However, there is another body of research that has challenged the disruption assumption with findings that many women benefit from family migration. The conflicting results persist when the modeling procedures account for the selectivity of migrants. Missing from the literature is a comparison of the impact of mobility on the labor-force status of men as well as women at varying geographical scales. The authors have used a new methodology to extend previous work on the impact...
A thermodynamics based damage mechanics constitutive model for low cycle fatigue analysis of microelectronics solder joints incorporating size effects

Below certain length scales and in the presence of a non-uniform plastic strain field the mechanical behavior of many metals and its alloys is substantially different from that in bulk specimens. In particular, an increase in resistance with decreasing size has been observed in Pb/Sn eutectic solder alloys which are extensively used in microelectronics packaging interconnects. Due to the high homologous temperature, the Pb/Sn solder exhibits creep–fatigue interaction and significant time, temperature, stress and rate dependent material characteristics. The simultaneous consideration of all the above mentioned factors makes constitutive modeling an extremely difficult task. In this paper, a viscoplastic constitutive model unified with a thermodynamics based damage evolution model is embedded into a couple stress framework in order to simulate low cycle fatigue response coupled to size effects. The model is implemented into commercial finite element code ABAQUS. The microbending experiment on thin nickel foils is used to validate the model. Analyses are performed on a thin layer solder joint in bending under cyclic loading conditions. � 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Risk Factors and Outcome of Fontan-Associated Plastic Bronchitis: A Case-Control Study

Background-—The onset of plastic bronchitis (PB) can be debilitating in survivors of Fontan surgery. The rarity of this complication makes designing studies to understand risk factors for PB challenging. This 2-center case-control study aimed to describe patient outcomes and to assess the association of antecedent patient factors with PB development. Methods and Results-—Using center registries, PB patients (n=25) were matched 1:2 to non-PB Fontans (n=43) by date of Fontan surgery and center. The groups were compared for baseline characteristics. Association of patient characteristics with PB was assessed using logistic regression and of potential risk factors with onset of PB using time-to-event analyses. The median time from Fontan to PB diagnosis was 2.5 years. Overall, 12/25 PB patients died or underwent heart transplant; the median transplantfree survival was 8.3 years after diagnosis. Factors associated with developing PB included post-surgical chylothorax (44% PB versus 10% control; odds ratio [OR] 7.3; P=0.003), chest tube (CT) duration at stage 2 (P=0.04) and Fontan (P=0.004), and postoperative ascites (36% PB versus 12% control; OR 4.2; P=0.003). CT drainage >13 days at Fontan was associated with earlier PB onset (P=0.04). Early-onset PB was associated with an increased risk of death (OR 5.0; P=0.002). Conclusions-—PB is a life-threatening disorder. A longer duration of CT drainage after surgery, chylothorax, and development of ascites are all associated with developing PB. Understanding the pathophysiology of peri-operative complications in individual patients and using targeted interventions may delay the onset of the PB phenotype. (J Am Heart Assoc. 2014;3:e000865 doi: 10.1161/JAHA.114.000865)
On good and bad forms of medicalization.

The ongoing ‘enhancement’ debate pits critics of new self-shaping technologies against enthusiasts. One important thread of that debate concerns medicalization, the process whereby ‘non-medical’ problems become framed as ‘medical’ problems. In this paper I consider the charge of medicalization, which critics often level at new forms of technological self-shaping, and explain how that charge can illuminate – and obfuscate. Then, more briefly, I examine the charge of pharmacological Calvinism, which enthusiasts, in their support of technological self-shaping, often level at critics. And I suggest how that charge, too, can illuminate and obfuscate. Exploring the broad charge of medicalization and the narrower counter charge of pharmacological Calvinism leads me to conclude that, as satisfying as it can be to level one of those charges at our intellectual opponents, and as tempting as it is to lie down and rest with our favorite insight, we need to gather the energy to have a conversation about the difference between good and bad forms of medicalization. Specifically, I suggest that if we consider the ‘medicalization of love,’ we can see why critics of and enthusiasts about technological self-shaping should want (and in some cases have already begun) to distinguish between good and bad forms of such medicalization.
Inflammasome-regulated cytokines are critical mediators of acute lung injury.

