cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Interest in use of mHealth technology in HIV prevention and associated factors among high-risk drug users enrolled in methadone maintenance program

The adoption of mobile technologies for health (mHealth) in healthcare has grown considerably in recent years, but systematic assessment of interest in the use of mHealth in HIV prevention efforts among people who use drugs (PWUD) is lacking. We therefore examined interest in use of mHealth technology in HIV prevention and associated individual-level factors among high-risk PWUD enrolled in methadone maintenance program. A total of 400 HIV-negative PWUD, who reported drug- and/or sex-related risk behaviors completed a standardized assessment using audio computer assisted self-interview (ACASI). Results revealed significant interest in using mHealth-based approaches for specific purposes, including: to receive medication reminders (72.3%), to receive information about HIV risk reduction (65.8%), and to assess HIV risk behaviors (76.5%). Multivariate analysis showed that interest in receiving medication reminders was associated with currently taking medication and being neurocognitively impaired, whereas interest in receiving HIV-risk reduction information was associated with being non-white, married, and perceiving the person was at high-risk for contracting HIV. Similarly, participants' interested in using mHealth for HIV risk behavior assessment was associated with having recently visited a healthcare provider and exhibiting depressive symptoms. Overall, this study demonstrated that high-risk PWUD are interested in using mHealth-based tools as a key part of an HIV prevention approach within a common type of drug treatment settings. Thus, formative research on preferences for design and functionality of mHealth-based HIV prevention tools are now needed, followed by practical development, implementation, and evaluation of these new intervention strategies.
Abstract 222: Hyperglycemia Reduces Levels of Soluble Amyloid Precursor Protein-α in Mouse Hippocampus and Cortex - Role of Cerebral Microvessels

In the present study, we tested hypothesis that hyperglycemia impairs the neuro-protective function of cerebral microvessels. Type 1 diabetes (T1D) was induced by treatment of mice with streptozotocin (blood glucose >300 mg/dL for 2 months). Brain tissues and cerebral microvessels were isolated from diabetic and control mice. We observed significant decrease in the protein levels of soluble amyloid precursor protein-α (sAPPα, a product of α-cleavage of APP and a neurotrophic and neuroprotective molecule) in the total brain tissue of diabetic mice (n=5, P 0.05). The protein level of β-processing enzyme BACE1 was also not changed in T1D mouse brain. In contrast, the protein levels of APP and ADAM10 were significantly decreased in cerebral microvasculature of T1D mice, as compared to control mice (n=9-10, P 0.05). These results suggest that hyperglycemia impairs APP expression and α-processing in brain vasculature, thereby leading to the reduction of brain content of sAPPα. The selective loss of neuro-protective molecule sAPPα in hippocampus and cortex may be an important mechanism contributing to the development of cognitive dysfunction in diabetes.
Nanostructured cathode materials synthesis for lithium-ion batteries

Abstract Nanotechnology is an emerging technology to develop efficient and enhanced batteries including the most popular lithium-ion batteries. The importance of cathode materials in LIBs are tremendous since the LIBs are still cathode limited in design. In this review, we have summarized various approaches for the synthesis of nanostructured cathode materials with enhanced properties to improve electrochemical performances of LIBs. We concluded the review with a comparison of the different techniques discussed and addressed the importance of nanotechnology in the race to build improved batteries.
Minkowski Space and the Lorentz Group

For the case of non-relativistic quantum mechanics, we saw that systems with an arbitrary number of particles, bosons or fermions, could be described by taking as dual phase space the state space \(\mathcal H_1\) of the single-particle quantum theory. This space is infinite dimensional, but it is linear and it can be quantized using the same techniques that work for the finite dimensional harmonic oscillator. This is an example of a quantum field theory since it is a space of functions that is being quantized.
Formation of Aminocyclopentadienes from Silyldihydropyridines: Ring Contractions Driven by Anion Stabilization

Highly functionalized aminocyclopentadienes can be formed through the rearrangement of anions generated from readily prepared 6-silyl-1,2-dihydropyridines by desilylation with fluoride. The scope and generality of the reaction was defined, and diverse transformations were performed on the highly functionalized products. A mechanism and driving force for the rearrangement were identified from experiments and DFT calculations.
Can Chromatin Accessibility be Exploited for Axon Regeneration

Several studies have demonstrated that the intrinsic ability of neurons to regenerate their axons can be stimulated by maneuvers that favor the open state of chromatin, such as inhibiting histone deacetylase activity or increasing histone acetyltransferase activity. Taken together, these experiments suggest that axon regenerative ability can be increased by promoting chromatin accessibility. In this article, we assess the direct evidence in the literature for this hypothesis and re-examine other axon regeneration-promoting manipulations to see if they provide additional support. We find that several interventions known to enhance intrinsic axonal growth capability also increase chromatin accessibility. Although the support for this correlation is strong in the literature, we conclude with a word of caution about therapeutics attempting to exploit this relationship.
Numerical solutions of blood flow in the entrance of a tube.

