cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Foreign Direct Investments of Spanish Multinational Enterprises in Latin America, 1989–2005*

The inflow of Spanish investment in Latin America after 1989 was the result of a strategy by the managers of seven leading firms to gain access to new markets and to become world leaders in their industry, by applying the know-how that they had developed in Spain during the period of rapid economic modernisation in the 1980s. This article examines the context for these investments in Spain and in Latin America and provides a constructivist theoretical framework to explain them. It analyses seven firms in four industries (BBVA and SCH in banking, Repsol-YPF in oil and natural gas, Endesa, Iberdrola and Union Fenosa in public utilities, and Telefonica in telecommunications). The knowledge and techniques that developed in Spain in the 1980s, it is argued, gave them significant advantages in Latin American markets during the period of liberalisation and privatisation in the 1990s. The Spanish government played a significant role in this process, by promoting the growth of large firms in the service industries through mergers and acquisition, protecting their domestic market, and encouraging their investments overseas.
African Americans' Perceptions of Workplace Equity: A Starting Point

For the past several decades, leisure researchers have inves- tigated the impact that race has on leisure behavior and preferences, but there remains a paucity of research that addresses the issue of race in the leisure services workplace. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of inequity, discrimination, and promotion opportunities among African Americans in the field of public parks and recreation. The study was conducted in multiple phases, and all included African Americans who were working for public recreation agencies in a midwestern state. First, telephone interviews were conducted with 11 African American middle managers. A few months after the telephone interviews, a focus group was held at the state conference with African Americans who were employed in a variety of positions in public recreation. Finally, questionnaires were mailed to African Americans working in full- time positions in public recreation agencies in the state. The study's results indicated that many respondents perceived discrimination and inequity in their workplaces. Respondents felt that they were under-represented in the field, particularly at the upper administrative level. Most felt that people with minority backgrounds were given fewer promotion opportunities than were European Americans. Further, they reported that they were not being adequately prepared for management-related responsibilities. Many respondents indicated that they lacked mentors, which may inhibit their ability to matriculate to upper management positions. Based on the results of this study, as well as Allison's (1999) earlier study, it appears that race remains a salient factor within the leisure services workforce. The implica- tions of the study's findings are discussed. There is general agreement among the study's respondents that greater efforts are needed to recruit and retain African Americans. Moreover, the results of the current study suggest that if these inequity and discrimination issues are not addressed, the parks and recreation field will not be viewed as an attractive career option for African Americans.
Mutational Profiling Can Establish Clonal or Independent Origin in Synchronous Bilateral Breast and Other Tumors.

Background Synchronous tumors can be independent primary tumors or a primary-metastatic (clonal) pair, which may have clinical implications. Mutational profiling of tumor DNA is increasingly common in the clinic. We investigated whether mutational profiling can distinguish independent from clonal tumors in breast and other cancers, using a carefully defined test based on the Clonal Likelihood Score (CLS = 100 x # shared high confidence (HC) mutations/ # total HC mutations).
The effect of initial conditions and lateral boundaries on convection

A theoretical analysis of two-dimensional, finite-amplitude, thermal convection is made for a fluid which has an infinite Prandtl number. The vertical velocity disturbance is expanded in a double Fourier series which satisfies the horizontal and lateral boundary conditions. The resulting coupled sets of non-linear differential equations are solved numerically. It is found that for a particular Rayleigh number the number and size of the convection cells that form depend upon the ratio of the distance between the lateral boundaries to the depth of the fluid layer and on the initial conditions. The steady-state solutions are not unique and the solution for which the heat transport is a maximum is not necessarily the solution that results. Where there are no lateral boundaries, the lateral edges of the cells tend to tilt and the Nusselt number increases slightly.
The onset of effective coalescence growth in convective clouds

This study examines the microphysical and environmental conditions necessary to support rapid coalescence growth in warm convective clouds. A quantitative threshold for effective coalescence growth can be defined in terms of the mass-doubling times for growing precipitation embryos.
On using an artificial feedforward neural network as a controller in large-scale power systems

The authors examine the usefulness of the feedforward neural network as a controller. In particular, the authors consider as an example the problem of design of a power system stabilizer that has the structure of a classical feedforward artificial neural network. In this case, the controller is developed for a class of problems associated with linear plants. Certain observations are made regarding the generic behavior of systems with this type of controller structure. The authors incorporate a robustness criterion into the design as well as a conventional dynamic performance criterion. >
Bosutinib treatment for Philadelphia chromosome-positive leukemias.

