cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A new species of Phialophora from lake sediment.

Haskins, E. F. 1974. Stemonitis flavogenita (Myxo? mycetes)? plasmodial phase (aphanoplasmodium). Film E2000 des Inst. Wiss. Film, Gottingen. Pub. Wiss. Film, Sekt. Biol. 8 (1975): 1-14.1 -, and H. H. Heunert. 1974. Some new tech? niques in time-lapse cinemicrography of Myxo? mycetes. Research Films 8: 316-321. -, and A. A. Hinchee. 1974. Lightand ultramicroscopical observations on the surface structure ofthe protoplasmodium, aphanoplasmodium and planeroplasmodium (Myxomycetes). Canad. J. Bot. 52: 1835-1839.
Risk of Autoimmunity in EoE and Families: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

Objectives Recent genome-wide association studies have suggested possible genetic associations between eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and genes associated with autoimmunity. No studies to date have looked at potential genetic association of EoE with specific autoimmune diseases by evaluating such diagnoses within family members. Investigate the risk of specific autoimmune disease within EoE probands and their extended family members. Methods The Utah Population Database offers a unique opportunity to link medical records from over 85% of Utah's population to genealogy records representing Utah. We searched for associations of specific autoimmune diseases in probands diagnosed with EoE and their extended family members (e.g., first cousins). Comparisons were made to age- and sex-matched controls and their respective families at a 5:1 ratio. Results Excess risk for multiple autoimmune conditions was detected in subjects with a diagnosis of EoE. Celiac, Crohn's, ulcerative colitis (UC), rheumatoid arthritis, IgA deficiency, CVID, multiple sclerosis (MS), and Hashimoto's thyroiditis were found at increased risk in first-degree relatives of EoE subjects. UC, systemic sclerosis, and MS had nominally significant associations within second-degree family members of EoE subjects; and, in reverse analysis, probands and their families with the above three conditions were at an increased risk for EoE suggesting shared genetic factors with EoE. Conclusions Patients with EoE have an increased risk of multiple autoimmune diseases. Possible shared genetic etiologies were observed between EoE and UC, systemic sclerosis, and MS. Practitioners should be aware of these comorbid associations and query all EoE patients and family members for symptoms of these diseases.
Chronic pain. Clinical management of common causes of geriatric pain.

Effective management of chronic pain in older persons is attainable, although unnecessarily elusive. A host of factors can impede assessment and drug management, including impaired cognitive function, multiple potential causes of pain, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics unique to the geriatric population, and clinician anxiety regarding analgesic addiction. In the geriatric population, some of the most prevalent chronic pain management cases involve osteoarthritis, low back pain, and neuropathy. Effective pain management is achieved with analgesics (acetaminophen and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), opioids, non-opioid agents (e.g., tricyclic antidepressants, anticonvulsants) and invasive techniques (corticosteroid epidural injections/nerve blocks).
Immunobiology and immunotherapy in genitourinary malignancies.

Immunotherapy has traditionally been a critical component of the cancer treatment armamentarium in genitourinary (GU) cancers. It has an established role in the management of carefully selected patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) [e.g., high dose interleukin-2 (IL-2)] and non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) [e.g., intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG)]. In 2010, the sipuleucel-T vaccine was approved by the FDA for the management of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), based on a phase III trial showing overall survival (OS) benefit compared to placebo. The immune checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab (anti-PD-1) recently received FDA approval for the management of patients with advanced RCC patients previously treated with anti-angiogenic therapy, based on OS benefit compared to everolimus. Recently, large clinical trials demonstrated meaningful clinical benefit, including durable responses, as well as a good tolerability/safety profile with the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors in advanced RCC and chemotherapy-resistant advanced urothelial carcinoma (UC), while FDA just approved atezolizumab for platinum-treated advanced UC. Numerous interesting trials in different cancers are ongoing. Several combinations of immune checkpoint blockade with chemotherapeutics, vaccines, targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors & monoclonal antibodies, epigenetic modifiers, anti-angiogenic agents, tumor microenvironment & myeloid cell targeting therapies, metabolic modification strategies, radiation, and others, are being tested in clinical trials. Comprehensive understanding of the factors underlying antitumor immune responses in physiologically relevant animal models and humans will refine further the clinical benefit of immunotherapy. Discovery and validation of appropriate molecular biomarkers via coordinated translational research efforts, rational clinical trial designs with suitable endpoints and well-defined eligibility criteria, prospective registries/databases, careful evaluation of cost-effectiveness and safety/tolerability, adequate funding and open continuous discussions among all stakeholders will support the revolutionary nature of immunotherapy in GU cancers.
Velocity and Acceleration Analysis