Hydrodynamic boundary layer predictions are obtained in the entrance region of a tube for non-Newtonian fluids like blood which obey Casson’s stress-strain relation. The numerical procedure used is that of Patankar and Spalding [2]. The mathematical accuracy of the numerical procedure is demonstrated by comparing the fully developed velocity profiles with the known analytical solutions. In addition the results of the numerical solution for the case of yield stress equal to zero are compared with the available entrance flow solution for Newtonian fluids. Detailed results are presented for a wide range of yield numbers.
Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cell for Myocardial Regeneration: Preclinical Experience

Adult stem cells are found in many tissues and participate in adult growth as well as repair and regeneration of damaged tissue. Adult stem cells such as MSCs may be the cell of choice for tissue repair because the cellular and tissue environment in the adult is likely very different from the early embryo conditions that produce embryonic stem cells. Bone marrow provides an accessible and renewable source of adult mesenchymal stem cells that can be greatly expanded in culture and characterized. Culture-expanded and characterized MSCs have been tested for their ability to differentiate into several lineages in vitro and also tested in animal models for their ability to enhance tissue repair and undergo in vitro differentiation. One of their greatest attributes is their potential to supply growth factors and cytokines to repairing tissue. MSCs do not appear to be rejected by the immune system, allowing for large scale production, appropriate charaterization and testing, and the subsequent ready availability of allogeneic tissue repair enhancing cellular therapeutics. This provides for the further development of this new field and paves the way for the use of yet other stem cells. The potential to use MSCs to repair damaged cardiovascular tissue is very promising and moving forward quickly. The current results from many labs and early cardiac clinical studies suggest important therapeutic approaches will be forthcoming through the use of MSCs. Perhaps most importantly, the understanding of adult stem cells such as the MSCs will provide us with greater understanding of the role they play in human biology in the developing and aging man.
Effect of lidamidine hydrochloride and loperamide on gastric emptying and transit of the small intestine: A double-blind study

We performed a double-blind randomized study in 24 healthy volunteers, to evaluate the effects of two doses of lidamidine hydrochloride, loperamide, and placebo on transit of the small intestine and gastric emptying. Transit time of the small intestine was determined by measuring the rise in breath hydrogen excretion after ingestion of lactulose. Although there was a trend for prolonged intestinal transit time in both lidamidine groups, this difference was not significant compared with that in the placebo group. Loperamide significantly slowed transit when compared with placebo or lidamidine (p less than 0.001). Gastric emptying was assessed by using a solid-phase radiolabeled meal. Three parameters of gastric emptying were analyzed: half-emptying time, area under the gastric emptying curve, and beta. Although there was a trend for a longer half-emptying time in the group that received 12 mg of lidamidine, this difference approached, but did not reach, statistical significance (p = 0.06) compared with placebo. The area under the gastric emptying curve, a potentially more sensitive parameter for measuring gastric emptying, was significantly increased in the group receiving 12 and 18 mg of lidamidine (p less than 0.05) compared with the group receiving loperamide or placebo. In summary, lidamidine significantly delayed gastric emptying but had no significant effect on small bowel transit. These data suggest that the antidiarrheal properties of lidamidine are the result of enhanced absorption or inhibition of secretion of fluid and electrolytes.
Laser Weld-Induced Formation of Amorphous Mn–Si Precipitate in 304 Stainless Steel

Abstract We first report the formation of partially amorphous Mn–Si precipitates due to laser welding of face centered cubic (fcc) 304 stainless steel. Transmission electron microscopy and precession electron diffraction studies in the heat affected zone (HAZ) of the weldment indicate the formation of Mn–Si precipitates in grain interiors. Precipitates exhibit Mn–Si stoichiometry and the partially crystalline regions have a lattice constant of 0.45 nm. It is surmised that the rapid cooling rates during the laser weld melt pool solidification process may be sufficient to inhibit the complete crystallization of these precipitates.
Early Hearing Detection and Intervention: Timely Diagnosis, Timely Management.

Objective A quality improvement study was completed to assess the impact of three clinical practice changes on the timing of diagnosis and intervention for congenital hearing loss. Design A retrospective chart review was conducted for 800 infants evaluated for congenital hearing loss before and after implementing three clinical practice changes: the use of Kalman-weighted signal averaging for auditory brainstem response testing, a tone burst-prioritized testing protocol, and expediting scheduling of initial assessment. The impact of middle ear involvement on age at diagnosis and history of neonatal intensive care unit stay on age at treatment was also examined. Results The use of Kalman-weighted signal averaging for auditory brainstem response testing, a tone burst-prioritized testing protocol, and expedited scheduling of initial assessment each resulted in a decrease of age at diagnosis. Ultimately, the age at initial assessment was the only significant predictor related to decreased timeline for diagnosis. Middle ear pathology significantly increased age at diagnosis, while history of time in the neonatal intensive care unit significantly increased the age at provision of amplification as a treatment for permanent hearing loss. Conclusions The technology used for assessment, clinical protocol, and timing of assessment of infants can impact the timeline for diagnosis and treatment of congenital hearing impairment. Given the significant sequelae of delayed or missed diagnosis of hearing loss in infancy, implementing clinical practice changes should be considered at pediatric diagnostic centers.
Emotional Processing/Psychological Morbidity in the ICU