ABSTRACT The SRC–ABL inhibitor bosutinib is one of the five tyrosine kinase inhibitors currently approved for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive leukemias. Bosutinib has shown activity against all phases of resistant chronic myeloid leukemia that do not harbor the T315I or V299L ABL kinase domain mutations. Bosutinib is overall well tolerated; transient diarrhea is the most common side effect. This article summarizes the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, safety and efficacy of bosutinib for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive leukemias.
On the Testability of Models with Missing Data

Graphical models that depict the process by which data are lost are helpful in recovering information from missing data. We address the question of whether any such model can be submitted to a statistical test given that the data available are corrupted by missingness. We present sucient conditions for testability in missing data applications and note the impediments for testability when data are contaminated by missing entries. Our results strengthen the available tests for MCAR and MAR and further provide tests in the category of MNAR. Furthermore, we provide sucient conditions to detect the existence of dependence between a variable and its missingness mechanism. We use our results to show that model sensitivity persists in almost all models typically categorized as MNAR.
Acute effects of lead on renal electrolyte excretion and plasma renin activity

R., VANDER, A. J., Cox, J., AND FLEISCHER, N. (1978). Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 46,435447. Since lead accumulates in the kidney and interferes with the renal transport of amino acids and glucose, we tested the hypothesis that acute doses of lead also reduce tubular electrolyte reabsorption and alter the secretion of renin. In sodium pentobarbital-anesthetized dogs, acute iv lead increased the excretion of sodium, potassium, calcium, and water, despite a constant glomerular filtration rate; therefore lead reduced the tubular reabsorption of these substances. Lead also caused an increase in plasma renin activity. The threshold dose of acutely administered lead necessary to elicit these responses was determined in dose-response experiments on unanesthetized rats; a dose of 0.1 mg of lead/kg was sufficient to cause significant increases in plasma renin and the renal excretion of sodium. Lead concentrations in the tissues of the rats were measured in samples taken immediately at the conclusion of the study; the threshold dose of lead was associated with very low blood lead ((5 pg/lOO ml) and kidney lead (1.2 fig/g wet wt). These effects of lead are discussed with regard to their possible clinical significance.
BusSEngine: a business search engine

With the emergence of World Wide Web, business' databases are increasingly being queried directly by customers. The customers may not be aware of the underlying data and its structure, and might have never learned a query language that enables them to issue structured queries. Some of the business' employees who query the databases may also not be aware of the structure of the data, but they are likely to be aware of some labels of elements containing data. We propose in this article: (1) an XML Keyword-Based search engine for answering business' customers called BusSEngine-K, and (2) an XML loosely Structured-Based search engine for answering business' employees called BusSEngine-L. The two engines employ novel context-driven search techniques and are built on top of XQuery search engine. The two engines were evaluated experimentally and compared with three recently proposed XML search engines. The results showed marked improvement.
'In the border regions of the territory of Rhodesia, there is the greatest scourge': the border and East Coast Fever control in central Mozambique and eastern Zimbabwe, 1901-1942

This article examines the implications of the border on the control of East Coast Fever in colonial Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The outbreak of the disease in Rhodesia in 1901 caused much anxiety among Portuguese veterinary officials, who were concerned that the disease could cross the border into their territory and destroy their livestock industry. Resultant efforts to control this and other livestock diseases in these colonies were often accompanied by racial application of veterinary policies which benefited Europeans at the expense of Africans. East Coast Fever, together with the 1896–97 Rinderpest epidemic, thus contributed immensely to the development of veterinary science, the burgeoning functions of the colonial state, and the relations between state and subject in rural areas. Hence, through an examination of English and Portuguese colonial documents, this paper argues that the existence of East Coast Fever in Zimbabwe, and the impossibility of sealing the border to prevent cattle mobility, raised ...
Combined Solid Organ Transplantation Involving the Liver

The number of orthotopic liver transplants performed (OLT) in combination with transplantation of other solid organs has increased [1], and multiple factors have contributed to this. First, the last decade has seen a dramatic improvement in the medical management of patients with cirrhosis. The introduction of beta-blockade to decrease portal hypertension, widespread application of endoscopic modalities to treat esophageal varices, use of TIPS (transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt), and effective medications to control hepatitis B viral replication have increased the life expectancy of patients with cirrhosis. As a result of improved life expectancy, patients with end-stage liver disease at times present with additional organ-system failures. A second contributing factor for increasing combined organ transplantation is the dramatic improvement in the outcomes of single-organ transplantation. The natural progression of these successes in abdominal and thoracic solid organ transplantation is the extension of these techniques to the arena of dual-organ transplantation.
Whose Ideas, Please. We're Economists

The title is a play on the title of an article, "No History of Ideas, Please. We're Economists," by Mark Blaug in the the Winter 2001 Journal of Economics Perspectives in which he laments the decline in the interest in the study of the history of economic thought, and gives a spirited argument for reversing this decline. This piece argues that it may be fruitful to approach the study of the major fundamental concepts in economics, the big ideas, by seeking to answer the questions: Who invented the idea? Who really owns it? This involves playing "detective", finding evidence, listening to witnesses, examining the record and, finally, making the case. This approach is illustrated by using three examples: the ideas of elasticity, comparative advantage and equilibrium in non-competitive games. A final question involving "the awarding of credit for big ideas" is examined, motivated by considering the 1994 and 1995 Nobel Prizes in Economic Sciences.
The potential for growth of experimentally produced hemiepiphyses.