The motion of a rigid body (RB) is defined when the position vector, velocity, and acceleration of all points of the rigid body are defined as functions of time with respect to a fixed reference frame with the origin at O 0 . The velocity of an arbitrary point M of the rigid body, with respect to the fixed reference frame Ox 0 y 0 z 0 , is the derivative with respect to time of the position vector r 1 . The acceleration of an arbitrary point M Є (RB), with respect to a fixed reference frame O 0 x 0 y 0 z 0 , represents the double derivative with respect to time of the position vector r 1 . A reference frame that moves with the rigid body is a body fixed reference frame. The primary reference frame is a fixed reference frame or an earth fixed reference frame. The unit vectors of the primary reference frame are constant. The body fixed reference frame, Oxyz, has its origin at a point O of the rigid body and is a moving reference frame relative to the primary reference.
A Naturalistic Study of Driving Behavior in Older Adults and Preclinical Alzheimer Disease: A Pilot Study

A clinical consequence of symptomatic Alzheimer's disease (AD) is impaired driving performance. However, decline in driving performance may begin in the preclinical stage of AD. We used a naturalistic driving methodology to examine differences in driving behavior over one year in a small sample of cognitively normal older adults with ( n = 10) and without ( n = 10) preclinical AD. As expected with a small sample size, there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups, but older adults with preclinical AD drove less often, were less likely to drive at night, and had fewer aggressive behaviors such as hard braking, speeding, and sudden acceleration. The sample size required to power a larger study to determine differences was calculated.
Thermal Injury Decreases Hepatic Blood Flow and the Intrinsic Clearance of Indocyanine Green in the Rat

The influence of severe thermal injury (full-thickness burns involving 50% of the body surface area) on hepatic blood flow in the rat was assessed using the tricarbocyanine dye indocyanine green (ICG). In a randomized crossover fashion, rats received sequential infusions of ICG through both the femoral vein and the portal vein, allowing the estimation of total hepatic plasma clearance and trans-hepatic extraction of the dye. These two parameters, along with the hematocrit, were used to calculate intrinsic hepatic clearance of ICG and hepatic blood flow. Animals were examined at 0 (control), 0.5, 12, or 24 hr following infliction of scald burns. Hepatic blood flow was decreased significantly by 0.5 hr postburn and remained approximately 20% below normal throughout the remainder of the study. The intrinsic efficiency of the liver in removing ICG from the systemic circulation was also decreased by thermal injury. The potential mechanisms involved in these two physiologic perturbations are discussed.
Experts on the past, working in the present: what archeologists can contribute to current water management

By definition, archeologists study the past—often the ancient past—and their work may not seem relevant to present-day problems in water management. However, the knowledge of both past practices and current conditions that archeologists gain through conducting research can have useful contemporary applications. The archeological conference Water and Power in Past Societies, held at the University at Buffalo in April 2015, highlighted these potential contributions in a panel discussion on ‘what archaeology can contribute to contemporary water politics.’ The main theme to emerge from the discussion was that archeologists’ varied experiences make them well suited to inform and facilitate dialogue among conflicting perspectives. This opinion piece summarizes and builds on the themes of the panel discussion to outline ways in which archeologists may contribute to solving current water issues. WIREs Water 2017, 4:e1215. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1215 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.
Coronal flux ropes and their interplanetary counterparts

Abstract We report on a study comparing coronal flux ropes inferred from eruption data with their interplanetary counterparts constructed from in situ data. The eruption data include the source-region magnetic field, post-eruption arcades, and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Flux ropes were fit to the interplanetary CMEs (ICMEs) considered for the 2011 and 2012 Coordinated Data Analysis Workshops (CDAWs). We computed the total reconnected flux involved in each of the associated solar eruptions and found it to be closely related to flare properties, CME kinematics, and ICME properties. By fitting flux ropes to the white-light coronagraph data, we obtained the geometric properties of the flux ropes and added magnetic properties derived from the reconnected flux. We found that the CME magnetic field in the corona is significantly higher than the ambient magnetic field at a given heliocentric distance. The radial dependence of the flux-rope magnetic field strength is faster than that of the ambient magnetic field. The magnetic field strength of the coronal flux ropes is also correlated with that in interplanetary flux ropes constructed from in situ data, and with the observed peak magnetic field strength in ICMEs. The physical reason for the observed correlation between the peak field strength in ICMEs is the higher magnetic field content in faster coronal flux ropes and ultimately the higher reconnected flux in the eruption region. The magnetic flux ropes constructed from the eruption data and coronagraph observations provide a realistic input that can be used by various models to predict the magnetic properties of ICMEs at Earth and other destination in the heliosphere.
Agricultural Capacity to Increase the Production of Select Fruits and Vegetables in the US: A Geospatial Modeling Analysis.