The intensive care unit is a stressful environment not only for patients but also their families. The experience of a loved one’s critical illness may be associated with adverse outcomes among the families themselves. Family caregivers may develop new or worsening depression, anxiety, acute stress, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that persist months to years after the critical illness. The prevalence rates of psychological disorders decline over time in most studies, but do not return to pre-illness levels. Limited studies have evaluated interventions to improve outcomes. Interventions that have been shown to reduce adverse psychological outcomes in family caregivers include physical activity, mindfulness, coping skills, and ICU diaries. Prospective randomized clinical trials that use multivariate methods are needed to fully understand the risk factors of psychological outcomes for family caregivers.
Using New Technology Tools for Responding to Student Writing

Learn how online tools like Jing, Skype, and Chat (AIM or Blackboard) can enhance your responses to studentsâ€™ assignments, engage students in drafting and revising, and make your grading more efficient.
Clinical management of Wilson disease

The availability of effective therapies distinguishes Wilson disease (WD) from other inherited neurometabolic diseases. The cause of hepatic, neurologic or psychiatric symptoms is copper overload and subsequent copper toxicity. Diagnosed WD patients require life-long pharmacologic therapy that is focused on reversal of copper overload with maintenance of a long-term negative copper balance. This is associated with the rapid control of free or non-ceruloplasmin bound copper that is mostly responsible for acute cytotoxic effects. Currently available therapies can be divided into chelators and zinc salts. They have different mechanisms of action and the onset of efficacy that influences their selection in acute and chronic stages of therapy. We review the use of D-penicillamine and trientine for chelation therapies, including the required monitoring of therapy for its efficacy and possible overtreatment with iatrogenic copper deficiency. Additionally, the use of zinc salts is also discussed, including a possibility of its use for the initial therapy in an acute stage of the disease. Supportive and symptomatic therapies for liver failure and neuropsychiatric symptoms are also reviewed.
Deferred Taxes and 2017 Tax Law Changes: A Teaching Case

This paper presents a teaching case for use in either intermediate financial accounting or one or more different tax classes. The case deals with the impact of the 2017 tax law changes (Tax Cuts and Jobs Act) on deferred tax calculations for financial reporting. It includes the change in how net operating losses (NOLs) will affect deferred taxes. Students are given the opportunity to think critically about the tax law changes and how they affect financial reporting for taxes for 2017 and years beyond.
Semantic Segmentation of Underwater Sonar Imagery with Deep Learning

Majority of deep learning methods are developed for RGB imagery. However, for many applications such as detecting objects underwater other types of sensors such as sonar or radar are required. One of the most precise sensors to map the seagrass disturbance is side scan sonar. Here we developed a new deep learning framework based on dilated convolution, dense module, and inception to perform semantic segmentation for automatic extraction of potholes in underwater sonar imagery. We tested our proposed approach on a collection of underwater sonar images taken from Laguna Madre in Texas. Experimental results in comparison with the ground-truth and state-of-the-art semantic segmentation methods show the efficiency and improved accuracy of our proposed method.
To debug or not to debug, a question worth asking

Recipient antibiotic pre-treatment protects both mice and humans from ischemia-reperfusion injury after liver transplantation.
Interactions between Zirconia-Yttria-Tantala Thermal Barrier Oxides and Silicate Melts

Abstract The effects of TaO2.5 additions to Y4Zr3O12 (YZO) on its interactions with calcium-magnesium alumino-silicate (CMAS) melts are investigated. YZO is a candidate material for the protection of novel ZrO2-YO1.5-TaO2.5 based thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) against CMAS attack, but thermochemical considerations dictate that YZO contain TaO2.5 for interfacial compatibility. Oxides based on Y4Zr3-xTaxO12+0.5x (x = =0, 0.7, 1.4) were mixed with various ternary and quinary silicate compositions ranging in Ca:Si ratio from 0.35 to 1.13 and equilibrated at 1300 °C. The results show that all combinations form the desired apatite phase except for the mixture of the higher Ta5+ content with the lowest Ca:Si melt. It is found that the addition of Ta5+ increases the capture of Y3+ by the reprecipitated fluorite, decreasing the amount available to form apatite and eventually suppressing it at low Ca:Si. The effect is ascribed to the attractive interactions between Y3+ and Ta5+ in solid solution, similar to that found in tetragonal zirconia, but with concurrent incorporation of anion vacancies associated with excess Y3+ that stabilize the cubic form. As the Ca2+ content of the melt increases, so does the amount of Ca2+ incorporated in fluorite. The latter also interacts attractively with Ta5+ and leads to a reduction of captured Y3+ in fluorite as the Ca content in the reacting deposit increases. This serves to increase the amount of Y3+available in the melt to form apatite in TBC-CMAS interactions.
Action programming disorders associated with Parkinson's disease