Longitudinal bifurcation osteotomy extending through the distal epiphysis, growth plate, and metaphysis of the radius and ulna of young rabbits and dogs was performed and an inert plastic membrane was placed in the osteotomy. The degree of resultant deformity appeared to be in direct proportion to the mass of the osseous epiphyseal centrum present at the time of surgery. When the mass of the osscous epiphyseal centrum was large, early epiphyseodesis and deformity occurred as a consequence of new-bone formation bridging between the epiphysis and the metaphysis. When the osseous epiphyseal centrum was small at the time of surgery and a relatively large portion of epiphyseal cartilage separated the osteogenic sites (the epiphyseal centrum and the metaphysis), relatively normal growth continued until the centrum came to rest against the growth plate. Epiphyseodesis and deformity then occurred. When the bifurcation was performed prior to the appearance of the osseous centrum, relatively normal undeformed growth of the divided halves occurred.
Cell Antigens and Cell Specialization. III. On the H Antigen Receptors of Human Epidermal Cells

This article describes the application of the mixed agglutination method to demonstrate the H antigen receptors on human A1, A2, B and O epidermal cells, and also the presence of A and B antigen receptors in different spatial locations than the H receptors in A and B epidermal cells.
Situating Hannah Arendt as a Woman of this Century

Hannah Arendt learned to write for the modern common reader in America, specifically in New York City, as a literary critic, political analyst and translator of European events and philosophy for American audiences. She mastered the journal article and newspaper format, one of the few social scientists who wrote to be read beyond the tightly patrolled borders of academe. This essay explores specific controversial issues of mid-20th century America which Arendt attacked first, and some argue most successfully, in essay format for the mass circulation journals based in New York. The intent is to examine her authorial as well as theoretical strategies in speculating on: Existentialism, Modernism; mass culture, the avant-garde and democracy.
What Health Care Reform Means for Immigrants: Comparing the Affordable Care Act and Massachusetts Health Reforms

The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed to provide more affordable health coverage to Americans beginning in 2014. Modeled after the 2006 Massachusetts health care reform, the ACA includes an individual mandate, Medicaid expansion, and health exchanges through which middle-income individuals can purchase coverage from private insurance companies. However, while the ACA provisions exclude all undocumented and some documented immigrants, Massachusetts uses state and hospital funds to extend coverage to these groups. This article examines the ACA reform using the Massachusetts reform as a comparative case study to outline how citizenship status influences individuals' coverage options under both policies. The article then briefly discusses other states that provide coverage to ACA-ineligible immigrants and the implications of uneven ACA implementation for immigrants and citizens nationwide.
Clinical Diagnostic Utility of Delta Bilirubin

The ability to resolve total bilirubin (TB) into unconjugated bilirubin (Bu), conjugated bilirubin (Be), and covalently protein- bound (Bb) bilirubin, andtoquantitate them either by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) or a multilayer slide system (Kodak) was evaluated in hyperbilirubinemia of various causes. There is agreement between HPLC and Kodak (r=.986). We found that small amounts (<10%) ofBb in adults with unconjugated HB caused by hemolytic disorders does not correlate with severity of the disease. In contrast, in cases involving cancer, cholelithiasis, or intestinal obstruction, and impaired biosynthesis of bilirubin caused by cirrhosis, alcoholic or viral hepatitis, Be and Bb have different kinetic profiles and therefore separate diagnostic values. During resolution of these hepatobiliary disorders, Be clears rapidly from the serum (50% decrease in 24 hours), whereas B remains the principle fraction for 20 days (50% to 90% of TB). When B5 failed to accumulate, the prognosis for recovery was poor. In these cases, liver enzyme levels gave conflicting results. Serial profiling of Be and Bb differed among cases of acute alcohol detoxification and in cases of acute versus chronic alcoholic hepatitis. Use of such profiles might aid in the identification of patients at risk for the development of cirrhosis.
Effect of temperature on the assay of hepatic alcohol dehydrogenase.

