cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Clinical physiology - pharmacology: The wet brain: Drug-induced hyponatremia

A 72-year-old male has a history of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, ischemic cardiomyopathy and degenerative osteoarthritis. He is treated with digoxin 0.25 mg qd, hydrochlorothiazide 50 mg qd, chlorpropamide 250 mg qd, propranolol 120 mg bid, ibuprofen 400 mg qid and amitriptyline 25 mg tid. His past medical history is also significant for prostatism with overflow incontinence and endogenous depression. Over a four-week period he develops memory loss for recent and past events, occasional urinary incontinence, three episodes of falling and evidence of weight loss. Is there sufficient evidence in the history to implicate a reversible form of memory loss? If yes, does the index of suspicion point to (a) normal pressure hydrocephalus, (b) meningioma, (c) aneurysm, (d) multiple medications? First, it is necessary to understand that of all of the secondary or reversible forms of dementia, medications comprise the number one cause. In this person's history it is most likely that he has a secondary or reversible form of dementia due to at least one and, possibly, more medications. The physical exam revealed a cachectic and illappearing elderly male. He was lethargic but arousable. His mucous membranes, axillae and groins were moist. Blood pressure taken in the supine position was 150/80. His pulse was 77 and regular. The lungs were clear. His heart was enlarged percussion to the anterior axillary line and was associated with an $3S4 gallop. Examination of the abdomen revealed a palpable liver edge three centimeters below the right costal margin and a palpable liver edge three centimeters below the right costal margin and a palpable urinary bladder up to the umbilicus. The stool was heme positive. He had no edema. Neurological examination revealed the patient to be oriented to person and place but he was easily confused and occasionally replied incoherently. His strength was symmetrical and intact. The deep tendon reflexes were diffusely decreased but there was no B abinski reflex, tremor or asterixis. Do the physical findings confirm a dementia or an acute confusional state (delirium)? The physical exam points more to an acute confusional state which could be superimposed on a dementia process. One cannot ascertain this in the setting of delirium. One needs to find the cause of the delirium which in this case may be drugs or a surgically correctable lesion and then once rectified, neuropsychological testing could be performed to elucidate the presence of primary dementia, i.e. Alzheirner's, Binswanger's, etc. Laboratory evaluation revealed: Bicarbonate 34.5 mEq/L Sodium 102 meq/1 Chloride 51 meq/1 Bicarbonate 34.5 mEq/L Potassium 2.7 meq/1
Phylogenetic analysis of a highly conserved region of the polymerase gene from 11 coronaviruses and development of a consensus polymerase chain reaction assay.

Viruses in the genus Coronavirus are currently placed in three groups based on antigenic cross-reactivity and sequence analysis of structural protein genes. Consensus polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers were used to obtain cDNA, then cloned and sequenced a highly conserved 922 nucleotide region in open reading frame (ORF) 1b of the polymerase (pol) gene from eight coronaviruses. These sequences were compared with published sequences for three additional coronaviruses. In this comparison, it was found that nucleotide substitution frequencies (per 100 nucleotides) varied from 46.40 to 50.13 when viruses were compared among the traditional coronavirus groups and, with one exception (the human coronavirus (HCV) 229E), varied from 2.54 to 15.89 when compared within these groups. (The substitution frequency for 229E, as compared to other members of the same group, varied from 35.37 to 35.72.) Phylogenetic analysis of these pol gene sequences resulted in groupings which correspond closely with the previously described groupings, including recent data which places the two avian coronaviruses--infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) of chickens and turkey coronavirus (TCV)--in the same group [Guy, J.S., Barnes, H.J., Smith L.G., Breslin, J., 1997. Avian Dis. 41:583-590]. A single pair of degenerate primers was identified which amplify a 251 bp region from coronaviruses of all three groups using the same reaction conditions. This consensus PCR assay for the genus Coronavirus may be useful in identifying as yet unknown coronaviruses.
Criteria for Unconstrained Global Optimization

We develop criteria for the existence and uniqueness of the global minima of a continuous bounded function on a noncompact set. Special attention is given to the problem of parameter estimation via minimization of the sum of squares in nonlinear regression and maximum likelihood. Definitions of local convexity and unimodality are given using the level set. A fundamental theorem of nonconvex optimization is formulated: If a function approaches the minimal limiting value at the boundary of the optimization domain from below and its Hessian matrix is positive definite at the point where the gradient vanishes, then the function has a unique minimum. It is shown that the local convexity level of the sum of squares is equal to the minimal squared radius of the regression curvature. A new multimodal function is introduced, the decomposition function, which can be represented as the composition of a convex function and a nonlinear function from the argument space to a space of larger dimension. Several general global criteria based on majorization and minorization functions are formulated.
Similar Analgesic Effect After Popliteal Fossa Nerve Blockade with 0.375% and 0.75% Bupivacaine