Abstract Apraxia is a disorder of the skilled movements that are needed successfully perform transitive or intransitive movements, when this disorder is not caused by failures of comprehension, weakness, sensory loss, or involuntary movements. The following forms of upper limb apraxia have been reported to be associated with Parkinson's disease: (1) limb-kinetic apraxia, a loss of the ability to make precise, independent but coordinated finger-hand movements; (2) ideomotor apraxia, a failure to make the correct joint movements, to coordinate these movements with the correct timing, speed, and force; and (3) ideational apraxia, the incorrect sequencing of a series of actions required to complete a goal. This chapter summarizes the means of testing for these different forms of apraxia, the types of errors made by patients with these forms of apraxia, and the pathophysiology and treatment of these disorders.
Ultrasound and MRI Assessment of Cardiovascular Risk

Detection of subclinical atherosclerosis through noninvasive imaging such as ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can improve cardiovascular risk stratification beyond that based on traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Ultrasound-based measures such as carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and presence of plaque (carotid, iliofemoral) have been evaluated and shown to have associations with cardiovascular events. However, given issues with reproducibility and other potential errors related to assessment of CIMT, there is currently a greater focus on use of carotid artery plaque measurement for cardiovascular risk assessment. The Mannheim consensus defined plaque as a focal structure or thickening (1) that is at least 50% greater than the thickness of its surrounding vessel, or (2) encroaches into the arterial lumen by at least 0.5 mm, or (3) demonstrates a CIMT greater than 1.5 mm. Several methods of plaque quantification including plaque score, plaque area, and 3D ultrasound-based plaque volume have been shown to predict cardiovascular outcomes. Additional efforts in characterizing plaque also continue to be evaluated. Carotid MRI is an important diagnostic tool not only to identify plaque burden but also to characterize plaque components including a thin fibrous cap, lipid-rich necrotic core, calcification, and intraplaque hemorrhage. It demonstrates moderate to excellent correlation of different plaque characteristics with histology. Clinical data on the value of MRI in risk prediction are starting to emerge. Numerous prospective and retrospective studies have shown MRI-derived measures of plaque characteristic and burden can identify those at higher risk for future cardiovascular events. At the current time, coronary calcium scoring is the recommended imaging approach in cardiovascular risk stratification. However, as technology continues to advance, the value of ultrasound and MRI in cardiovascular risk stratification will likely increase.
Commonsense Knowledge Mining from Term Definitions.

Commonsense knowledge has proven to be beneficial to a variety of application areas, including question answering and natural language understanding. Previous work explored collecting commonsense knowledge triples automatically from text to increase the coverage of current commonsense knowledge graphs. We investigate a few machine learning approaches to mining commonsense knowledge triples using dictionary term definitions as inputs and provide some initial evaluation of the results. We start from extracting candidate triples using part-of-speech tag patterns from text, and then compare the performance of three existing models for triple scoring. Our experiments show that term definitions contain some valid and novel commonsense knowledge triples for some semantic relations, and also indicate some challenges with using existing triple scoring models.
International Perspectives: What is Museum Education?

Taking a break from the usual Journal of Museum Education (JME) format of a guest-edited thematic approach, this issue presents eight articles on a variety of topics related to museum education. Ye...
Mitogenic Cytokines Promote Apoptosis

Successful cell proliferation relies on the activation of genes involved in cell cycle progression and concurrent inhibition of the function of tumor suppressor genes. In addition, there is a need to maintain the viability in proliferating cells. In the absence of cell viability factors cell cycle progression is intrinsically linked to programmed cell death through apoptosis. Whereas much attention has been focused on the molecular description of cell cycle machinery and the apoptotic pathway, less attention has been paid to the mechanisms for maintenance of the cell viability while cells are progressing through the cell cycle. The interaction of mitogenic cytokines with their cognate receptors promotes entry to the S-phase of cell cycle. It has also been suggested that cytokines could directly provide cell survival signals based on the observations that cytokine withdrawal leads to apoptosis. However, it is not clear whether the mitogenic activities and the survival effects of these cytokines are exerted by a single biochemical mechanism or carried out through separate signaling pathways. It is, thus, important to establish whether the survival effects of cytokines are achieved directly or by synergizing with the action of survival factors present in the environment such as interstitial fluid or blood in vivo or culture medium in vitro. We have addressed this question by stimulating cells with cytokines in the presence or absence of exogenous serum in vitro. When incubated with cytokines in serum-free medium, several cell types underwent apoptosis, a phenomenon called cytokine-promoted apoptosis. Interestingly, we found that serum is the principle activator of the cell survival gene, Bcl-2; while mitogenic cytokines increase the expression of Bax. In this review, we discuss the relevance of cytokine-promoted apoptosis to the maintenance of cellular homeostasis during development and tumorigenesis.
MR imaging findings of trigger thumb