The capacity of US agriculture to increase the output of specific foods to accommodate increased demand is not well documented. This research uses geospatial modeling to examine the capacity of the US agricultural landbase to increase the per capita availability of an example set of nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables. These fruits and vegetables were selected based on nutrient content and an increasing trend of domestic production and consumption. Geographic information system models were parameterized to identify agricultural land areas meeting crop-specific growing requirements for monthly precipitation and temperature; soil depth and type; cropland availability; and proximity to existing production centers. The results of these analyses demonstrate that crop production can be expanded by nearly 144,000 ha within existing national production centers, generating an additional 0.05 cup-equivalents of fruits and vegetables per capita per day, representing a 1.7% increase above current total F&V availability. Expanding the size of national crop production centers can further increase the availability of all F&V by 2.5%–5.4%, which is still less than the recommended amount. Challenges to increasing F&V production in the US include lack of labor availability, barriers to adoption among producers, and threats to crop yields from environmental concerns.
Impact of Message Convergence on Organizational Reputation: An Examination of Organizational Crisis Communication on Facebook

Studies on organizational crisis communication via social media have mainly focused on the effects of messages from one source, organizations. Little is known about the interaction effects of multiple messages from multiple sources through social media on audiences’ perceptions of organizational reputation. Guided by the Message Convergence Framework, this study used a 2 × 2, between-subjects experiment (N = 165) to explore the impact of crisis communication strategies and message convergence on Facebook on audiences’ perceived organizational reputation in a preventable crisis. The results suggest that organizational reputation was affected by the consistency between the organization’s Facebook posts and followers’ comments, and the effects were moderated by the perceived credibility of the comments by Facebook followers. The results also revealed that unlike pre-existing positive attitudes toward an organization, which were negatively affected by inconsistent information on Facebook, pre-existing negative attitudes did not change significantly because of the information on Facebook. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are then discussed.
Stress, autonomic imbalance, and the prediction of metabolic risk: A model and a proposal for research.

Abstract Background Devising novel prevention strategies for metabolic disorders will depend in part on the careful elucidation of the common pathways for developing metabolic risks. The neurovisceral integration model has proposed that autonomic imbalance plays an important role in the pathway from acute and chronic stress to cardiovascular disease. Though generally overlooked by clinicians, autonomic imbalance (sympathetic overactivity and/or parasympathetic underactivity) can be measured and modified by methods that are available in primary care. Method This review applies the neurovisceral integration concept to the clinical setting by proposing that autonomic imbalance plays a primary role in the development of metabolic risks. We present a testable model, a systematic review of the evidence in support of autonomic imbalance as a predictor for metabolic risks, and specific approaches to test this model as a guide to future research on the role of stress in metabolic disorders. Conclusions We propose that autonomic imbalance deserves consideration by researchers, clinicians, and policymakers as a target for early interventions to prevent metabolic disorders.
Extranodal Rosai-Dorfman Disease With Mucosal Involvement of the Stomach in a Background of Autoimmune Atrophic Gastritis:

Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD), or sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy, has been described involving both lymph nodes and extranodal sites, but extranodal RDD rarely involves the gastrointestinal tract. Although the etiology is unclear, several risk factors have been shown to be highly associated with this disease process, including viral infection and immune alterations. In this article, we present a case of a 79-year-old male with a history of autoimmune atrophic gastritis and multiple carcinoid tumors of the stomach presenting with a new stomach mass. An additional large sigmoid colon mass and adjacent enlarged lymph node was identified through imaging, prior to surgery. Through extensive pathologic analysis, we identified the first case of predominant extranodal RDD involving gastric mucosa and submucosa in a background of atrophic gastritis, with additional involvement of the sigmoid colon. Based on this case and literature review, we further discuss possible risk factors and pathogenesis of this disease process.
Matrix Degradation in Prostate Cancer

Metastasis is the critical factor in the lethality of prostate cancer. Alterations in expression of cellular adhesion, cytoskeletal and cell motility proteins, and constituents of the extracellular matrix (ECM), are intimately involved in tumor cell invasion and metastasis. Proteolysis of ECM is a highly regulated process that has traditionally been considered fundamental to tumor cell invasion and metastasis, permitting physical passage of malignant cells. But proteolytic functions are now recognized as instrumental in tumor growth through release of growth factor and chemoattractant molecules, modification of cell surface receptors, and molecular processing of cytokines, other proteases, and ECM proteins. This chapter focuses on the control of proteolytic systems that cleave ECM proteins in studies of human prostate tissues.
Reorganizing the Fourth Year: Reimagining the Fourth Year of Training in the of Training in the Era of Subspecialization—Part III

In Radiology, like all of medicine, nothing is constant. Continually, new techniques beseech our attention, some have become essential to our practice whereas others fade fast and are quickly forgotten. At the same time; threats from our colleagues, or should I say competitors, are a constant challenge differing in quantity and urgency so as to make for us each year a unique list of agenda items for problem resolution. Need I say much more about the intrusions of government regulators, insurance companies, malpractice providers and plaintiff’s lawyers? And to top it off, the education of our residents, at least how that education is organized, has once more come under close inspection for possible alterations if not a complete metamorphosis.
Entrepreneurial Mindset: Integrating Creative Thinking and Innovation into a Graphical Communications Course