This study tested the hypothesis that increasing the concentration of bupivacaine from 0.375 to 0.75% would increase the duration of postoperative analgesia by 3 h. Seventy patients scheduled for hospital admission after foot or ankle surgery gave consent to enter this prospective randomized trial. Patients were randomly assigned to receive a popliteal fossa block (posterior approach) using 30 cc of either 0.375% or 0.75% bupivacaine, with epinephrine. Patients also received a neuraxial anesthetic and postoperative intravenous patient-controlled analgesia. Patient characteristics, duration of analgesia, pain scores, use of analgesic medications, and side effects of analgesic therapy were determined. Duration of analgesia was similar with both concentrations of bupivacaine (0.375% 14 ± 8 h, 0.75% 13 ± 6 h; mean ± SD). Pain scores were the same for both groups on the first postoperative day (3 of 10 at rest, 5 with therapy). Analgesic use and side effects attributable to pain management did not differ between groups. In conclusion, postoperative analgesia was not affected by the concentration of bupivacaine used for the nerve block. There was no benefit to increasing the concentration of bupivacaine above 0.375% for single-injection popliteal fossa nerve blockade when performed for postoperative analgesia.
The Influence of Referral Information on the Diagnostic Classification of Exceptional Children.

Abstract Guidance officers who received referral information in which a child's sex, age, reason for referral, attainment and IQ levels were systematically varied, were asked to indicate the likelihood that the child was emotionally disturbed (ED), learning disabled (LD), mildly intellectually handicapped (MIH), or perceptually‐motor impaired (PMI). There was inconsistency in their identification of children as ED, LD and PMI; most cases were classified as MIH with IQ as the main influencing factor. The least exceptional children were the most likely to be categorized as PMI.
Release of Lactate by the Lung in Acute Lung Injury

The pathogenesis of hyperlactatemia during SIRS is poorly understood. Yet lactate is often used clinically as a marker of anaerobic metabolism and is thus assumed to represent inadequate tissue perfusion.1–5 This belief is supported by the high mortality seen in patients with hyperlactatemia,1–2 and by the disordered oxygen transport exhibited by patients with sepsis.6 Many clinicians routinely use therapies to improve global oxygen transport on the assumption that such treatment will reverse tissue dysoxia and ameliorate hyperlactatemia.7–8
VisIO: Enabling Interactive Visualization of Ultra-Scale, Time Series Data via High-Bandwidth Distributed I/O Systems

Petascale simulations compute at resolutions ranging into billions of cells and write terabytes of data for visualization and analysis. Interactive visualization of this time series is a desired step before starting a new run. The I/O subsystem and associated network often are a significant impediment to interactive visualization of time-varying data, as they are not configured or provisioned to provide necessary I/O read rates. In this paper, we propose a new I/O library for visualization applications: VisIO. Visualization applications commonly use N-to-N reads within their parallel enabled readers which provides an incentive for a shared-nothing approach to I/O, similar to other data-intensive approaches such as Hadoop. However, unlike other data-intensive applications, visualization requires: (1) interactive performance for large data volumes, (2) compatibility with MPI and POSIX file system semantics for compatibility with existing infrastructure, and (3) use of existing file formats and their stipulated data partitioning rules. VisIO, provides a mechanism for using a non-POSIX distributed file system to provide linear scaling of I/O bandwidth. In addition, we introduce a novel scheduling algorithm that helps to co-locate visualization processes on nodes with the requested data. Testing using VisIO integrated into Para View was conducted using the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) on TACC's Longhorn cluster. A representative dataset, VPIC, across 128 nodes showed a 64.4\% read performance improvement compared to the provided Lustre installation. Also tested, was a dataset representing a global ocean salinity simulation that showed a 51.4\% improvement in read performance over Lustre when using our VisIO system. VisIO, provides powerful high-performance I/O services to visualization applications, allowing for interactive performance with ultra-scale, time-series data.
Social Support and Change in Depression Among Older Adults in Taiwan

This study investigates the association between social support and change in depression among older adults in Taiwan. Data are from an islandwide representative longitudinal study. The study sample...
Damage and Damage Prediction for Wood Shearwalls Subjected to Simulated Earthquake Loads

Woodframe structures represent the most common structure type within the residential building stock in the United States. These relatively light structures perform well with regard to life safety and collapse during earthquakes, but can be significantly damaged resulting in large financial losses. Societal demands for damage-limiting design philosophies in the wake of the Northridge earthquake have fueled researchers and practitioners need to understand and better predict damage to woodframe structures. This paper examines damage to the lateral load carrying assemblies within woodframe structures, namely shearwalls. This is presented within the context of damage prediction for a wood shearwall assembly, and shortcomings and needs of such an approach are subsequently addressed. The incremental dynamic analysis approach is also examined as a possible tool for damage prediction. Qualitative damage descriptions and seismic force demands matched very well while maximum transient drifts did not match experimental results well. The potential for development of a whole-structure predictive damage model and its integration into the development of a performance-based seismic design development for woodframe structures is examined.
III. Chartist Internationalism, 1845–18481