Trigger finger (or trigger thumb), also known as sclerosing tenosynovitis, is a common clinical diagnosis that rarely presents for imaging. Because of this selection bias, many radiologists may not be familiar with the process. Furthermore, patients who do present for imaging frequently have misleading examination indications. To our knowledge, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging findings of trigger thumb have not been previously reported in the literature. In this article, we review the entity of trigger thumb, the anatomy involved, and associated imaging findings, which include flexor pollicis longus tendinosis with a distinct nodule, A1 pulley thickening, and tenosynovitis. In addition, in some cases, an abnormal Av pulley is apparent. In the rare cases of trigger finger that present for MR imaging, accurate diagnosis by the radiologist can allow initiation of treatment and avoid further unnecessary workup.
The Dynamics of International Mergers and Acquisitions

Over the past two decades, cross-border M&As have totaled over eight trillion dollars and have fluctuated widely from year to year. In this paper, I study the dynamic patterns of cross-border mergers and make two distinct contributions:First, I present key facts about international mergers: (1) Cross-border mergers come in waves that are highly correlated with business cycles. (2) Most mergers occur when both the acquirer and the target economies are booming. (3) Merger booms have both an industry-level component (productivity shocks) and a country-level component (financial shocks). (4) Across over one million observations, acquirers tend to be more productive and targets tend to be less productive, compared to their industry peers. These facts are consistent with the neoclassical theory of mergers in which productive firms expand overseas to seize new investment opportunities, but not with the widely held views that most cross-border mergers occur when the target economies are in a recession or face a financial crisis.Second, I construct a dynamic structural model of cross-border mergers and integrate the important facts above into the model. This dynamic structural approach allows me to quantify the effects of productivity and financial shocks on M&A decisions. In addition, this approach provides a proper analytical framework for conducting policy experiments. As an example of such analyses, I investigate the impact of President Obama's proposal on multinational corporation taxation. My simulation results suggest that the foreign operation tax has economically significant effects on productive firms and can be very distortionary for cross-border mergers.
SNAP23 Regulates Endothelial Exocytosis of von Willebrand Factor

Endothelial exocytosis regulates vascular thrombosis and inflammation. The trafficking and release of endothelial vesicles is mediated by SNARE (Soluble NSF Attachment protein REceptors) molecules, but the exact identity of endothelial SNAREs has been unclear. Three SNARE molecules form a ternary complex, including isoforms of the syntaxin (STX), vesicle-associated membrane protein (VAMP), and synaptosomal-associated protein (SNAP) families. We now identify SNAP23 as the predominant endothelial SNAP isoform that mediates endothelial exocytosis of von Willebrand Factor (VWF). SNAP23 was localized to the plasma membrane. Knockdown of SNAP23 decreased endothelial exocytosis, suggesting it is important for endothelial exocytosis. SNAP23 interacted with the endothelial exocytic machinery, and formed complexes with other known endothelial SNARE molecules. Taken together, these data suggest that SNAP23 is a key component of the endothelial SNARE machinery that mediates endothelial exocytosis.
GABAB Presynaptic Inhibition Has an In Vivo Time Constant Sufficiently Rapid to Allow Modulation at Theta Frequency

Cyclical activity of GABAergic interneurons during theta rhythm could mediate phasic changes in strength of glutamatergic synaptic transmission in the hippocampal formation if presynaptic inhibitio...
KANTIAN PRACTICAL LOVE

In the Doctrine of Virtue Kant stipulates that ‘Love is a matter of feeling, not of willing . . . so a duty to love is an absurdity.’ Nonetheless, in the same work Kant claims that we have duties of love to other human beings. According to Kant, the kind of love which is commanded by duty is practical love. This paper defends the view that the duty of practical love articulated in the Doctrine of Virtue is distinct from the duty of beneficence and best understood as a duty of self-transformation, which agents observe by cultivating a benevolent disposition and practical beneficent desires.
Vascular Bone Disorders

The vascularity-related bone disorders of bone scintigraphic concern include avascular osteonecrosis, bone infarction, dysbaric osteonecrosis, hyperemic and congestive osteoporosis, congestive periostitis, and periostitis of Burger’s disease. The bone scan augmented with nuclear angiography and pinhole technique appears to be the method of choice in these conditions because scintigraphy is not only sensitive and often specific but also panoramic, noninvasive, and easily repeatable in a day or two when necessary. In particular, pinhole scintigraphy has been valued for its usefulness in the preradiographic detection of avascularity and subsequently for the assessment of revascularization. The study can also depict the peculiar tracer uptake in regional osteoporosis as well as in the periostitis associated with the anoxia in the venous stagnation and arteritis obliterans (Burger’s disease).
Methadone induced physical dependence in the rat