Nationwide, leaders in business and industry have increasingly acknowledged the importance of entre¬preneurship. Several areas of the country showcase the importance of entrepreneurship such as Silicon Valley in California where a large number of start-up companies in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields are located. To meet the needs of business and industry, institutions of higher educa¬tion prepare students for future employment by offering rigorous and relevant coursework in areas such as entrepreneurship. Collegiate faculty and staff can use fundamental engineering courses to instill an en¬trepreneurial mindset – a set of beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that drive innovation – in their students. This paper will explore an open-ended team project within a freshman-level engineering graphics course in which instructors encourage an entrepreneurial mindset in students. The goal of the course project is to develop engineering students’ critical thinking and innovation skills while preparing them for their future professions. An end-of-semester course-wide poster competition allowed students to practice teamwork as well as innovative thinking and communication skills.
I Believe in You! Measuring the experience of encouragement using the academic encouragement scale

To address limitations in conceptualizing and measuring encouragement, the authors developed the Academic Encouragement Scale (AES) to assess the experience of receiving challenge-focused encourage...
Stability of magnetocaloric La(FexCoySi1-x-y)13 in water and air

Stability of cobalt-doped lanthanum iron silicide, La(FexCoySi1-x-y)13 have been investigated under conditions required for magnetocaloric refrigeration. The XRD analysis revealed that both milled ...
Essential Building Blocks for Creating an Open-source EDA Project

Open source has started energizing both industrial and academic research and development in electronic design automation (EDA) systems. By moving to open source, we can speed up our effort and work with others who are working toward the same goals, while reducing costs and improving end products. However, building an open-source project is much more than placing the codebase on the web. In this paper, we will talk about essential building blocks to create an impactful open-source project, including source repository, project landing page, documentation, and continuous integration. We will also cover the use of web-based frameworks to design a showcase project to bring community's attention. We will then share our experience in developing an open-source timing analyzer (OpenTimer) and a parallel task programming library (Cpp-Taskflow), both of which are being used in many industrial and academic EDA research projects.
EMG activity of medial and lateral hamstrings at three positions of tibial rotation during low-force isometric knee flexion contractions

The purpose of this investigation was to determine how the position of tibial rotation effects the EMG activity of the medial and lateral hamstrings during low-force isometric knee flexion contractions. Forty-five subjects (ages 18-35) with no history of lower extremity injury or disease volunteered for this study. While lying prone, and with surface EMG electrodes secured to the bellies of their right medial (semitendinous and semimembranosus) and lateral (long head of the biceps femoris) hamstring muscles, each subject held the knee in 45° of flexion for 8 s against 5% of their body weight. This was performed three times in each of the positions of neutral tibial rotation, external tibial rotation, and internal tibial rotation. The root-mean-square (RMS) of the EMG activity from these muscles was determined for each of the contractions. A repeated measures ANOVA was used to compare the RMS values of the two muscle groups in the three positions. The average RMS values (in microvolts [mV]) obtained were (means and standard deviation): medial hamstrings in external rotation: 50.74 ± 23.11; in neutral: 65.57 ± 25.35; in internal rotation: 70.73 ± 31.86; lateral hamstrings in external rotation: 66.08 ± 46.99; in neutral: 46.18 ± 39.34; in internal rotation: 27.68 ± 17.86. A statistically significant interaction was found between tibial rotation and hamstring muscle (p < 0.0001). These results are consistent with the presumed function of these muscles in that EMG activity in the medial hamstrings increased when the tibia was rotated internally, whereas the lateral hamstring EMG activity increased when the tibia was rotated externally.
As One Animal of the Forest: “The Last Good Country” of Sibling Eros

This chapter sustains inquiry into the “sibling twin” dyad in Hemingway’s trauma narratives, focusing on a central question: is the sibling Eros of Nick and Littless innocent or incestuous? This question serves as a springboard into a counter-reading of Mark Spilka’s argument positing an innocent sibling Eros (Hemingway’s Quarrel with Androgyny). I argue, by contrast, that the innocent and incestuous aspects of Eros in LGC, like the siblings themselves, are inseparably twinned—are most usefully understood not as signs of an either/or binary, but of a both/and dialectic whose tendency toward double explication posits meanings that may be “read” as innocent and incestuous. Throughout, Freud’s theory of The Uncanny (1919) is used to map the genealogy of sibling desire in LGC.
Influence of elevated CO2 on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community elucidated using Illumina MiSeq platform in sub-humid tropical paddy soil