Chartist internationalism has usually been treated as a peripheral question in the consideration of some broader topic—the history of the labour movement or of Chartism or communism—or as an element in the background of some radical's biography. It has, however, played a much larger part for Marxist writers, particularly in its embodiment in the Fraternal Democrats, with whom Marx and Engels were for a time associated.
Economy-wide reform and agricultural recovery: Observations of economic Darwinism among transition economies

Abstract The fitness of an economy and its prospects for continued prosperity will be measured and determined by its robustness and its ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Some countries in transition are adapting much more easily than others to rapid changes in the orientation of their economy, the common objective of which is to achieve economic growth through the adoption of a range of characteristics generally associated with a market economy. Economic growth does not have to be very fast, but it must be efficient and sustainable. Policy adjustments must address political economy concerns, while seeking to achieve macroeconomic equilibrium and price stabilization, competitiveness, efficiency and flexibility, and the protection of the living standards of the most vulnerable population. The process of agricultural sector reform will be determined both by economy-wide policies and sector-specific policies. This paper first outlines a taxonomy of the objectives of agricultural sector reform, and then discusses the way in which indirect price interventions (specifically exchange rate and interest rate policies, expansive fiscal policies and industrial protection policies), influence agricultural growth. Lessons of experience drawn from the UNDP/World Bank Trade Expansion Program structural and sectoral adjustment operations in Poland, and the cases of New Zealand and Chile are employed to illustrate not only the constraints that countries face in this regard, but also in identifying targets for further action. The third section presents what is called the ‘architecture of incentives for agriculture’. In defining a strategy of agricultural sector reform, experience has shown that a structure of incentives can be developed that creates an environment ripe for agricultural growth-incentives relating, for example, to taxation, prices, foreign investment, privatization and demonopolization, decentralization and institutional reform. Special considerations that will require additional attention by policy-makers outside of this structure include the maintenance of GATT-legal principles in trade policies, issues relating to tariffication (including concerns about price risk management, food supply, and the role of food aid), input and credit subsidies as a means to correct for market failures, and the role of regional trading blocks in world trade.
Nest survival of a long-lived psittacid: Scarlet Macaws (Ara macao cyanoptera) in the Maya Biosphere Reserve of Guatemala and Chiquibul Forest of Belize

ABSTRACT The Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) is a widely distributed parrot that has suffered reduced abundance and increased isolation in Mesoamerican populations. Understanding environmental and temporal factors that influence nest survival may assist efforts to increase annual recruitment for this species, improving population viability. We examined nest survival of Scarlet Macaws in the Maya Biosphere Reserve of Guatemala and Chiquibul Forest of Belize in 2010. Our results suggest that connecting tree canopies have the greatest negative influence on daily nest survival, reducing the probability of a nest surviving the entire nesting period from 0.89 to 0.42. This is likely due to facilitating nest access to predators. Nine of 20 nests in Belize, but no nests in Guatemala, were poached. The majority of poached nests were located in close proximity to a reservoir, which may facilitate access to nests. Based on previous estimates of nest survival required for this population to remain stable, our 2010 data sug...
Separation of insect hemolymph proteins by cascade‐mode multiaffinity chromatography

The hemolymph of the adult female Manduca sexta was fractionated by cascade-mode multi-affinity chromatography (CASMAC) on a main-line tandem column chain containing Zn(2+)-TED, T-gel, Ni(2+)-DPA, and phenylsepharose and a side-line column containing Zn(2+)-DPA. The technique separated some of the previously described major hemolymph proteins, and yielded a number of fractions with simple composition. Some of these fractions contained only less abundant proteins of Manduca hemolymph. Thus, it appears that CASMAC would be a very useful fractionation technique for purification and characterization of the minor proteins of insect hemolymph.
The Fast Theater Model (FATHM)

Abstract : FATHM is a large-scale attrition model of two-sided ground combat, including air strikes by Blue on Red. While FATHM has borrowed extensively from other combat models, it also exhibits some unique features, particularly its use of linear programming calls to solve a sequence of air-to-ground engagements that are interspersed among ground-to-ground engagements. In spite of making hundreds of such calls, FATHM can still fight a realistically-scaled theater war in about three minutes on a personal computer. This paper gives the genesis and essential features.
Fun with blow painting!: making leaf collages by blowing at toy windmill

Blow Painting is a novel play interaction that enables children to blow at a toy windmill to create collage paintings of leaves on a digital canvas. The windmill is embedded with a microphone (to detect the blowing action) and a rotation sensor (to detect the blowing direction). Four kinds of leaves (Red Maple, Sugar Maple, Hickory and White Oak) are embedded inside transparent RFID sheets that can be placed under the windmill to provide different leaf "stencils" for the Blow Paining game.
Self-calibrating the gravitational shear–intrinsic ellipticity–intrinsic ellipticity cross-correlation