Abstract Although the morphine withdrawal syndrome has been well described in the rat, a syndrome having similar characteristics has not been demonstrated following chronic methadone treatment. In this study we describe the behavioral effects produced by naloxone (4 mg/kg sc) following 72 hours of continuous iv infusion of methadone, (12.2 ug/kg/min), morphine (12.2 to 97.9 ug/kg/min) or saline. The cessation of methadone or morphine but not saline treatment followed by naloxone resulted in graded signs including wet dog shakes, escape attempts, self-stimulation and body weight loss and quantal signs including diarrhea, ear blanching, exophthalmos, ptosis, tachypnea and teeth chattering. These results indicate that this mode of methadone administration produces physical dependence characterized by a morphine-like withdrawal syndrome in the rat.
Wrist pain from overuse: detecting and relieving intersection syndrome.

Intersection syndrome is ten-brief dinitis or tenosynovitis in the first and second dorsal compartments of the wrist. This overuse syndrome has been reported in rowing, canoeing, racket sports, weight lifting, and, as in this case report, skiing. Physical exam demonstrates tenderness and crepitation or squeaking several centimeters proximal to Lister's tubercle. Therapy may consist of rest, ice, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, wrist splinting, corticosteroid injection, rehabilitation, and, for recalcitrant cases, tenosynovectomy. In skiers, changing grip diameter on ski poles and using pole straps may relieve symptoms.
Sarbanes–Oxley Act and the quality of earnings and accruals: Market-based evidence

Abstract In this paper we study the impact of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX) on the valuation weights of earnings and earnings components. The analysis seeks evidence that SOX is associated with changes in investors’ perception of earnings and accruals quality. Of particular interest in the analysis is the effect of SOX on the valuation weight of discretionary accruals that are perceived to be most vulnerable to manipulation prior to SOX. We find reliable increases in the valuation weights of earnings and earnings components after the passage of SOX. Nonetheless, we also find that the post-SOX shifts in the valuation weights of earnings and earnings components are indistinguishable from zero among firms in which the percentage equity shares held by institutional investors is 15% or greater.
Eastward electric field enhancement and geomagnetic positive bay in the dayside low‐latitude ionosphere caused by magnetospheric substorms during sawtooth events

[1] Substorms cause significant disturbances in the magnetosphere and ionosphere. Although many substorm-induced phenomena have been relatively well understood, a serious controversy arises as to how the magnetospheric and ionospheric convection responds to the expansion onset. In this paper, we present the observations of the low-latitude ionospheric electric field and geomagnetic field at substorm onsets during sawtooth events when the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) remains steady southward, so the ionospheric disturbances are attributed solely to the substorm effects. In the substorm events we have analyzed, the dayside equatorial ionospheric electric field shows an eastward enhancement at the onset, and the geomagnetic field northward component at middle and low latitudes shows an increase (positive bay) on both the dayside and nightside. We suggest that the magnetospheric convection is enhanced at substorm onset and that the enhanced magnetospheric convection electric field penetrates to the low-latitude ionosphere. The penetration electric field driven by substorm onset causes the eastward ionospheric electric field enhancement and geomagnetic positive bay on the dayside, and the substorm current wedge causes the geomagnetic positive bay on the nightside. Our findings are significantly different from the results of most previous studies and provide new insight into the substorm dynamic process.
Diisopropyl methylphosphonate complexes of metal perchlorates

Abstract A number of crystalline metal perchlorate complexes with diisopropyl methylphosphonate (DIMP) were synthesized and found to be of the general type [M(DIMP) 4 ]ClO 4 ) 2 for divalent metal ions. Conductance measurements indicate the existence of the cation [M(DIMP) 4 ] 2+ in polar solvents. Higher-coordinated cationic complexes of DIMP with M(II) do not seem to exist because of steric hindrance from the bulky ligand molecules. I.R. data indicate that coordination to the metal ion occurs through the phosphoryl oxygen. I.R. evidence is also presented for the lowering of the symmetry of the perchlorate ion in the crystal lattice. The transition metal cationic complexes are assigned an intermediate between distorted tetrahedral and planar configuration, on the basis of magnetic and spectral evidence.
CA7-04: Costs of Care for Persons with Opioid Dependence in Two Integrated Health Systems