Abstract Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are one of the beneficial soil microbial communities, playing an important role in abiotic and biotic stress management in agricultural crops, including rice. Climate change, particularly elevated CO2 (eCO2) alters the soil microbial community, but the alteration of AMF community has received little attention, partly because of inadequacy in understanding of AMF taxonomy. Therefore, an attempt was made to understand AMF community in paddy soil under long-term exposure (8 years) to eCO2 through sequencing 18S rRNA small subunit SSU based Illumina Miseq technique using the primer pair AML1/AML2. Changes in OTUs belonging to 23 AMF species were identified in the ambient (400 ± 10 μmol mol−1) and eCO2 (550 ± 20 μmol mol−1) conditions, respectively based on reads alignment using MaarjAM VT database. Moreover, principal coordinate (PCO) analysis clustered the related OTUs and suggested that long-term exposure of eCO2 suppressed the OTUs of Glomerales and encouraged the OTUs of Diversisporales. Overall, the present study indicates that long-term exposure of paddy soil to eCO2 (550 ppm) drastically reduced the commonly occuring AMF such as Claroideoglomus and Glomus species in sub-humid tropical condition.
Reliability of targeting methods in TMS for depression: Beam F3 vs. 5.5 cm.

Abstract Background No consensus exists in the clinical transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) field as to the best method for targeting the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) for depression treatment. Two common targeting methods are the Beam F3 method and the 5.5 cm rule. Objective Evaluate the anatomical reliability of technician-identified DLPFC targets and obtain consensus average brain and scalp MNI152 coordinates. Methods Three trained TMS technicians performed repeated targeting using both the Beam F3 method and 5.5 cm rule in ten healthy subjects (n = 162). Average target locations were plotted on 7T structural MRIs to compare inter- and intra-rater reliability, respectively. Results (1) Beam F3 inter- and intra-rater reliability was superior to 5.5 cm targeting (p = 0.0005 and 0.0035). (2) The average Beam F3 location was 2.6±1.0 cm anterolateral to the 5.5 cm method. Conclusions Beam F3 targeting demonstrates greater precision and reliability than the 5.5 cm method and identifies a different anatomical target.
Efficient expression of multiple guide RNAs for CRISPR/Cas genome editing

The Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats/CRISPR-associated protein system (CRISPR/Cas) has recently become the most powerful tool available for genome engineering in various organisms. With efficient and proper expression of multiple guide RNAs (gRNAs), the CRISPR/Cas system is particularly suitable for multiplex genome editing. During the past several years, different CRISPR/Cas expression strategies, such as two-component transcriptional unit, single transcriptional unit, and bidirectional promoter systems, have been developed to efficiently express gRNAs as well as Cas nucleases. Significant progress has been made to optimize gRNA production using different types of promoters and RNA processing strategies such as ribozymes, endogenous RNases, and exogenous endoribonuclease (Csy4). Besides being constitutively and ubiquitously expressed, inducible and spatiotemporal regulations of gRNA expression have been demonstrated using inducible, tissue-specific, and/or synthetic promoters for specific research purposes. Most recently, the emergence of CRISPR/Cas ribonucleoprotein delivery methods, such as engineered nanoparticles, further revolutionized transgene-free and multiplex genome editing. In this review, we discuss current strategies and future perspectives for efficient expression and engineering of gRNAs with a goal to facilitate CRISPR/Cas-based multiplex genome editing.
The glutamic acid-rich–long C-terminal extension of troponin T has a critical role in insect muscle functions

The troponin complex regulates the Ca2+ activation of myofilaments during striated muscle contraction and relaxation. Troponin genes emerged 500–700 million years ago during early animal evolution. Troponin T (TnT) is the thin-filament–anchoring subunit of troponin. Vertebrate and invertebrate TnTs have conserved core structures, reflecting conserved functions in regulating muscle contraction, and they also contain significantly diverged structures, reflecting muscle type- and species-specific adaptations. TnT in insects contains a highly-diverged structure consisting of a long glutamic acid–rich C-terminal extension of ˜70 residues with unknown function. We found here that C-terminally truncated Drosophila TnT (TpnT–CD70) retains binding of tropomyosin, troponin I, and troponin C, indicating a preserved core structure of TnT. However, the mutant TpnTCD70 gene residing on the X chromosome resulted in lethality in male flies. We demonstrate that this X-linked mutation produces dominant-negative phenotypes, including decreased flying and climbing abilities, in heterozygous female flies. Immunoblot quantification with a TpnT-specific mAb indicated expression of TpnT–CD70 in vivo and normal stoichiometry of total TnT in myofilaments of heterozygous female flies. Light and EM examinations revealed primarily normal sarcomere structures in female heterozygous animals, whereas Z-band streaming could be observed in the jump muscle of these flies. Although TpnT–CD70-expressing flies exhibited lower resistance to cardiac stress, their hearts were significantly more tolerant to Ca2+ overloading induced by high-frequency electrical pacing. Our findings suggest that the Glu-rich long C-terminal extension of insect TnT functions as a myofilament Ca2+ buffer/reservoir and is potentially critical to the high-frequency asynchronous contraction of flight muscles.
Comparing Bupivacaine, Lidocaine, and a Combination of Bupivacaine and Lidocaine for Labor Epidural Activation: A Prospective, Randomized, Double-Blind Study