We extend the 3-point intrinsic alignment self-calibration technique to the gravitational shear-intrinsic ellipticity-intrinsic ellipticity (GII) bispectrum. The proposed technique will allow the measurement and removal of the GII intrinsic alignment contamination from the cross-correlation weak lensing signal. While significantly decreased from using cross-correlations instead of auto-correlation in a single photo-z bin, the GII contamination persists in adjacent photo-z bins and must be accounted for and removed from the lensing signal. We relate the GII and galaxy density-intrinsic ellipticity-intrinsic ellipticity (gII) bispectra through use of the galaxy bias, and develop the estimator necessary to isolate the gII bispectrum from observations. We find that the GII self-calibration technique performs at a level comparable to that of the gravitational shear-gravitational shear-intrinsic ellipticity correlation (GGI) selfcalibration technique, with measurement error introduced through the gII estimator generally negligible when compared to minimum survey error. The accuracy of the relationship between the GII and gII bispectra typically allows the GII self-calibration to reduce the GII contamination by a factor of 10 or more for all adjacent photo-z bin combinations at l > 300. For larger scales, we find that the GII contamination can be reduced by a factor of 3-5 or more. The GII self-calibration technique is complementary to the existing GGI self-calibration technique, which together will allow the total intrinsic alignment cross-correlation signal in 3-point weak lensing to be measured and removed.
DIFFERENTIATION OF THE ANTITHYROID ACTION OF THIOURACIL, THIOUREA AND PABA FROM SULFONAMIDES BY IODIDE ADMINISTRATION

IN NOVEMBER, 1941, Mackenzie, Mackenzie and McCollum (1941) reported that sulfaguanidine produced a hyperplastic goitre in the rat. At the same time Richter and Clisby (1942) described similar changes in the thyroids of rats poisoned with phenylthiourea. Shortly thereafter in March, the Mackenzies (1942) demonstrated the goiterogenic activity of four additional sulfonamides, and of thiourea itself. It was thus clear that the activity of phenylthiourea was due to the thiourea moiety rather than to any groupings shared in common with sulfaguanidine; and, that the goiterogenic activity of not one but two classes of compounds had been discovered.
Inhibition of natural antisense transcripts in vivo results in gene-specific transcriptional upregulation

The ability to specifically upregulate genes in vivo holds great therapeutic promise. Here we show that inhibition or degradation of natural antisense transcripts (NATs) by single-stranded oligonucleotides or siRNAs can transiently and reversibly upregulate locus-specific gene expression. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is normally repressed by a conserved noncoding antisense RNA transcript, BDNF-AS. Inhibition of this transcript upregulates BDNF mRNA by two- to sevenfold, alters chromatin marks at the BDNF locus, leads to increased protein levels and induces neuronal outgrowth and differentiation both in vitro and in vivo. We also show that inhibition of NATs leads to increases in glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and ephrin receptor B2 (EPHB2) mRNA. Our data suggest that pharmacological approaches targeting NATs can confer locus-specific gene upregulation effects.
Do statins lower blood pressure

Hypercholesterolemia is present in many patients with hypertension and adds a significant component of cardiovascular risk. The 3-hydroxy-3 methyl-glutarylcoenzyme A reductase inhibitors (statins) lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol but also inhibit many of the structural and functional components of the arteriosclerotic process. Structural effects include reductions in vascular smooth muscle hypertrophy and proliferation, fibrin deposition, and collagen cross-linking. Among the functional effects are improvements in endothelial function, reduction in inflammatory cytokines and reactive oxygen species, and down-regulation of angiotensin II and endothelin receptors. These would be expected to reduce blood pressure in patients with hypertension; 14 studies have shown statin-induced decrease in blood pressure, but 11 studies showed no effect. Many of the studies had no placebo controls, were of short duration, or had small sample sizes, or combinations of these. Despite predictions made on the basis of the vasoprotective actions of statins, the blood-pressure-lowering effects of statins are at best modest.
Fine-needle aspiration of cytomegalovirus sialadenitis in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome: pitfalls of diff-quik staining.

A case of cytomegalovirus (CMV) sialadenitis in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) diagnosed by fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is reported. Although a diagnosis of CMV sialadenitis can be established on Diff-Quik-stained slides, the characteristic viral changes are the best appreciated on slides stained by the Papanicolaou (Pap) technique. Differential pitfalls are discussed. It needs to be stressed that clinically unsuspected diagnosis of CMV infection may uncover congenital or acquired defects of cellular immunity, and particularly AIDS. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2000;22:101–103. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Editable graphical histories

The authors have designed a testbed system that creates a series of automatically generated panels that depict in chronological order the important events in the history of a users session with Chimera, a graphical editor. The authors' system heuristically determines the contents of each panel and the actions that it illustrates. The user can scroll through the sequence of panels, reviewing actions at different levels of detail, and selectively undoing, modifying, and redoing previous actions. >
The ontology of intentionality II: dependence ontology as prolegomenon to noetic modal semantics