Rationale: Despite advances in clinical management, there are currently no reliable diagnostic and therapeutic targets for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The inflammasome/caspase-1 pathway regulates the maturation and secretion of proinflammatory cytokines (e.g., IL-18). IL-18 is associated with injury in animal models of systemic inflammation.Objectives: We sought to determine the contribution of the inflammasome pathway in experimental acute lung injury and human ARDS.Methods: We performed comprehensive gene expression profiling on peripheral blood from patients with critical illness. Gene expression changes were assessed using real-time polymerase chain reaction, and IL-18 levels were measured in the plasma of the critically ill patients. Wild-type mice or mice genetically deficient in IL-18 or caspase-1 were mechanically ventilated using moderate tidal volume (12 ml/kg). Lung injury parameters were assessed in lung tissue, serum, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid.Measurements and Main Resu...
Adapted Use of Social Studies Textbooks in Elementary Classrooms Views of Classroom Teachers

Twenty-two classroom teachers (grades 1 through 7) were interviewed to obtain information about how they use their social studies textbooks, the problems they experience, and their perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of the texts. Teachers were also asked to describe the modifications or adaptations they made to help students who might have difficulty understanding the textbook. Results indicated that although teachers liked having the textbook as a resource, they were concerned about content and comprehensibility. Teachers tended to solve the problem of textbook difficulty in three ways: Helping students to cope with the textbook, deemphasizing the textbook, or reinforcing and extending textbook information.
The Influence of Instructional Variables and Task Constraints on Handwriting Performance

ABSTRACT Handwriting is used throughout the school day and is important to demonstrate knowledge. This research evaluated how handwriting instructional practices and intrinsic and extrinsic factors in actual classroom settings impacted learning handwriting over the course of the school year. Findings indicated that extrinsic factors (educational instructional practices, spatial constraints) and intrinsic factors (task cognitive complexity) influenced handwriting performance, but not always in the same way for writing product and process measures. In addition, stronger relationships were found between writing process measures and handwriting fluency than legibility. Even though handwriting improved over the school year, some instructional practices resulted in a widening performance gap as the school year progressed. The impact of these findings for implementing and differentiating handwriting instruction and guiding future research is discussed.
Ground Water-Surface Water Interface (GWSWI) Modeling: Recent Advances and Future Challenges

Ground water-surface water interface (GWSWI) represents the interconnection of ground water and surface water in the hydrologic continuum. Interactions between these two water masses result in unique gradients and/or transitions of contaminant concentration profiles, biological populations, chemistry, flow, mixing characteristics, redox potential, dissolved oxygen, organic content, and thermal properties across GWSWI. In addition, many unique biogeochemical processes occur in this zone that can have significant impact on the fate and transport of contaminants across the GWSWI. Prediction of the distribution and concentrations of contaminants across the GWSWI is challenging, but is essential for evaluating human health and environmental risk, including remedial alternatives at contaminated sites. The objective of this paper is to review and assess existing modeling capabilities to recognize (a) the need for development of new modeling tools, (b) knowledge gaps, and (c) challenges required to address contaminant transport within GWSWI. Currently, the most important needs for future model development are, (a) linkage between ground water and surface water models; (b) integration of process-level models within the framework of large-scale models; and (c) understanding ground water-surface water interactions within a spatial and temporal framework.
The Contribution of Organized Roll Vortices to the Surface Wind Vector in Baroclinic Conditions

Abstract Observations show that, for a given geostrophic forcing, baroclinity acting on the planetary boundary layer produces a nearly sinusoidal modification of the near-surface wind. Compared to barotropic conditions the speed is enhanced in the direction of the thermal wind and the cross-isobar angle increases (decreases) in cold (warm) advection. These modifications are asymmetric with respect to the thermal wind orientation. Two-layer similarity models that match a stratification-dependent surface layer to a stratification and baroclinity dependent Ekman layer simulate aspects of this asymmetric baroclinic modification if the cold advection conditions are more unstably stratified than the warm advection conditions. The authors demonstrate that roll vortices in a baroclinic planetary boundary layer produce an asymmetric surface wind modification in neutral stratification that can work in concert with the coupling between stratification and baroclinity to enhance the net effect of baroclinity on the su...
Control of Avian Mycoplasma Infections in Commercial Poultry