Objective: Epidural anesthesia for the parturient is often provided in a clinical context where rapid onset of segmental analgesia is important; however, little is published on the ideal local anesthetic to safely achieve this onset. To fill this gap in knowledge, we studied bupivacaine and lidocaine, two local anesthetics (LA) commonly used for labor epidural activation, either as a single drug or in combination to determine the onset of epidural analgesia. Methods: In this double-blinded study, seventy-five patients were randomized into three groups (n = 25 each) for labor epidural activation: 10 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine, 10 mL of 1% lidocaine, or 5 mL of 0.25% bupivacaine plus 5 mL of 1% lidocaine. Patients were assessed for the first 20 min after drug administration at 5-min intervals. Data collected included sensory level to pinprick, maternal blood pressure, vasopressor administration, and peak motor blockade. Results: Data were analyzed on 71 of 75 patients. Time to loss of sensation to pinprick at the T_(10) dermatome in the bupivacaine group was significantly longer than the lidocaine group (p = 0.006), but the time to loss of sensation to pinprick at the T_(10) dermatome did not significantly differ in the bupivacaine plus lidocaine group when compared to both the bupivacaine (p = 0.114) as well as the lidocaine (p = 0.203) groups. Phenylephrine usage did not significantly differ amongst the three groups (p = 0.062). Conclusion: Lidocaine provides statistically significant faster onset of epidural analgesia when compared to bupivacaine only. Combining the two LA did not significantly affect onset.
Late onset postpartum eclampsia complicated with posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a rare entity characterized by headache, vomiting, visual disturbances, seizure and unconsciousness with characteristic magnetic resonance imaging. Late onset postpartum eclampsia complicated by PRES has been reported in the literature, We report a unique case of 23-year-old patient who developed late onset postpartum eclampsia complicated by PRES and acute kidney injury requiring renal replacement therapy. The case report emphasizes the need to continue antihypertensive medication in hypertensive parturients during postpartum period for at least 6 weeks as frequency of late postpartum eclampsia is high. The medication should be tapered off slowly to avoid reactive hypertensive episode which might trigger PRES and acute kidney injury.
Generalizing the trapezoidal rule in the complex plane

In computational contexts, analytic functions are often best represented by grid-based function values in the complex plane. For integrating periodic functions, the spectrally accurate trapezoidal rule (TR) then becomes a natural choice, due to both accuracy and simplicity. The two key present observations are (i) the accuracy of TR in the periodic case can be greatly increased (doubling or tripling the number of correct digits) by using function values also along grid lines adjacent to the line of integration and (ii) a recently developed end correction strategy for finite interval integrations applies just as well when using these enhanced TR schemes.
Patient-specific genomics and cross-species functional analysis implicate LRP2 in hypoplastic left heart syndrome

Congenital heart diseases (CHDs), including hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), are genetically complex and poorly understood. Here, a multi-disciplinary platform was established to functionally evaluate novel CHD gene candidates, based on whole genome and iPSC RNA sequencing of a HLHS family-trio. Filtering for rare variants and altered expression in proband iPSCs prioritized 10 candidates. siRNA/RNAi-mediated knockdown in generic human iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CM) and in developing Drosophila and zebrafish hearts revealed that LDL receptor-related protein LRP2 is required for cardiomyocyte proliferation and differentiation. Consistent with hypoplastic heart defects, compared to patents the proband's iPSC-CMs exhibited reduced proliferation. Interestingly, rare, predicted-damaging LRP2 variants were enriched in a HLHS cohort; however, understanding their contribution to HLHS requires further investigation. Collectively, we have established a multi-species high-throughput platform to rapidly evaluate candidate genes and their interactions during heart development, which are crucial first steps towards deciphering oligogenic underpinnings of CHDs, including maladaptive left hearts.
Asymptomatic Non-occult Pneumothorax in pediatric blunt chest trauma: Chest tube versus observation.

Abstract Background The treatment of asymptomatic non-occult pneumothoraces (ANOPTX) secondary to blunt chest trauma (BCT) has not been well delineated. We sought to analyze our experience with ANOPTX in pediatric trauma patients and determine if a chest tube (CT) is mandatory. Methods A retrospective chart review of patients Results Of the 77 patients who had ANOPTX, 48 (62.3%) were managed with observation only, while 29 (37.7%) underwent CT placement. The median length of stay for patients who had CT placement was 7 days (IQR, 4, 12) and 2 days (IQR, 1, 4) in those observed (p Conclusions CT is not mandatory in all pediatric patients with ANOPTX from BCT and observation has been found to be safe and cost effective.
A mutation suppressing streptomycin dependence: I. An effect on ribosome function☆