This is the second in a sequence of three essays which axiomatize and apply Edmund Husserl's dependence ontology of parts and wholes as a non-Diodorean, non-Kantian temporal semantics for first-order predicate modal languages. The Ontology of Intentionality I introduced enough of Husserl's dependence-ontology of parts and wholes to formulate his account of order as effected by relating moments of unity, and The Ontology of Intentionality II extends that axiomatic dependence-ontology far enough to enable its semantic application. Formalizing the compatibility [Vereinbarkeit] relation implicated in Husserl's notorious doctrine of impossible meanings, the essay introduces a compatibility restriction on relations to formulate Husserl's distinction between singular [einheitliche] and plural [mehrheitliche] objects, using plural relating moments to define first-order versions of Husserl's notions of relation complexes (i.e. Sachverhalte), abstracta of n-ary relation complexes, categorial relations, abstract eide as unifications of categorial relations, semantic domains as completions of abstract eide, and material regions as semantic domains which are compatibility upper bounds of categorial relations. These concepts will enable the formal dependence-ontological noetic semantics for two-valued, first-order modal languages introduced in the sequel Two-Valued Logics of Intentionality, the third essay in the sequence.
Stereotactic radiosurgery for recurrent or unresectable pilocytic astrocytoma.

Purpose To report the outcomes in patients with recurrent or unresectable pilocytic astrocytoma (PA) treated with Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). Methods and Materials Retrospective review of 18 patients (20 lesions) with biopsy-confirmed PA having SRS at our institution from 1992 through 2005. Results The median patient age at SRS was 23 years (range, 4–56). Thirteen patients (72%) had undergone one or more previous surgical resections, and 10 (56%) had previously received external-beam radiation therapy (EBRT). The median SRS treatment volume was 9.1 cm 3 (range, 0.7–26.7). The median tumor margin dose was 15 Gy (range, 12–20). The median follow-up was 8.0 years (range, 0.5–15). Overall survival at 1, 5, and 10 years after SRS was 94%, 71%, and 71%, respectively. Tumor progression (local solid progression, n = 4; local solid progression + distant, n = 1; distant, n = 2; cyst development/progression, n = 4) was noted in 11 patients (61%). Progression-free survival at 1, 5, and 10 years was 65%, 41%, and 17%, respectively. Prior EBRT was associated with inferior overall survival (5-year risk, 100% vs. 50%, p = 0.03) and progression-free survival (5-year risk, 71% vs. 20%, p = 0.008). Nine of 11 patients with tumor-related symptoms improved after SRS. Symptomatic edema after SRS occurred in 8 patients (44%), which resolved with short-term corticosteroid therapy in the majority of those without early disease progression. Conclusions SRS has low permanent radiation-related morbidity and durable local tumor control, making it a meaningful treatment option for patients with recurrent or unresectable PA in whom surgery and/or EBRT has failed.
Editorial: Functions of Non-Coding RNA in Innate Immunity.

Our understanding of the functions that non-coding RNAs play in shaping the immune response is still in its infancy. The breakthroughs in deep sequencing technology have provided us with an unprecedented view of the human genome. The deeper we sequence the more non-coding genes we identify, while the number of protein coding genes remains constant. GENCODE represents the gene set of the ENCODE project and there are currently 15,931 long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) genes, 9,882 small non-coding RNA genes, and 14,477 Pseudogenes cataloged in GENCODE version 231. The contribution of each of these genes to biological processes still remains to be determined. In this research topic, we explore recent data surrounding the functions for microRNA (miRNA) as well as lncRNA within Innate Immunity. Innate immune responses to infection involve the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 and TNFα in addition to the Type I Interferons (IFNs) that play critical roles in anti-viral immunity. In recent years, there have been huge strides made in understanding the contributions of small RNAs such as miRNA to the Innate Immune processes. More recently, our attention has also been drawn to the growing catalog of lncRNAs. miRNAs are ~22 nt in length are function through post-transcriptional regulation of protein coding genes through regulating translation and RNA stability. LncRNA are transcripts greater than 200 nt in length that do not encode for protein. Both miRNAs and lncRNAs are RNA pol II transcripts, that are capped and many are polyadenylated; however, there is also evidence that both lncRNA and miRNA can be transcribed by RNA polymerase III (1, 2). The vast functions for miRNA and lncRNA within the innate immune responses are thoroughly reviewed in this research topic by Foster et al., Stachurska et al., and Imamura and Akimitsu (3–5).
Life-Cycle Benefit–Cost Analysis Framework for Ramp-Metering Deployments

The primary objectives of ramp metering are to reduce congestion on freeways by restricting the total flow entering the freeway and to discourage short-distance travelers from using the freeway. Life-cycle cost analysis of ramp-metering deployments has received attention in particular for identifying the strategy with the lowest cost. However, increasing concerns over the effects of congestion on the environment and increasing rates of accidents are urging decision makers to consider the environmental and social effects of ramp-metering deployments in addition to agency costs. This paper presents a high-level benefit–cost analysis framework for ramp-metering deployments. The framework was constructed in consideration of the triple bottom line of sustainability (i.e., economic, environmental, and social factors). More specifically, the framework is made up of four main components: (a) life-cycle cost analysis, (b) analysis of benefits achieved through travel time savings, (c) analysis of benefits achieved ...
Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement in the Asian Population: What Did We Learn and Not Learn?