SUMMARY. Control of pathogenic avian mycoplasmas can consist of one of three general approaches: Maintaining flocks free of infection, medication, or vaccination. Maintaining flocks free of pathogenic mycoplasmas consists of maintaining replacements from mycoplasma-free sources in a single-age, all-in all-out management system. Good biosecurity and an effective monitoring system are necessary aspects of this program. Medication can be very useful in preventing clinical signs and lesions, as well as economic losses, but cannot be used to eliminate infection from a flock and is therefore not a satisfactory long-term solution. Vaccination against Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) or M. synoviae (MS) can be a useful long-term solution in situations where maintaining flocks free of infection is not feasible, especially on multi-age commercial egg production sites.
Treatment of ADHD: Guanfacine Extended Release in ADHD

Investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, performed a multicenter, 9-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-optimization study of guanfacine extended release (GXR, <4 mg/d) adjunctive to a long-acting psychostimulant for ADHD continued in 461 subjects.
Startup of the Early 12-GeV Experiments at Jefferson Lab

Protons and neutrons constitute the building blocks of normal matter but despite long investigation we still remain far from understanding the intricacies and mysteries of their inner structure. Jefferson Lab's primary mission is to expand our knowledge of the universe by studying the emergence of nucleons and nuclei and their interactions from the properties and dynamics of quarks and gluons in Quantum Chromo Dynamics (QCD).
Dental Students’ Attitudes Toward Homeless People While Providing Oral Health Care

Homeless people have multiple barriers in accessing health care services, and health care providers’ negative attitudes toward homeless people have been suggested as part of the problem. Studies on dental students’ attitudes toward homeless people are lacking, so our aim was to understand dental students’ attitudes. Dental students under the supervision of faculty members spent one day per week for seven weeks at the University of Southern California Union Rescue Mission Dental Clinic providing comprehensive dental services to homeless patients. Students completed the attitudes towards the homeless questionnaire (ATHQ) before and after the rotation with an experience evaluation questionnaire at the end. Data were collected over two years. A total of 242 students completed the questionnaires. The score on the ATHQ after rotation increased slightly but statistically significantly (70.36 pretest/71.38 posttest, P=0.01). Students’ age, gender, and prior contact with the homeless population were not related to their attitudes toward homeless patients. Eighty-five percent agreed that the rotation made them feel more comfortable treating homeless patients, and 98 percent agreed that the patients made their experience enjoyable. Results suggest that dental students had positive attitudes toward the homeless and their scores on the ATHQ improved slightly after providing care.
Rectal Cancer and Anal Sphincter Disorders

With increasing recognition of the importance of nodal status in therapeutic decision making for rectal cancer, EUS-FNA has emerged as an essential component of loco-regional staging. EUS-FNA has proven useful in this setting and accurately identifies iliac vessel node disease. This upstages 7 % of primary rectal cancer patients, thereby substantially altering management. While EUS staging following neoadjuvant therapy should be approached with caution, there is a clear benefit in the postoperative surveillance period to biopsy the extramural perirectal space to establish local disease recurrence.
Review of Kerma-Area Product and total energy incident on patients in radiography, mammography and CT