Abstract Two mutations affecting ribosomes are described in a strain of Escherichia coli K12. One mutation results in true (rather than conditional) streptomycin dependence; the second mutation, at a different locus, suppresses such dependence and results in a strain, the growth of which is reversibly inhibited by streptomycin. This second mutation suppresses streptomycin dependence in its parental strain and other streptomycin-dependent strains; it does not relieve the requirement for amino acids in auxotrophs or suppress amber phage mutants. The phenotypes of the wild-type streptomycin-sensitive strain and the dependence-suppressed mutant differ in that streptomycin is bactericidal for the wild-type strain and bacteriostatic for the mutant. The ribosomes of the two strains, however, are indistinguishable in their response to streptomycin in vitro . In poly U-primed systems, phenylalanine polymerization is inhibited by the addition of streptomycin when ribosomes of the wild-type or dependence-suppressed strain are present, but no effect of streptomycin is observed when the ribosomes are from the streptomycin-dependent strain. Both the wild-type and the dependence-suppressed ribosomes show similar patterns of streptomycin-induced ambiguity in vitro . These observations are in accord with the known ribosomal effects of mutations in the streptomycin gene locus and suggest that mutations affecting streptomycin sensitivity outside, as well as within, the streptomycin locus produce changes in ribosomal function. The genotypes of the sensitive, dependent and suppressed strains are described, as are the effects of streptomycin on protein and RNA synthesis in vivo .
Extending BGMP for Shared-Tree Inter-Domain QoS Multicast

QoS support poses new challenges to multicast routing especially for inter-domain multicast where network QoS characteristics will not be readily available as in intra-domain multicast. Several existing proposals attempt to build QoS-sensitive multicast trees by providing multiple joining paths for a new member using a flooding-based search strategy which has the draw-back of excessive overhead and may not be able to determine which join path is QoS feasible sometimes. In this paper, first we propose a method to propagate QoS information in bidirectional multicast trees to enable better QoS-aware path selection decisions. We then propose an alternative "join point" search strategy that would introduce much less control overhead utilizing the root-based feature of the MASC/BGMP inter-domain multicast architecture. Simulation results show that this strategy is as effective as flooding-based search strategy in finding alternative join points for a new member but with much less overhead.We also discuss extensions to BGMP to incorporate our strategies to enable QoS support.
Periarteritis nodosa; report of a case with involvement of the tongue.

Abstract A brief review of periarteritis nodosa from the standpoint of incidence, etiology, and pathology has been presented, and a brief resume of twenty-six cases from the Presbyterian Hospital files has been reported. One case with lesions in the tongue has been described.
Aerosol growth due to heterogeneous reaction: II. The manganese-catalyzed aqueous phase oxidation of S(IV) to S(VI)

Abstract The continuous stirred tank reactor system described in Part I was used to measure the growth of aerosol salt particles containing manganese in an SO 2 -containing atmosphere. A model of the aerosol behavior within the reactor was used to predict the reactor effluent size distribution given the input feed distribution and various reaction rate expressions. Comparing the reactor aerosol size distributions predicted by the various rate expressions to those experimentally measured provides a method to assess the compatibility of heterogeneous reaction rate theories and measurements made under realistic atmospheric conditions.
Reduced thalamocortical functional connectivity in temporal lobe epilepsy.

SummaryObjective In temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), the thalamus is well known for its role in the propagation and spread of epileptiform activity. However, the integrity of thalamocortical functional connectivity (FC) in TLE and its relation to specific seizure patterns have not yet been determined. We address these issues with resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Methods Resting-state fMRI was performed on two groups of unilateral TLE patients: those with focal seizures only (16 left TLE, 16 right TLE) and those with additional generalized seizures (16 left TLE, 10 right TLE), and 16 matched controls. A thalamic parcellation based on FC between five nonoverlapping cortical seeds (prefrontal, motor, somatosensory, parietal-occipital, and temporal) and the ipsilateral thalamus was carried out to parcel each thalamus into five corresponding segments. FCs between each segment and its ipsilateral cortical seed were extracted and compared across groups using analyses of variance (ANOVAs). Results Compared to healthy controls, patients with TLE displayed decreased thalamocortical FC in multiple posterior and ventromedial thalamic segments of both the ictal and nonictal hemispheres. Our parcellation analysis revealed that these thalamic regions were functionally connected to the parietal/occipital and temporal lobes. In patients with TLE with focal seizures these regional thalamocortical FC decreases were limited to the ictal hemisphere. In contrast, TLE patients with both focal and generalized epileptiform activity displayed FC decreases in both the ictal and nonictal thalamus involving the dorsolateral pulvinar, a region preferentially connected to the parietal and occipital lobes. Significance Our data provide the first evidence of regional specific thalamocortical FC decreases in patients with unilateral TLE. Furthermore, our results demonstrate that patients with different seizure types present different thalamoparietal/occipital FC decrease patterns. While patients with focal seizures present thalamocortical FC decreases in the ictal hemisphere only, patients with additional generalized seizure activity also show thalamocortical FC decreases involving the thalamus in the nonictal hemisphere.
Characterization and expression of a spliced leader RNA in the parasitic nematode Ascaris lumbricoides var. suum.