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has entered the main stream of interventional cardiology and cardiac surgery practice in the United States. It offers hitherto clinical benefits unobtainable to many patients who are deemed too high risk for traditional cardiac surgery requiring open
Analysis on Infection Status of HIV,Syphilis and HCV Among 126 Drug Users at Methadone Maintenance Treatment Clinic in Xinshao County

Objective To investigate the demography characteristics,the related risk behaviors,and the infection status of HIV,syphilis and HCV among 126 drug users at methadone maintenance treatment clinic in Xinshao County,and to provide the scientific evidence for further improving the work of methadone clinic.Methods Face to face investigation was conducted,and venous blood was collected to test the antibodies of HIV,syphilis and HCV.Results Among 126 drug users,the infection rates of HIV,syphilis and HCV were 2.38%,9.52% and 58.73%,respectively.Inhalation was the first way of drug administration.The HCV infection rate of injection drug users was the highest,accounting for 86.49%.According to different duration of drug-taking,the drug users were divided into the groups of 2 years,2~5 years and 5~10 years,the HCV infection rates of three groups were 36.36%,54.72% and 66.13%,respectively.The HCV infection rates in direct and indirect sharing of injection equipment were 88.89% and 82.61%,respectively.The HCV infection rate of drug users with tattoos and deep holes of the earrings(64.52%) was significantly higher than that of drug users without tattoos and deep holes of the earrings(42.42%).Conclusions The drug users in Xinshao County were affected by the related risk factors,and the infection rates of HIV,syphilis and HCV maintained higher levels.It is necessary to adopt comprehensive measures and expand the coverage of methadone maintenance treatment so as to control the spread of HIV,syphilis and HCV in drug users.
Space Preference at James White Library: What Students Really Want

Abstract Although there is abundant information available remotely, higher education students and teachers still seek the campus library to meet many of their teaching, research, and learning needs. The usefulness of the spaces provided is directly dependent on the match between these spaces and the learning and teaching styles students and teachers engage in today. Thus, the purpose of this study was to identify what types of spaces students really want in order to accomplish better their academic requirements and learning needs. The data was collected through traditional and ethnographic techniques, such interviews, in loco observation, focus groups, and design charrettes. Information from students reading, studying, or using their laptops and computers in other places in the university was also gathered with the main objective of identifying the reasons they prefer or choose to be there instead of in the library. This methodology was followed by an actual field survey to identify participants' space priorities. The main results indicated that students at Andrews University, independent of gender and program level, prefer individual study spaces over group study and social areas.
Pulmonary Artery Catheter Placement Using Transesophageal Echocardiography

Objective To assess the feasibility of pulmonary artery catheter placement using transesophageal echocardiography inclusive of a description of the technique. Design A prospective, proof-of-concept study. Setting Single university hospital. Participants Twenty patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension scheduled for pulmonary thromboendarterectomy. Interventions Pulmonary artery catheters were placed in 20 patients solely by transesophageal echocardiographic guidance. Measurements and Main Results Placement of the pulmonary artery catheter in the pulmonary artery with transesophageal echocardiography guidance in fewer than 10 minutes was considered successful placement. The time to placement was measured from advancement of the pulmonary artery catheter in the superior vena cava (20 cm) to a final location at the junction of the right pulmonary artery and main pulmonary artery. All 20 pulmonary artery catheters were placed successfully using transesophageal echocardiography guidance and the median time to placement was 43 seconds. In 9 of the 20 patients (45%), the catheter was placed successfully on the first attempt without any adjustments. However, in 9 others (45%), the catheter required manipulation under transesophageal echocardiography vision. In 3 patients (15%), the pulmonary artery catheter was observed to be coiled in the right atrium and in 1 instance (5%) manipulation of the catheter in the right ventricle was required to enter the outflow tract. Conclusions Transesophageal echocardiography is a viable adjunctive method to conventional pressure waveform placement of pulmonary artery catheters in potentially difficult patients.
Hyperpolarized cardioplegic arrest with nicorandil: advantages over other potassium channel openers.