SummaryAn increase in the assay temperature of hepatic alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity, from 25 to 50-60°, with ethanol as the substrate, led to a stimulation of enzyme activity. The stimulation of the hepatic ADH (not observed with yeast ADH) was reversible if the heated samples were allowed to cool to room temperature and then assayed at 25°. Only at the elevated temperature (50-60°) could ADH activity be detected in normal rat or human plasma. The increased sensitivity resulting from thermal activation of ADH may prove useful for studying the enzyme in crude preparations, measuring ADH activity with substrates normally providing low activity (e.g., 17-β-hydroxy-5-β-androston-3-one), or measuring serum ADH activity in patients with various types of liver injury.
Urinary Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin (NGAL) in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Background Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a well-established risk factor for hypertension and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. More recently, OSA has been implicated as an independent risk factor for chronic kidney disease. Urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) is a well-accepted early biomarker of subclinical kidney tubular injury, preceding an increase in serum creatinine. The goal of this study was to determine if an association exists between OSA and increased urinary NGAL levels.
Trend test methods for two-way ordinal categorical data

Aim: To summarize the trend test analysis methods for two-way ordinal categorical data.Methods: Based on the theories and calculation formulas of trend test analysis methods for two-way ordinal categorical data, different analysis methods were discussed for the model data by using SAS software.Results: The SAS programs for the data analysis were developed and the interpretation for the outputs was explained.Conclusion: Trend test analysis methods for medical research data should be recommended.
“The persistence of memory”—Hermaphroditism in nematodes

Self-fertility has evolved many times in nematodes. This transition often produces an androdioecious species, with XX hermaphrodites and XO males. Although these hermaphrodites resemble females in most respects, early germ cells differentiate as sperm, and late ones as oocytes. The sperm then receive an activation signal, populate the spermathecae, and are stored for later use in self-fertilization. These traits are controlled by complex modifications to the sex-determination and sperm activation pathways, which have arisen independently during the evolution of each hermaphroditic species. This transformation in reproductive strategy then promotes other major changes in the development, evolution, and population structure of these animals. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 84: 144-157, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Monomeric C‐reactive protein and inflammation in age‐related macular degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a devastating disease characterized by central vision loss in elderly individuals. Previous studies have suggested a link between elevated levels of total C-reactive protein (CRP) in the choroid, CFH genotype, and AMD status; however, the structural form of CRP present in the choroid, its relationship to CFH genotype, and its functional consequences have not been assessed. In this report, we studied genotyped human donor eyes (n = 60) and found that eyes homozygous for the high-risk CFH (Y402H) allele had elevated monomeric CRP (mCRP) within the choriocapillaris and Bruch's membrane, compared to those with the low-risk genotype. Treatment of choroidal endothelial cells in vitro with mCRP increased migration rate and monolayer permeability compared to treatment with pentameric CRP (pCRP) or medium alone. Organ cultures treated with mCRP exhibited dramatically altered expression of inflammatory genes as assessed by RNA sequencing, including ICAM-1 and CA4, both of which were confirmed at the protein level. Our data indicate that mCRP is the more abundant form of CRP in human choroid, and that mCRP levels are elevated in individuals with the high-risk CFH genotype. Moreover, pro-inflammatory mCRP significantly affects endothelial cell phenotypes in vitro and ex vivo, suggesting a role for mCRP in choroidal vascular dysfunction in AMD. Copyright © 2016 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Oxygen transport in periodically ventilated polychaete burrows

Burrowing organisms play a critical role for the functioning of coastal marine sediments, in part due to their pumping of oxygenated water through the burrow. In cohesive sediments, oxygenated burrow water allows for the diffusive flux of oxygen across the burrow wall and into the sediment, where it is consumed. In this study, we quantified the burrow excurrent velocities, volume of water ventilated and oxygenation patterns within the burrow of the polychaete Alitta succinea. We determined that periodic ventilation of the burrow results in oscillations of the flux of oxygen across the burrow wall and oxygen concentration within the sediment near the burrow wall. Additionally, we investigated the effects of temperature changes on oxygen dynamics in the burrow. The volumetric flow rate and frequency of burrow ventilation increased with temperature. Correspondingly, the frequency of the oscillations in oxygen flux across the burrow walls also increased with temperature. However, the time-averaged flux of oxygen across the burrow wall did not change with temperature (1.5 ± 0.3ol m−2 d−1), and the distance of oxygen penetration into the burrow wall decreased with temperature (from 3.4 ± 0.5 at 6 °C to 1.6 ± 0.1 at 33 °C). Thus, seasonal changes in the volume of oxygenated sediment, as well as the pattern of oxygenation that sediment experiences, are expected to be significant while the total oxygen flux is expected to remain relatively uniform. We show that burrower ventilation behavior mediates the effects of temperature on sediment oxygen uptake.
Some Remarks on Applications of Tests for Detecting A Change Point to Psychometric Problems