Background/AimsOpioid dependence is a growing public health concern and results in high costs to individuals, health care systems, and society. Recent legislation allowing expansion of buprenorphine for replacement therapy use in general medical care settings may increase access to care for opioid dependence, but little is known about its impact on services utilization and commercial health systems costs. In this retrospective cohort study, we examined how the introduction of buprenorphine affected the pattern of medical care and addiction medicine (AM) services provided to patients with opioid dependence and associated costs.MethodsUsing electronic health records, we identified individuals with two or more diagnoses of opioid dependence per year from 2000 through 2008 in two large non-profit, integrated health systems (System A: N=4,425; System B: N=7122) and assessed health system utilization and costs.ResultsIn both health systems and across the study period, the number of opioid-dependent persons increased considerably and the use of buprenorphine for opioid dependence treatment increased steadily. In System A, those receiving buprenorphine plus AM counseling had significantly higher costs than those receiving methadone plus AM counseling (Z= ?9.22, p<.001), and significantly lower costs than those with little or no AM counseling (Z=2.81, p=.005). There were no differences in costs between those receiving buprenorphine plus AM counseling and those with AM counseling only (Z=1.30, p=.192). The treatment group by period interaction (?2 = 9.66, df=3, p=.022) was significant, with costs decreasing over time in the buprenorphine plus AM counseling group and increasing over time in all other groups. In System B, costs were significantly lower for the buprenorphine plus AM counseling group than for the group with little or no AM counseling (Z= ?5.14, p<.001) and higher than for the group with AM counseling only (Z=5.56, p=.001). The treatment group by period interaction was not significant (?2 =1.23, df=2, p=.540).DiscussionBuprenorphine treatment is emerging as a viable alternative to other AM treatment approaches for persons with opioid dependence. Results of this study provide further evidence that buprenorphine treatment can be provided at a similar cost to alternative strategies in private integrated health systems.
Polyelectrolyte nano-scaffolds for the design of layered cellular architectures.

The design of in vitro multilayered cellular architectures that resemble the stratified, lattice-like structure in tissues poses a significant challenge for tissue engineering. There is currently n...
Analysis of microstrip antennas using moment methods

The method of moments is used to analyze microstrip antennas of rectangular and nonrectangular shape. Surface currents are used to model the microstrip patch and volume polarization currents for the dielectric slab. The method requires unusually precise computation of the impedance matrix but is capable of accurately predicting currents, impedance, and resonant frequency of the antenna.
Variation of the oxygen content in tetragonal, calcium oxide-doped zirconia

Abstract A thermogravimetric study of the oxygen activity dependent variation of the oxygen content in CaO-doped zirconia has been performed at different dopant concentrations within the stability limit of the tetragonal solid solution at temperatures between 1200 and 1300°C. The experimental results are compatible with a simple defect model incorporating oxygen vacancies and dopant cations, not or partially associated with each other. In tetragonal, CaO-doped zirconia, the largest mass change with increasing oxygen activity occurs at high oxygen activities and is due to a component activity dependent disorder.
Variational Monte Carlo Calculations for Spin-Aligned Deuterium

The first variational Monte Carlo calculations of the ground-state energy of spin-aligned deuterium Darrow-down are presented. By using the Slater-Jastrow trial wave functions, the calculations are based on the accurate theoretical pair potential of Kolos and Wolniewicz for the b/sup 3/..sigma../sup +//sub u/ state. For Darrow-down with equal population of the three nuclear-spin states, the minimum theoretical ground-state energy is found to be negative, implying that this system is a liquid at zero temperature under zero external pressure.
Design and Implementation of Runge–Kutta Methods for MAS NMR Lineshape Calculations

Abstract The magic angle spinning (MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique has proven successful for obtaining information about molecular structure and motion in solids. The most advanced description of the MAS NMR experiment involves the density operator and the stochastic Liouville–von Neumann equation. In this equation, the effects of the anisotropic nuclear spin interactions are represented by the Hamiltonian, while the motion involves a stochastic operator. For many systems, molecular motion may be described by a discrete Markov process. In order to obtain a solution for a discrete Markov process we have used a Lie algebra formalism to rewrite the stochastic Liouville–von Neumann equation in the form of a linear homogeneous system of coupled first-order differential equations. This system has periodically time-dependent coefficients and can only be solved by numerical methods. In this paper, we discuss the use of different Runge–Kutta methods to approximate the solution. These methods have the advantages of simplicity and relatively high efficiency and may be implemented with automatic stepsize control. The study involves the most important classes of Runge–Kutta methods including explicit, semi-implicit, and implicit schemes. The results have shown that the choice of the Runge–Kutta method depends on the motion. It is found that explicit Runge–Kutta methods are the most efficient schemes in the slow and intermediate motion regimes. However, in the fast motion regime, the stochastic Liouville–von Neumann equation becomes stiff. In this regime, we have used semi-implicit and implicit Runge–Kutta methods with better stability characteristics. For many semi-implicit or implicit Runge–Kutta methods, the stiff components are represented inaccurately, and the methods are shown to be relatively inefficient. In order to improve the efficiency we have designed and implemented stiffly A-stable Runge–Kutta methods. These have better stability and accuracy characteristics and are useful in the fast motion regime. In another approach, we have rewritten the stochastic Liouville–von Neumann equation in a form with a vanishing stiffness ratio. Based on this form we have designed modified explicit Runge–Kutta methods, which are stable and accurate in the fast motion regime. The results have shown that the Runge–Kutta methods improve the computational efficiency for small systems by a factor between two and five compared with the eigenvalue method. The efficiency increases with the dimension of the system, and for large systems the improvement approaches an order of magnitude. This is an important result because of the long computation times involved in MAS NMR lineshape calculations.
Structure of the pairing interaction in the two-dimensional Hubbard model.