BACKGROUND Our laboratory has demonstrated that the potassium channel openers (PCOs) aprikalim and pinacidil are effective cardioplegic agents but exhibit toxicity at high doses. In this study, the effectiveness of another PCO, nicorandil, was investigated for several reasons. The chemical structure of nicorandil is distinct from other PCOs, in part because of a nitrate moiety, which may confer additional cardioprotection. Moreover, nicorandil has been approved for human use and has not been shown to exhibit significant toxicity in clinical trials. METHODS AND RESULTS Using a blood-perfused, parabiotic, isolated rabbit heart model, 45 hearts underwent 30 minutes of global normothermic ischemia after infusion of 50 mL of cardioplegia, followed by 30 minutes of reperfusion. Cardioplegia consisted of Krebs-Henseleit solution either alone (control) or with nicorandil (100 micromol/L, 300 micromol/L, or 1 mmol/L), 20 mmol/L KCl, or nicorandil (100 micromol/L) plus glibenclamide (10 micromol/L), a potassium channel blocker. Over a wide range of volumes, left ventricular systolic function and diastolic compliance were measured at baseline and after reperfusion. The percentage of recovery of developed pressure (mean+/-SEM) for control, glibenclamide plus nicorandil, 100 micromol/L nicorandil, 1 mmol/L nicorandil, and 20 mmol/L KCl was 44.1+/-3.4%, 44.9+/-2.9%, 61.1+/-4.7%, 58.4+/-3.0%, and 63.2+/-1.5%, respectively. Postreperfusion end-diastolic pressures were significantly increased in control, 300 micromol/L nicorandil, and nicorandil plus glibenclamide groups. CONCLUSIONS Nicorandil (100 micromol/L and 1 mmol/L) significantly improved functional recovery compared with control and was as effective as KCl cardioplegia. The protective effect of nicorandil was eliminated by glibenclamide, indicating that nicorandil is cardioprotective primarily through its capability as a PCO. In contrast to other PCOs, nicorandil produced mechanical arrest as quickly as KCl and did not show toxicity.
Drag law for an intruder in granular sediments

We investigate the drag experienced by a spherical intruder moving through a medium consisting of granular hydrogels immersed in water as a function of its depth, size, and speed. The medium is observed to display a yield stress with a finite force required to move the intruder in the quasistatic regime at low speeds before rapidly increasing at high speeds. In order to understand the relevant time scales that determine drag, we estimate the inertial number I given by the ratio of the time scales required to rearrange grains due to the overburden pressure and imposed shear and the viscous number J given by the ratio of the time scales required to sediment grains in the interstitial fluid and imposed shear. We find that the effective friction μ_{e} encountered by the intruder can be parametrized by I=sqrt[ρ_{g}/P_{p}]v_{i}, where ρ_{g} is the density of the granular hydrogels, v_{i} is the intruder speed, and P_{p} is the overburden pressure due to the weight of the medium, over a wide range of I where the Stokes number St=I^{2}/J≫1. We then show that μ_{e} can be described by the function μ_{e}(I)=μ_{0}+αI^{β}, where μ_{0}, α, and β are constants that depend on the medium. This formula can be used to predict the drag experienced by an intruder of a different size at a different depth in the same medium as a function of its speed.
Abstract 26: RACE to Treat Stroke

Background: Endovascular treatment was shown to drastically improve stroke patient outcomes but earlier identification of eligible patients is crucial. First responders are instrumental to the rapi...
Metadata Schema to Facilitate Linked Data for 3D Digital Models of Cultural Heritage Collections: A University of South Florida Libraries Case Study

The University of South Florida Libraries house and provide access to a collection of cultural heritage and 3D digital models. In an effort to provide greater access to these collections, a linked ...
Overcoming the reliability limitation in the ultimately scaled DRAM using silicon migration technique by hydrogen annealing

We demonstrated a highly reliable buried-gate saddle-fin cell-transistor (cell-TR) using silicon migration technique of hydrogen (H 2 ) annealing after a dry etch to form the saddle-fin in a fully integrated 2y-nm 4Gb DRAM. It clearly shows a reduction in interface trap density with highly enhanced variable-retention-time (VRT) and Row-Hammering immunity.
Fusing facial shape and appearance based features for robust face recognition

How to describe an image accurately with the most useful information is the key of any face recognition task. In this paper, we argue that robust recognition requires several different kinds of information to be taken into account. Therefore, a new technique that combines the facial shape with the local structure of a face image is proposed, namely fusing shape and appearance features (FSAF). It is based on Gabor wavelets and local edge/corner feature integration (LFI) technique. Given an input image, the Gabor features histogram and LFI histogram are built separately. Then a final feature descriptor is formed by concatenating these two histograms, which feeds to the support vector machine (svm) classifier to recognize the face image. FSAF is evaluated on several challenging face datasets and provided promising results.
Effectively parameterizing dissipative particle dynamics using COSMO-SAC: A partition coefficient study