Tests for a change point (e.g., Chen and Gupta, Parametric statistical change point analysis (2nd ed.). Birkhuser, Boston, 2012; Hawkins et al., J Qual Technol 35:355-366, 2003) have recently been brought into the spotlight for their potential uses in psychometrics. They have been successfully applied to detect an unusual change in the mean score of a sequence of administrations of an international language assessment (Lee and von Davier, Psychometrika 78:557-575, 2013) and to detect speededness of examinees (Shao et al., Psychometrika, 2015). The differences in the type of data used, the test statistics, and the manner in which the critical values were obtained in these papers lead to questions such as "what type of psychometric problems can be solved by tests for a change point?" and "what test statistics should be used with tests for a change point in psychometric problems?" This note attempts to answer some of these questions by providing a general overview of tests for a change point with a focus on application to psychometric problems. A discussion is provided on the choice of an appropriate test statistic and on the computation of a corresponding critical value for tests for a change point. Then, three real data examples are provided to demonstrate how tests for a change point can be used to make important inferences in psychometric problems. The examples include some clarifications and remarks on the critical values used in Lee and von Davier (Psychometrika, 78:557-575, 2013) and Shao et al. (Psychometrika, 2015). The overview and the examples provide insight on tests for a change point above and beyond Lee and von Davier (Psychometrika, 78:557-575, 2013) and Shao et al. (Psychometrika, 2015). Thus, this note extends the research of Lee and von Davier (Psychometrika, 78:557-575, 2013) and Shao et al. (Psychometrika, 2015) on tests for a change point.
The Symbiosis of Pride & Property

Pride and property are mutually reinforcing, symbiotic concepts through which individuals express their identity in a biologically, economically, and psychologically driven manner that generates evolutionarily advantageous conditions. This Article is the first to extensively examine the correlative components of pride and property ownership. It is an interdisciplinary treatment of pride and property — engaging with law, economics, psychology, evolutionary biology, evolutionary psychology, and philosophy. The grossly under-studied “authentic”, achievement-oriented, and motivational variety of pride (as contrasted with the much-vilified “hubristic” kind) has recently been heralded as perhaps the most important human emotion for evolutionary purposes. The Article explains that authentic pride is adaptive, functional, and manifests itself in evolutionarily beneficial ways — including through its interaction with property. The Article also outlines the mechanics of a pride based-utility function.Property has acquisitional and expressive functions, allowing ownership to be both the repository of pride-based utility and also useful as a vehicle through which evolutionarily-beneficial authentic pride can be expressed. Property can act as a “pride display” that signals status-deservedness to the greater community, enhancing the prospects of group acceptance critical to evolutionary fitness. Although literature has discussed property as integrated with one’s self-identity and personhood, and while recent research on pride has recognized its fundamental relationship to the self, very little if any existing analysis ties those two strands together to analyze pride in property as identity development and to evaluate the motivational role pride plays in the acquisition, maintenance, and improvement of property. This Article seeks to fill that void. It explores ways we might maximize the influence of the utility-enhancing aspects of the pride emotion and examines how we can find new appreciation for the role that identity and our emotions play in how we experience, manage, govern, and protect property.
Lipoma of the oral cavity: Report of four cases

Abstract Three lipomas of the tongue and one of the buccal region are reported. The average age of the patients with tongue lipomas was 71 years.
Partially collapsed parallel Gibbs sampler for Dirichlet process mixture models

Proposed representation for DP is ideally suited for distributed computing.Proposed sampler offers advantages in terms of both scalability and run-time.Proposed sampler outperforms existing parallel samplers for Dirichlet process mixtures in terms of clustering accuracy. Dirichlet Process (DP) is commonly used as a non-parametric prior on mixture models. It has adaptive model selection capability which is useful in clustering applications. Although exact inference is not tractable for this prior, Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) samplers have been used to approximate the target posterior distribution. These samplers often do not scale well. Thus, recent studies focused on improving run-time efficiency through parallelization. In this paper, we introduce a new sampling method for DP by combining Chinese Restaurant Process (CRP) with stick-breaking construction allowing for parallelization through conditional independence at the data point level. Stick breaking part uses an uncollapsed sampler providing a high level of parallelization while the CRP part uses collapsed sampler allowing more accurate clustering. We show that this partially collapsed Gibbs sampler has significant advantages over the collapsed-only version in terms of scalability. We also provide results on real-world data sets that favorably compares the proposed inference algorithm against a recently introduced parallel Dirichlet Process samplers in terms of F1 scores while maintaining a comparable run-time performance.
Porous carbon and Prussian blue composite: A highly sensitive electrochemical platform for glucose biosensing