This study estimated the energy incident on patients in radiography, mammography and CT using data related to X-ray beam quantity and quality. The total X-ray beam quantity is the average Air Kerma multiplied by the X-ray beam area and expressed as the Kerma-Area Product (Gy cm(-2)). The X-ray beam quality primarily depends on the target material (and anode angle), X-ray voltage (and ripple) as well as X-ray beam filtration. For any X-ray spectra, dividing total energy (fluence × mean energy) by the X-ray beam Kerma-Area Product yields the energy per Kerma-Area Product value (e/KAP). Published data on X-ray spectra characteristics and energy fluence per Air Kerma conversion factors were used to determine e/KAP factors. In radiography, e/KAP increased from 6 mJ Gy(-1) cm(-2) at the lowest X-ray tube voltage (50 kV) to 25 mJ Gy(-1) cm(-2) at the highest X-ray tube voltage (140 kV). e/KAP values ranged between 1 and 5 mJ Gy(-1) cm(-2) in mammography and between 24 and 42 mJ Gy(-1) cm(-2) in CT. Changes in waveform ripple resulted in variations in e/KAP of up to 15 %, similar to the effect of changes resulting in the choice of anode angle. For monoenergetic X-ray photons, there was a sigmoidal-type increase in e/KAP from 2 mJ Gy(-1) cm(-2) at 20 keV to 42 mJ Gy(-1) cm(-2) at 80 keV. However, between 80 and 150 keV, the e/KAP shows variations with changing photon energy of <10 %. Taking the average spectrum energy to consist of monoenergetic X rays generally overestimates the true value of e/KAP. This study illustrated that the energy incident on a patient in any area of radiological imaging can be estimated from the total X-ray beam intensity (KAP) when X-ray beam quality is taken into account. Energy incident on the patient can be used to estimate the energy absorbed by the patient and the corresponding patient effective dose.
Perceptions of pathology informatics by non-informaticist pathologists and trainees

Background: Although pathology informatics (PI) is essential to modern pathology practice, the field is often poorly understood. Pathologists who have received little to no exposure to informatics, either in training or in practice, may not recognize the roles that informatics serves in pathology. The purpose of this study was to characterize perceptions of PI by noninformatics-oriented pathologists and to do so at two large centers with differing informatics environments. Methods: Pathology trainees and staff at Cleveland Clinic (CC) and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) were surveyed. At MGH, pathology department leadership has promoted a pervasive informatics presence through practice, training, and research. At CC, PI efforts focus on production systems that serve a multi-site integrated health system and a reference laboratory, and on the development of applications oriented to department operations. The survey assessed perceived definition of PI, interest in PI, and perceived utility of PI. Results: The survey was completed by 107 noninformatics-oriented pathologists and trainees. A majority viewed informatics positively. Except among MGH trainees, confusion of PI with information technology (IT) and help desk services was prominent, even in those who indicated they understood informatics. Attendings and trainees indicated desire to learn more about PI. While most acknowledged that having some level of PI knowledge would be professionally useful and advantageous, only a minority plan to utilize it. Conclusions: Informatics is viewed positively by the majority of noninformatics pathologists at two large centers with differing informatics orientations. Differences in departmental informatics culture can be attributed to the varying perceptions of PI by different individuals. Incorrect perceptions exist, such as conflating PI with IT and help desk services, even among those who claim to understand PI. Further efforts by the PI community could address such misperceptions, which could help enable a better understanding of what PI is and is not, and potentially lead to increased acceptance by non-informaticist pathologists.
Preprocedural Transthoracic Echocardiography Can Predict Amplatzer Septal Occluder Device Size for Transcatheter Atrial Septal Defect Closure.

Objective To evaluate whether preprocedural transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) can be used to predict Amplatzer septal occluder (ASO) size for device closure of atrial septal defect (ASD). Design Retrospective review of patients who underwent ASD device closure at our institution between August 2006 and August 2013 was performed. Patients with complex congenital heart disease, devices other than the ASO, multiple devices, or inadequate TTE images were excluded. Those who had transesophageal echocardiography (TEE)-guided device placement were evaluated. A blinded observer reviewed their preprocedural TTE images and applied a scaled formula to predict device size. Results A total of 186 patients underwent ASO placement during the study period, 87 had TEE guidance, of which 45 met inclusion criteria. The mean predicted device size by the scaled formula was 18.0 ± 5.11 mm, compared to the mean implanted device size of 18.8 ± 5.22 mm. The mean absolute difference between each predicted and final deployed device size was 1.44 mm with 95% CI [1.08, 1.81]. The Pearson correlation showed that the predicted device size had a positive correlation coefficient of 0.94. Conclusion Preprocedural TTE assessment of ASD size using a scaling formula in patients with adequate TTE windows can accurately predict ASO device size and aid in device selection.
Study of drug use and HIV /HCV /Syphilis infections among community drug users in Putuo District,Shanghai,2008- 2011