Dynamic cluster Monte Carlo calculations for the doped two-dimensional Hubbard model are used to study the irreducible particle-particle vertex responsible for ${d}_{{x}^{2}\ensuremath{-}{y}^{2}}$ pairing in this model. This vertex increases with increasing momentum transfer and decreases when the energy transfer exceeds a scale associated with the $Q=(\ensuremath{\pi},\ensuremath{\pi})$ spin susceptibility. Using an exact decomposition of this vertex into a fully irreducible two-fermion vertex and charge and magnetic exchange channels, the dominant part of the effective pairing interaction is found to come from the magnetic, spin $S=1$ exchange channel.
Syzygies and the Rees algebra

Let a,b,c be linearly independent homogeneous polynomials in the standard -graded ring Rk[s,t] with the same degree d and no common divisors. This defines a morphism . The Rees algebra of the ideal I=a,b,c is the graded R-algebra which can be described as the image of an R-algebra homomorphism h: . This paper discusses one result concerning the structure of the kernel of the map h and its relation to the problem of finding the implicit equation of the image of the map given by a, b, c. In particular, we prove a conjecture of Hong, Simis and Vasconcelos. We also relate our results to the theory of adjoint curves and prove a special case of a conjecture of Cox.
Illusions of Empowerment: Re-Interpreting the Blogger's Social Media Dream

This article calls into question the social media empowerment narrative and the underlying idea that social media platforms are empowering everyday netizens to have their voices heard. The author argues that social media technologies may simply privilege only those Internet users who are new media savvy and have leisure time to participate in the so-called digital democracy. While social media systems might have lowered the entrance threshold for civic engagement, hurdles such as the growing competition in an attention economy, the odds of standing out amidst millions of other individual voices, knowledge of new media technologies required to achieve visibility, and time demands make the social media empowerment vision more difficult to attain than the architects of the empowerment ideology have made the public to believe.
Weighing the Evidence: Legal Discourse in the 19th-Century Spanish Feminist Concepcion Arenal.

In her remarkable 1861 book,The Woman of the Future, Concepcion Arenal appropriated legal discourse, a wholly male domain, to plead the case for women's rights, in particular, education. Two different types of legal discourse emerge in her writing: that of written legislative law and that of courtroom advocacy. The computer can gather evidence of both; however, each mode of discourse requires different measures to weigh the significance of the findings. Easily obtainable repeat rates serve as an useful measure that can be related to what recognition psychologists call “retention intervals” and that are easily understood by non-statistically oriented literary scholars. Analysis focuses on Arenal's use of typography, lexicon, repetition, ideological challenge, interactive discourse, and prescriptive speech acts of the legal register to advocate the cause of women in nineteenth-century Spain.
727: A comparison of magnesium tocolysis versus no tocolysis in patients who deliver preterm

WHO DELIVER PRETERM CLINT CORMIER, DAVID F. LEWIS, GINA GOMEZ, MICHAEL LUCAS, LISA HOLLIER, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at Shreveport, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shreveport, Louisiana OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether magnesium sulfate tocolysis improves latency and/or neonatal outcomes in patients who deliver preterm. STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective study of patients who presented and delivered between 23 and 34 weeks gestation. The control group consists of patients from 2000 to 2002, when magnesium tocolysis was not used at our institution. The treatment group is made up of patients from 2003 to 2006 when aggressive magnesium tocolysis was used. All included patients presented and delivered on the same admission, thus giving all patients in the study the diagnosis of preterm labor and delivery. Exclusion criteria included premature rupture of membranes, multiple gestation, delivery for maternal indications, and all cases of fetal anomalies. RESULTS: 128 patients were identified that met the study criteria. 68 received aggressive magnesium tocolysis and 60 received no tocolysis. Survival analysis of the duration of time from admission to delivery (pregnancy latency) showed no significant difference between the 2 groups. The mean time from admit to delivery for the magnesium group was 37.3 hours vs. 32.5 hours for those not receiving magnesium. However, this did not reach the level of statistical significance. Neonatal complications were compared between the two groups and no difference was observed for incidence of respiratory distress syndrome, sepsis, pneumonia, intraventricular hemorrhage, and necrotizing enterocolitis. CONCLUSION: Magnesium tocolysis does not appear to significantly lengthen pregnancy in patients who present in preterm labor and ultimately deliver prematurely. There was also no difference in major neonatal complications. Larger, prospective studies may be necessary to determine the true efficacy of magnesium tocolysis.
Aldehyde and ketone spectra from bisulfite adducts

The use of bisulfite derivatives of liquid aldehydes and cyclic ketones is reported to facilitate sample handling in mass spectral analysis of these compounds. The carbonyl compounds can be regenerated from their sulfinate derivatives in the direct probe. Precautions must be taken to avoid back exchange of enolizable deuterium atoms in labeled carbonyl compounds.