Abstract Porous carbon (PC) has attracted considerable attention for various applications including sensing due to its accessible specific surface area, tunable surface chemistry, and short diffusion pathways for rapid mass transfer. This report details fabrication of a highly sensitive enzymatic glucose biosensor that uses a composite of PC and Prussian blue (PB). Melamine foam, a low-cost material was used as a precursor for the synthesis of PC that acted as an excellent matrix for efficient loading of glucose oxidase (GOx). The high specific surface area and efficient electrical wiring in the PB embedded tetrapod architecture of PC composite improved the catalytic activity of this device for glucose sensing. When glucose contacts this biosensor, alterations occur in both cathodic (due to consumption of O 2 ) and anodic (due to release of H 2 O 2 ) currents during cyclic voltammetry measurements. Due to the synergistic effect between PC and PB, the cathodic region (− 0.05 V) had the highest sensitivity (218.78 μAmM − 1 cm − 2 ) among all PC-based biosensors for glucose detection with a lower detection limit of 0.03 mM. The anodic region (+ 0.7 V) had a good sensitivity of 50.63 μAmM − 1 cm − 2 and a lower detection limit of 0.2 mM which is comparable to most of the enzymatic glucose biosensors that involve complex fabrication procedures. The high selectivity of this biosensor enabled accurate glucose level detection in serum samples. The PCPB composite-based sensing platform uses inexpensive precursors, is simple to fabricate, and displays excellent performance, suggesting potential for construction of sensors that release or consume oxygen during the analyte recognition process.
What Gets Them Moving? College Students' Motivation for Exercise: An Exploratory Study:

This exploratory study applied constructs of self-determination theory to assess college students exercise motivation and to determine the influence on exercise within active college students. Students included 24 college students (12 normal weight, 12 overweight) currently meeting national exercise recommendations. Surveys and semistructured interviews were used to assess exercise motivation. Descriptive statistics and MANOVA were used to analyze survey results. Horizontalization was used to analyze interview responses. It was found that the majority of students were extrinsically motivated for exercise regardless of BMI or gender. Identified regulation was found to be the most common form of motivation. Extrinsic motivation may be a key determinant for increasing exercise and enhancing utilization of campus recreation facilities among undergraduate students. Future efforts should consider the inclusion of extrinsic motivation (e.g., to look good, improve health) in communication strategies and program d...
Discovery of a Kojibiose Phosphorylase in Escherichia coli K-12

The substrate profiles for three uncharacterized enzymes (YcjM, YcjT, and YcjU) that are expressed from a cluster of 12 genes (ycjM-W and ompG) of unknown function in Escherichia coli K-12 were determined. Through a comprehensive bioinformatic and steady-state kinetic analysis, the catalytic function of YcjT was determined to be kojibiose phosphorylase. In the presence of saturating phosphate and kojibiose (α-(1,2)-d-glucose-d-glucose), this enzyme catalyzes the formation of d-glucose and β-d-glucose-1-phosphate (kcat = 1.1 s–1, Km = 1.05 mM, and kcat/Km = 1.12 × 103 M–1 s–1). Additionally, it was also shown that in the presence of β-d-glucose-1-phosphate, YcjT can catalyze the formation of other disaccharides using 1,5-anhydro-d-glucitol, l-sorbose, d-sorbitol, or l-iditol as a substitute for d-glucose. Kojibiose is a component of cell wall lipoteichoic acids in Gram-positive bacteria and is of interest as a potential low-calorie sweetener and prebiotic. YcjU was determined to be a β-phosphoglucomutase t...
Second-line chemotherapy for gallbladder cancer.

450Background: The standard treatment for patients with gallbladder cancer is a combination of gemcitabine and cisplatin based on ABC-02 trial. However, there are no guidelines regarding treatment ...
Carboxyamidotriazole, an Inhibitor of Nonvoltage-Operated Calcium Entry

Conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy has reached a critical point in cancer therapy. While marked improvements in treatment outcome and remission frequency have been made, improvement in cure rate for advanced-stage cancers remains unchanged. This sobering statistic has led investigators to search for novel targets and intervention combinations for the prevention and treatment of cancer. The advent of combination carboplatin/paclitaxel for the adjuvant treatment of ovarian cancer has led to improved response rates and prolonged survival (1). However, over 60% of patients relapse, and the 5-yr survival rate is still below 50%.
Nanoshells for Photothermal Cancer Therapy

Cancer is a leading cause of death in the United States and contributes to yearly rising health care costs. Current methods of treating cancer involve surgical removal of easily accessible tumors, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. These methods do not always result in full treatment of the cancer and can in many cases damage healthy cells both surrounding the tissue area and systemically. Nanoshells are optically tunable core/shell nanoparticles that can be fabricated to strongly absorb in the near-infrared (NIR) region where light transmits deeply into tissue. When injected systemically, these particles have been shown to accumulate in the tumor due to the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect and induce photothermal ablation of the tumor when irradiated with an NIR laser. Tumor specificity can be increased via functionalizing the nanoshell surface with tumor-targeting moieties. Nanoshells can also be made to strongly scatter light and therefore can be used in various imaging modalities such as dark-field microscopy and optical coherence tomography (OCT).
CGRP-based Migraine Therapeutics: How Might They Work, Why So Safe, and What Next?