Objective To explore behavior characteristics of drug use and prevalence of HIV/HCV/Syphilis infection among community drug users in Putuo District,Shanghai,2008- 2011. Methods Questionnaire surveys with interview and blood testing were conducted annually during 2008- 2011. Results There were 316,413,473 and 473 cases of community drug users involved in each survey from 2008 to 2011 at Putuo District,respectively. In the community drug users,all 9 kinds of common drugs were used,of which Heroin was mostly used,it took a percentage of 94. 9%,93. 7%, 95. 1% and 96. 8% from 2008 to 2011,respectively. There were 9. 8%,6. 1%,4. 2% and 7. 6% of community drug users used more than two kinds of drugs. The proportion of methamphetamine users were 4. 4%,4. 6%,5. 5% and 5. 9%, rising year by year. The proportions of injecting drugs were 64. 2%,63. 0%,57. 5% and 68. 1%,rising year by year. The proportions of needle sharing for drug injection were 12. 9%,9. 1%,10. 3% and 8. 1%,respectively. From 2008 to 2011, the serum positive rates of anti-HIV IgG were 0. 0%,0. 0%,0. 0%,0. 6%. Positive rates of anti-HCV IgG were 56. 3%, 60. 3%,52. 9%,60. 0% and positive rates of RPR were 6. 7%,6. 3%,3. 6%,8. 0%,respectively. Conclusion Heroin was popular used drugs among community drug users in Shanghai,and the proportion of injecting drug users and HCV / Syphilis were high. HIV / AIDS is in a low prevalence state while epidemic situation is not optimistic.
Analysis of in Vitro Diagnostic Products (IVD) Actual Quality of China

We draw some conclusions that IVD production is vary from areas,usage is imbalanced from different grades hospitals and there are still no integrated state and industry standards of IVD in China,class criterion is complex,repeat operations exist in products registration and re-registration between manufactures and supervision or inspection institutions through questionaries of usage and production of IVD for each province(2009) offered by market supervision office of SFDA.Class criterion of IVD needs to be unified imminently and we hope the state and industry standards of IVD to be issued as soon as possible.
FY14 Progress Report for PL12-LaserSPec SIMS-PD08. Laser Photoionization of Sputtered Neutral atoms in PNNL SIMS and Applications in Nuclear Materials and Environmental Analyses

A continuous wave (CW) Ar ion laser producing photons at 244 nm (doubled from the fundamental wavelength at 488nm) was used to ionize neutrals sputtered from representative lanthanide (neodymium oxide, Nd2O3) and actinide (uranium oxide, U3O8) containing materials in the modified Cameca ims-4f at PNNL.
An Approach not Appealing to Moral Intuition

Sidgwick used his philosophical intuition to reach the three fundamental principles, from which he developed his argument about the foundation of utilitarianism. The reason why Sidgwick believed we could rely on these three ‘intuitive’ principles, while dismissing perceptional and dogmatic intuitionism, was because these three principles use clear and definite terms, because their validity can be repeatedly confirmed by reflection, and because these are presumably accepted by most or all people regardless of the differences in the ethical views they usually hold. However, we may question whether his ‘philosophical intuition’ is really common to us all, and on what grounds we can say so. In replying to this problem, the moral philosopher Richard Mervyn Hare (1919–2002) attempted to develop an ethical theory by appealing only to logic and facts, which we would surely accept as our common basis, and which we can ascertain as being universally valid by observing how we actually behave and how we actually use our language. His argument is also important in that it led him to advocate a version of utilitarianism, taking quite a different route from Sidgwick’s. In this chapter, we will examine Hare’s argument for utilitarianism and compare it with Sidgwick’s analyses.
Trace Amine-Mediated Olfactory Learning and Memory in Mammals and Insects: A Brief Comparative Review