Abstract The parasitic nematode Ascaris spp. contains a 22-nucleotide spliced-leader (SL) sequence identical to the trans-SL previously described in Caenorhabditis elegans and other nematodes. The SL comprises the first 22 nucleotides of a approximately 110-base RNA and is transcribed by RNA polymerase II. The SL RNA contains a trimethylguanosine cap and a consensus Sm binding site. Furthermore, the Ascaris SL RNA has the potential to adopt a secondary structure which is nearly identical to potential secondary structures of similar SL RNAs in C. elegans and Brugia malayi.
Financial Disclosure Management by Nonprofit Organizations

This paper examines how nonprofit organizations respond to incentives to manage their publicly available financial information. Prior research identifies two operating ratios donors commonly use to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of nonprofits (i.e., the program service ratio, defined as the fraction of total expenses committed to advancing the charitable mission of the organization, and the fundraising ratio, defined as the ratio of fundraising expenses to donations revenue). Nonprofit managers have an incentive to over-report the expenses classified as program services and under-report the expenses classified as administrative and fundraising in order to improve these ratios. We examine whether nonprofits respond to these incentives, and we find evidence consistent with opportunistic cost shifting to improve the program service and fundraising ratios. Additional analysis finds that smaller nonprofits that are more reliant on donations revenue manipulate their operating ratios to a greater extent.
Statistical process control and the Taguchi method: a comparative evaluation

Most manufacturing processes do not produce completely identical characteristics for successive units of the same product. There are many different sources of manufacturing variability. Product design has a significant impact on manufacturing variability. The design flows of a particular product cannot be predicted, making it difficult to apply effectively traditional statistical process control (SPC) methods. In this article, a comparison of traditional SPC methods and Taguchi methods (TM) of quality management is presented. We show how the Taguchi method complements many of the features of SPC. Finally, we argue for adoption of TM for implementation into a total quality program.
Medical Schools in Crisis

The medical schools of the United States are in crisis because of poor teaching methods, misdirected training of medical students, and failure to respond to the needs of the population. Much of the increased cost of medical care can be blamed on high technology and the type of training provided in the medical school. Students are trained in hospital care and use of technology to forward treatment rather than in the ambulatory and family practice care they will use later in their careers. Medical schools are to be blamed for teaching specialty medicine and thus providing large numbers of unneeded surgeons and other specialists. In addition, too many physicians of all sorts are being trained; this raises the cost of medical care to the population as a whole. Proposals are made to limit the number and kind of specialties, to restrict medical school enrollments, to train medical students in ambulatory environments, and to reorient medical care from the hospital to less costly environments. With the DRG regulations and pressure from government, medical schools must alter their curriculum in order to meet the challenges of the future.
Urgent heart transplantation in patients with previous sternotomies

Critically ill patient status and prior sternotomy have separately been associated with increased risk of mortality and morbidity after heart transplantation. Consequently, the justification of assigning urgent priority for transplantation to critically ill patients with prior sternotomy may be arguable. The authors therefore undertook a retrospective analysis to evaluate the outcome of urgent and elective heart transplantation in 64 patients who had undergone one to four previous sternotomies. Patients in group 1 (n = 23) were critically ill and underwent urgent heart transplantation. Group 2 (n = 41) consisted of more stable patients who received heart transplantation as an elective procedure. Intravenous inotropes or mechanical circulatory support were required by all patients in group 1 but by none in group 2. The mortality rate within 30 days post-transplant was higher in group 1 than in group 2 (22% versus 10%), though the difference was not statistically significant. The 1-year actuarial allograft survival was similar between the two groups (72% versus 74%). In addition, there was no significant difference between groups 1 and 2 in the incidence of postoperative coagulopathy (57% versus 42%), re-exploration (13% versus 15%), early infections (57% versus 49%), renal failure (17% versus 10%) or rejection episodes in the first 3 months (65% versus 78%). The authors' findings suggest that despite higher operative mortality in critically ill patients with previous sternotomies, the intermediate-term outcome of heart transplantation in these patients is similar to that in more stable patients. Critically ill patients with prior sternotomies should therefore continue to be considered for urgent heart transplantation.
Estrogen receptor‐mediated cytotoxicity using iodine‐125

Auger effects from 125I decay are singularly damaging if localized in DNA as the thymidine analogue 125I-iododeoxyuridine (125IUdR). Recent experience with steroid sex hormones extends these observations by demonstrating cytotoxicity in sites other than the DNA backbone. We have compared the cytotoxicity in human MCF-7 breast cancer cells of 125IUdR, 125I-iodotamoxifen, a nonsteroidal antiestrogen that is translocated from the cytoplasm to the nucleus of receptor containing cells, and 125I-iodoantipyrine, a biological indicator of the body water space. Cytotoxicity is critically dependent upon subcellular localization.