Migraine is a debilitating neurological condition that involves the neuropeptide calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP). An exciting development is the recent FDA approval of the first in an emerging class of CGRP-targeted drugs designed to prevent migraine. Yet despite this efficacy, there are some fundamental unanswered questions, such as where and how CGRP works in migraine. Preclinical data suggest that CGRP acts via both peripheral and central mechanisms. The relevance of peripheral sites is highlighted by the clinical efficacy of CGRP-blocking antibodies, even though they do not appreciably cross the blood-brain barrier. The most likely sites of action are within the dura and trigeminal ganglia. Furthermore, it would be foolish to ignore perivascular actions in the dura since CGRP is the most potent vasodilatory peptide. Ultimately, the consequence of blocking CGRP or its receptor is reduced peripheral neural sensitization. Underlying their efficacy is the question of why the antibodies have such an...
Overview of WHO Group 2 Pulmonary Hypertension Due to Left Heart Disease

Background: Left heart disease (LHD) is the most common cause of pulmonary hypertension (PH) and is associated with poor patient outcomes, especially among patients undergoing heart transplant eval...
Effect of antidepressant medications on semen parameters and male fertility

Antidepressant medications are commonly used in males of reproductive age for long-term treatment of depression, as well as other disorders. Although antidepressants are known to be associated with sexual side-effects, their effects on semen parameters and other markers of male fertility have been less thoroughly described. The majority of available studies have focused on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which have been shown to negatively impact semen quality in in vitro, animal and human studies. Fluoxetine, in particular, has been the subject of multiple studies and has been associated with gonadotoxic effects, including decreased sperm concentration and motility, increased deoxyribonucleic acid fragmentation, and decreased reproductive organ weights. Studies of several other selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have yielded similar results. Reassuringly, this effect does seem to be reversible. The data regarding serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitors, tricyclic antidepressants, monoamine oxidase inhibitors and atypical antidepressants are sparse, varied and conflicting. Given the widespread and often long-term use of antidepressant medications, there is a clear need for further data regarding their impact on semen quality and male fertility.
Observational Study of Noninvasive Venous Waveform Analysis to Assess Intracardiac Filling Pressures During Right Heart Catheterization.

Abstract Background Outpatient monitoring and management of patients with heart failure (HF) reduces hospitalizations and health care costs. However, the availability of noninvasive approaches to assess congestion is limited. Noninvasive venous waveform analysis (NIVA) uses a unique physiologic signal, the morphology of the venous waveform, to assess intracardiac filling pressures. This study is a proof of concept analysis of the correlation between NIVA value and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) and the ability of the NIVA value to predict PCWP > 18 mmHg in subjects undergoing elective right heart catheterization (RHC). PCWP was also compared across common clinical correlates of congestion. Methods and Results A prototype NIVA device, which consists of a piezoelectric sensor placed over the skin on the volar aspect of the wrist, connected to a data-capture control box, was used to collect venous waveforms in 96 patients during RHC. PCWP was collected at end-expiration by an experienced cardiologist. The venous waveform signal was transformed to the frequency domain (Fourier transform), where a ratiometric algorithm of the frequencies of the pulse rate and its harmonics was used to derive a NIVA value. NIVA values were successfully captured in 83 of 96 enrolled patients. PCWP ranged from 4–40 mmHg with a median of 13 mmHg. NIVA values demonstrated a linear correlation with PCWP (r = 0.69, P Conclusions This observational proof-of-concept study using a prototype NIVA device demonstrates a moderate correlation between NIVA value and PCWP in patients undergoing RHC. NIVA, thus, represents a promising developing technology for noninvasive assessment of congestion in spontaneously breathing patients.
Evaluation of surgically excised breast tissue microstructure using wide‐field optical coherence tomography

BACKGROUND Currently, positive margins at lumpectomy contribute to health care cost, patient anxiety, and treatment delay. Multiple technology solutions are being explored with the aim of lowering re-excision rates for breast-conserving surgery (BCS). We examined wide-field optical coherence tomography (WF-OCT), an innovative adjunct intraoperative imaging tool for tissue visualization of margins. METHODS This IRB-approved pilot study included women with invasive or in situ carcinoma scheduled for primary BCS. Lumpectomy specimens and any final/revised margins were imaged by optical coherence tomography immediately prior to standard histological processing. The optical coherence tomography used provided two-dimensional, cross-sectional, real-time depth visualization of the margin widths around excised specimens. A volume of images was captured for 10 × 10 cm tissue surface at high resolution (sub-30 μm) to a depth of 2 mm. Integrated interpretation was performed incorporating final pathology linked with the optical image data for correlation. RESULTS Wide-field optical coherence tomography was performed on 185 tissue samples (50 lumpectomy specimens and 135 additional margin shaves) in 50 subjects. Initial diagnosis was invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) in 10, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) in 14, IDC/DCIS in 22, invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) in 2, ILC/DCIS in 1, and sarcoma in 1. Optical coherence tomography was concordant with final pathology in 178/185 tissue samples for overall accuracy of 86% and 96.2% (main specimen alone and main specimen + shave margins). Of seven samples that were discordant, 57% (4/7) were considered close (DCIS < 2 mm from margin) per final pathology. CONCLUSION Wide-field optical coherence tomography demonstrated concordance with histology at tissue margins, supporting its potential for use as a real-time adjunct intraoperative imaging tool for margin assessment. Further studies are needed for comprehensive evaluation in the intraoperative setting.
Strategic Planning for Recruitment and Retention of Older African Americans in Health Promotion Research Programs