Due to progress in medicine, the human lifespan has increased dramatically in recent decades. However, individuals are now dying from late-onset age-related diseases, which represent a huge economic burden as well as the human suffering. Evidence suggests that olfactory dysfunction becomes more common with advancing age and is an early sign in the course of certain neurological disorders. To investigate the signal transduction mechanisms underlying aging and/or age-related diseases, an efficient animal model system is required. Olfactory signal transduction processes in invertebrates seems to be similar and simpler to those in higher vertebrates. Many insect species are capable of olfactory learning. Like humans, insect olfactory pathways exhibit high degrees of neural plasticity, which can be modulated by trace amines. Due to similarities in cellular and molecular processes, which govern neuronal plasticity, the author proposes insects as a potential and relatively simple model system for understanding human olfactory dysfunction underlying aging and/or neurological disorders.
Bupropion v. Methylphenidate in ADHD

The efficacy of bupropion and methylphenidate in the treatment of ADHD was compared in a double-blind, crossover study of 15 patients (7 to 17 years of age) at the University of Iowa, Iowa City.
Visitors and Voices: A Dialogic Approach to Learning in Science Museums

(2003). Visitors and Voices. Journal of Museum Education: Vol. 28, Sociocultural Perspectives on Museums: Part 2, pp. 3-7.
Male Fertility Preservation: Current Options and Advances in Research

Chemotherapy and radiation treatments for cancer and other conditions can cause permanent infertility. Adult men have the option to cryopreserve a semen sample with sperm prior to treatment and use their sample in the future to have biological children using established assisted reproductive technologies. This option is not available to prepubertal boys who are not yet producing mature sperm. However, these boys do have spermatogonial stem cells in their testes that are poised to initiate sperm production at puberty. Centers in the USA and abroad are actively cryopreserving testicular tissue for prepubertal cancer patients, bone marrow transplant patients, and others in anticipation that stem cell therapies will be available for them in the future. This chapter reviews progress in the development of spermatogonial stem cell transplantation, testicular tissue grafting and xenografting, testicular tissue organ culture, de novo testicular morphogenesis, and pluripotent stem cell-derived gametogenesis.
A feature-preserving mesh denoising filter for 3-D printers

A feature-preserving mesh denoising filter is proposed in the paper for 3-D printers. The whole algorithm contains two steps: non-iterative normal filtering and iterative vertex updating. The basic idea of normal filtering is to minimize the angles between face normals in meshes in flat region. The proposed filter was tested and compared with other mesh denoising filters on simulated noisy mesh models as well as real mesh models. The performance of filters were evaluated based on the edge features from the filtered meshes. The proposed filter is very simple to accomplish, and it shows good performance in both noise removal and edge preservation. We also printed the original noisy mesh and the filtered versions using a 3-D printer and visually checked the quality of the filtered meshes obtained by different filters and we found that the meshes filtered by the proposed filter has the best visual quality.
Patterns of Multiple Emergency Department Visits: Do Primary Care Physicians Matter?

CONTEXT Overutilization and overreliance on Emergency Departments (EDs) as a usual source of care can lead to unnecessarily high costs and undesirable consequences, such as a gap in care coordination and inadequate provision of preventive care. OBJECTIVE To identify factors associated with multiple ED visits by patients, in particular, the impact of primary care physicians (PCPs) on their patients' multiple ED visit rates. DESIGN Geisinger Health Plan claims data among adult patients who averaged more than 1 ED visit within a 12-month period between 2013 and 2014 were obtained (N = 20,351). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Rate of ED visits. Three linear regression models using patient characteristics and utilization patterns as covariates along with PCP fixed effects were estimated to explain the variation in the multiple ED visit rates. RESULTS Multiple ED visits were significantly associated with younger age (18-39 years), having Medicaid insurance, and greater comorbidity. Higher rates of physician office visits and inpatient admissions were also associated with higher rates of multiple ED visits. Accounting for PCP characteristics only marginally improved the explained variation (R2 increased from 0.14 to 0.16). CONCLUSIONS Multiple ED visit patterns are likely driven by patients' health conditions and care needs rather than by their PCPs. Multiple ED visits also appear to be complementary, rather than substitutionary, to PCP visits, suggesting that PCP-focused interventions aimed at reducing ED use are unlikely to have a major impact.
Exotic Earthworms Decrease Cd, Hg, and Pb Pools in Upland Forest Soils of Vermont and New Hampshire USA