Dissipative Particle Dynamics (DPD) provides a tool for studying phase behavior and interfacial phenomena for complex mixtures and macromolecules. Methods to quickly and automatically parameterize DPD greatly increase its effectiveness. One such method is to map predicted activity coefficients derived from COSMO-SAC onto DPD parameter sets. However, there are serious limitations to the accuracy of this mapping, including the inability of single DPD beads to reproduce asymmetric infinite dilution activity coefficients, the loss of precision when reusing parameters for different molecular fragments, and the error due to bonding beads together. This report describes these effects in quantitative detail and provides methods to mitigate much of their deleterious effects. This includes a novel approach to remove errors caused by bonding DPD beads together. Using these methods, logarithm hexane/water partition coefficients were calculated for 61 molecules. The root mean-squared error for these calculations was determined to be 0.14—a very low value—with respect to the final mapping procedure. Cognizance of the above limitations can greatly enhance the predictive power of DPD.Dissipative Particle Dynamics (DPD) provides a tool for studying phase behavior and interfacial phenomena for complex mixtures and macromolecules. Methods to quickly and automatically parameterize DPD greatly increase its effectiveness. One such method is to map predicted activity coefficients derived from COSMO-SAC onto DPD parameter sets. However, there are serious limitations to the accuracy of this mapping, including the inability of single DPD beads to reproduce asymmetric infinite dilution activity coefficients, the loss of precision when reusing parameters for different molecular fragments, and the error due to bonding beads together. This report describes these effects in quantitative detail and provides methods to mitigate much of their deleterious effects. This includes a novel approach to remove errors caused by bonding DPD beads together. Using these methods, logarithm hexane/water partition coefficients were calculated for 61 molecules. The root mean-squared error for these calculations was d...
Dendronized Systems for the Delivery of Chemotherapeutics.

Abstract This chapter reviews the use of dendronized systems as nanocarriers for the delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs. Dendronized systems include dendrimers prepared through convergent methods as well as other systems containing dendrons (e.g., polymers, nanoparticles, liposomes). The preparation of such systems is detailed, followed by the various conjugation techniques used for the transport of chemotherapeutic drugs and their specific delivery to tumor cells. In addition, the ability of dendronized systems to provide passive and active targeting to tumors is discussed. The efficacy of drug delivery using dendronized systems is also illustrated through specific examples of kinetic and biological studies. Finally, the newest trends in conjugation of the most common chemotherapeutics to dendronized systems are described. Overall, this chapter highlights dendronized systems as a way to improve the therapeutic efficiency of drugs for the treatment of cancer. All the recent developments in areas, such as biodegradable dendrimers, modifications to enhance biocompatibility, selectively cleavable drug conjugations, ligand-mediated targeting, and the potential for multifunctional properties, show promises for future advances in cancer therapy.
Abstract 17294: Serum B-type Natriuretic Peptide at the Time of Ventricular Tachycardia Ablation Correlates With Myocardial Substrate

Introduction: Elevated serum B-type Natriuretic Peptide (BNP) has been shown to independently predict an increased risk of ventricular arrhythmias. Hypothesis: Serum BNP levels positively correlate with the burden of left ventricular (LV) myocardial scar. Methods: We studied 36 consecutive patients (mean age 67.8 years, 94% male, 72% ischemic etiology) enrolled in the Vanderbilt Ventricular Tachycardia Ablation Registry who underwent catheter ablation for substrate-mediated monomorphic ventricular tachycardia between 2014-2016. Serum BNP was measured from central venous blood collected at the time of venous access prior to starting the ablation procedure. LV endocardial scar area (cm 2 ) was quantified from CARTO3 electroanatomic mapping, with scar defined by bipolar electrogram amplitude Results: Larger scar area was significantly associated with higher BNP levels (Pearson’s rho = 0.53, p = 0.0009, Figure 1). The association between scar area and BNP levels persisted even after accounting for the LV volume (r = 0.356, p = 0.042). In a multi-variable adjusted linear regression analysis including age and LV ejection fraction (LVEF), each 1 cm 2 increase in scar area was associated with a 5.0 pg/mL higher BNP level (95% CI 0.2 - 9.8, p = 0.043). This relationship was similar when using LV volume in place of LVEF (p = 0.047). Conclusions: Larger LV scar burden is one pathophysiologic mechanism by which serum BNP levels may be a biomarker for the prediction of a patient’s individual risk for ventricular arrhythmias.
HIPPOCAMPAL VOLUME, MUSICAL AND COGNITIVE ABILITIES IN OLDER ADULTS WITH MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT

Author(s): Petrovsky, DV; Johnson, JK; Tkacs, N; Mechanic-Hamilton, D; Hamilton, RH; Cacchione, PZ
A Decade of Improvement in Door-to-Needle Time Among Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients, 2008 to 2017.

Background: The clinical benefit of intravenous (IV) alteplase in acute ischemic stroke is time dependent. We assessed the overall temporal changes in door-to-needle (DTN) time and examine the fact...
Embodied Interventions: Feminist Communication Pedagogy and Rape Culture

On August 30, 2016, amid a discussion of a mandated e-mail notification from the Christopher Newport University Police Department about a campus sexual assault that had occurred the previous week, ...
Magnetic skyrmions in atomic thin CrI3 monolayer

In this letter, we report on the visualization of topologically protected spin textures, in the form of magnetic skyrmions, in recently discovered monoatomic-thin two-dimensional CrI3. By combining density functional theory and atomistic spin dynamic simulation, we demonstrate that an application of an out-of-plane electric field to the CrI3 lattice favors the formation of sub-10 nm skyrmions at 0 K temperature. The spin texture arises due to a strong correlation between magnetocrystalline anisotropy, Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, and the vertical electric field, whose shape and size could be tuned with the magnetic field. Such a finding will open avenues for atomic-scale quantum engineering and precision sensing.