The purpose of this study was to 1) describe a strategic plan for recruitment and retention used in conducting eye health education research with African-Americans living in urban and rural areas of Alabama and 2) characterize recruitment and retention patterns for this community-based project. We evaluated an eye health education program tailored specifically to older African Americans. InCHARGE© was designed to promote eye disease prevention by conveying the personal benefits of annual, dilated, comprehensive eye care and teaching strategies to minimize barriers to regular eye care. The InCHARGE© program or a social contact control program was delivered at 20 senior centers in predominately African American urban and rural communities. From pooled data across three studies, 380 African Americans completed a questionnaire about knowledge and attitudes/beliefs about eye disease and eye care before the program and by telephone at either 3 or 6 months after the presentation. The project consisted of 4 phases and a total of 10 strategic objectives for recruitment as well as retention of older African Americans that were implemented in a systematic fashion. Overall, retention rates for follow-up at either 3 or 6 months were 75% and 66% respectively. African Americans from rural areas were more likely to be lost to follow-up compared to those from urban areas. We discuss the benefits of utilizing a strategic plan that serves to address problems with underrepresentation of minorities in clinical research.
The risk factors of capillary leak syndrome after extracorporeal bypass in infants

Objective To determine risk factors and treatments of capillary leak syndrome (CLS) in infants with congenital heart disease(CHD)after extracorporeal bypass (GBP) . Method A retrospective study of 38 infants with CIS and another 150 cases without CLS of a random choice who underwent extracoiporeal bypass from June 2003 to July 2007 was carried out.Several risk factors with statistical significance were screened out with uni-varite logistic regression analysis, and the independent rask factors of CLS were determined with inultivariate step-wise logistic regression analysis. The outcome of CIS infants was compared with infants of control group. Results Logistic analysis showed the risk factors of CLS were the duration of GBP ( OR = 10. 353) , type of CHD ( OR = 6. 912), age ( OR = 6. 254) and temperature of CBP ( OR = 4. 151) . Of the CLS infants cohort, 10 cases underwent peritoneal dialysis and 4 cases died. Conclusions The risk factors of CLS in infants after CBP are the length of time consumed during CBP, type of CHD, age and temperature of CBP. Key words: Infants; Cardiopulmonary bypass; Capillary leak syndrome; Risk factors
Generation of mouse conditional knockout alleles in one step using the i-GONAD method.

The Cre/loxP system is a powerful tool for gene function study in vivo. Regulated expression of Cre recombinase mediates precise deletion of genetic elements in a spatially- and temporally-controlled manner. Despite the robustness of this system, it requires a great amount of effort to create a conditional knockout model for each individual gene of interest where two loxP sites must be simultaneously inserted in cis The current undertaking involves labor-intensive embryonic stem (ES) cell-based gene targeting and tedious micromanipulations of mouse embryos. The complexity of this workflow poses formidable technical challenges, thus limiting wider applications of conditional genetics. Here, we report an alternative approach to generate mouse loxP alleles by integrating a unique design of CRISPR donor with the new oviduct electroporation technique i-GONAD. Showing the potential and simplicity of this method, we created floxed alleles for five genes in one attempt with relatively low costs and a minimal equipment setup. In addition to the conditional alleles, constitutive knockout alleles were also obtained as byproducts of these experiments. Therefore, the wider applications of i-GONAD may promote gene function studies using novel murine models.
Data Harmonization Via Regularized Nonparametric Mixing Distribution Estimation

Data harmonization is the process by which an equivalence is developed between two variables measuring a common trait. Our problem is motivated by dementia research in which multiple tests are used in practice to measure the same underlying cognitive ability such as language or memory. We connect this statistical problem to mixing distribution estimation. We introduce and study a non-parametric latent trait model, develop a method which enforces uniqueness of the regularized maximum likelihood estimator, show how a nonparametric EM algorithm will converge weakly to its maximizer, and additionally propose a faster algorithm for learning a discretized approximation of the latent distribution. Furthermore, we develop methods to assess goodness of fit for the mixing likelihood which is an area neglected in most mixing distribution estimation problems. We apply our method to the National Alzheimer's Coordination Center Uniform Data Set and show that we can use our method to convert between score measurements and account for the measurement error. We show that this method outperforms standard techniques commonly used in dementia research. Full code is available at https://github.com/SteveJWR/Data-Harmonization-Nonparametric.