Exotic earthworms are present in the forests of northeastern USA, yet few studies have documented their effects on pollutant metals in soil. The objective of this study was to identify if Cd, Hg, and Pb strong-acid extractable concentrations and pools (bulk inventories) in forest soils decreased with the presence of exotic earthworms. We compared ‘Low Earthworm Abundance’ (LEA) sites (≤10 g m−2 earthworms, n = 13) and ‘High Earthworm Abundance’ (HEA) (>10 g m−2 earthworms, n = 17) sites at five watersheds across Vermont and New Hampshire. Organic horizon Cd, Hg, and Pb concentrations were lower at HEA than LEA sites. Organic horizon and total soil pools of Cd and Hg were negatively correlated with earthworm biomass. Soil profile Cd and Hg concentrations were lower at HEA than LEA sites. Our results suggest earthworms are decreasing accumulation of Cd, Hg, and Pb in forest soils, potentially via greater mobilization through organic matter disruption or bioaccumulation.
Reefer madness or much ado about nothing? Cannabis legalization outcomes among young adults in the United States.

Abstract In 2012, Colorado became one of the first two U.S. States to legalize cannabis for recreational use for adults 21 and older. Given that cannabis use holds potential physical and mental health risks, particularly among adolescent users, concerns have grown regarding changes in use following this change in policy. Studies examining medical cannabis legalization have found inconsistent changes in cannabis use and prevalence of dependence following medical implementation. However, recreational legalization holds potential unique changes, such as increased availability and social acceptance, as well as decreased price and perceived harm of use. There also may be increased interest in moving to Colorado related to the changes in cannabis laws. Based on past literature, two hypotheses were made for this study. First, college student cannabis use would increase after recreational legalization, however just for those 21 years old and older. Second, there would be a positive relation between the influence of cannabis legislation on out-of-State student's decision to attend a Colorado university and their cannabis use. Data from 5241 undergraduate students was available to test study hypotheses using Pearson's Chi-square, negative binomial regressions, and path analysis. Results indicated that cannabis use increased since recreational legalization for all students, but more so for those over 21 years. No differences in past month use frequency were found between pre- and post-legalization. Influence of cannabis laws on non-resident student's decision to attend a Colorado college predicted lifetime and past 30-day use. Additionally, out-of-State students reported higher past 30-day use than in-State students. These findings may help inform other States considering recreational legalization of potential outcomes, as well as potential interventions.
Social access control for social media using shared knowledge questions

Managing privacy of online content is difficult. We present a simple social access control where sharers specify test questions of shared knowledge, such as “what is our school mascot,” instead of creating authenticated accounts and specifying explicit access control rules for all potential accessors. This demo will let attendees interact with our Facebook prototype. We will also explain prior studies that elucidate the context of photo sharing security, gauge the difficulty of creating shared knowledge questions, measure their resilience to adversarial attack, and evaluate users’ abilities to understand and predict this resilience.
Three Proposals for Renewing CME

Three proposals for the restructuring of the continuing medical education process are presented. Virtual Mentor is a monthly bioethics journal published by the American Medical Association.
Advances in Peptide and Protein Sequencing by High Performance Tandem Mass Spectrometry

The development of fast atom bombardment (FAB) ionization has made it possible to obtain mass spectrometric information from peptides and small proteins (Barber et al 1981). This ionization involves transfer of a proton from a liquid matrix, such as glycerol or another hydroxylated liquid of low vapor pressure, to produce a protonated molecular ion, (M+H)+, which permits the determination of the molecular weight of the compound of interest with an accuracy of a fraction of a mass unit if a double focussing mass spectrometer is used. There is some fragmentation but the resulting signals are of low intensity and often not easily recognized among the many peaks in the spectrum which are due to the matrix.