cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Patient-based health technology assessment: A vision of the future

Background: In conjunction with other important movements in contemporary medicine, including evidence-based medicine (EBM), health technology assessment (HTA) has promoted a culture of critical evaluation. Despite this impact, institutional and methodological challenges are associated with HTA. For example, only in recent years has HTA attempted an open dialogue with patients; however, this is normally done by giving them a “seat” at the HTA decision-making table, rather than by more scientific means.Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop a working definition of patient-based HTA, to identify the current barriers to adopting a patient-based model, and to formulate a vision of how a patient-based HTA could be used to promote patient empowerment and patient-centered care.Results: In the ideal setting, a patient-based HTA would promote patient knowledge by providing access to information and promoting an informed dialogue between patients and their healthcare professionals. To implement a patient-based HTA, the focus must turn to the patient's issues and incorporate each patient's unique perspective and preferences. Processes must change to increase patient participation in all levels of HTA and aim to promote empowered patients who can make informed decisions.Conclusions: Present-day HTA is broad and has numerous stakeholders, with none so important as the patient. By asking patient-oriented questions in HTA and better involving patients throughout the entire process, we can easily promote patient empowerment, and as such make patients more capable to play a more active role in healthcare decision making.
Spectral Partitioning: The More Eigenvectors, The Better

A spectral partitioning method uses the eigenvectors of a graph's adjacency or Laplacian matrix to construct a geometric representation (e.g., a linear ordering) which is then heuristically partitioned. We map each graph vertex to a vector in d-dimensional space, where d is the number of eigenvectors, such that these vectors constitute an instance of the vector partitioning problem. When all the eigenvectors are used, graph partitioning exactly reduces to vector partitioning. This result motivates a simple ordering heuristic that can be used to yield high-quality 2-way and multi-way partitionings. Our experiments suggest the vector partitioning perspective opens the door to new and effective heuristics.
The impact of a supermarket nutrition rating system on purchases of nutritious and less nutritious foods

Objective: The current study examines the impact of a nutrition rating system on consumers' food purchases in supermarkets. Design: Aggregate sales data for 102 categories of food (over 60 000 brands) on a weekly basis for 2005-2007 from a supermarket chain of over 150 stores are analysed. Change in weekly sales of nutritious and less nutritious foods, after the introduction of a nutrition rating system on store shelves, is calculated, controlling for seasonality and time trends in sales. Setting: One hundred and sixty-eight supermarket stores in the north-east USA, from January 2005 to December 2007. Subjects: Consumers purchasing goods at the supermarket chain during the study period. Results: After the introduction of the nutrition ratings, overall weekly food sales declined by an average of 3637 units per category (95 % CI -5961, -1313; P<0·01). Sales of less nutritious foods fell by 8·31 % (95 % CI -13·50, -2·80 %; P=0·004), while sales of nutritious foods did not change significantly (P=0·21); as a result, the percentage of food purchases rated as nutritious rose by 1·39 % (95 % CI 0·58, 2·20 %; P<0·01). The decrease in sales of less nutritious foods was greatest in the categories of canned meat and fish, soda pop, bakery and canned vegetables. Conclusions: The introduction of the nutrition ratings led shoppers to buy a more nutritious mix of products. Interestingly, it did so by reducing purchases of less nutritious foods rather than by increasing purchases of nutritious foods. In evaluating nutrition information systems, researchers should focus on the entire market basket, not just sales of nutritious foods.
An embedded architectural framework for interaction between automobiles and consumer devices

The last two and one half decades have seen rapid growth in the amount and importance of software in automobiles. This growth is bringing about a shift from treating software as a part of the hardware it controls to viewing it as an implementation of a set of services that mediate between the hardware and the functionality seen by the user. This paper describes an in-vehicle computing platform based on the software service platform to provide entertainment and information functions that has been implemented in two prototype vehicles at Ford Motor Company.
Hiding behaviour in two cricket populations that differ in predation pressure

Despite evidence that predators and parasitoid flies influence the evolution of song structure in crickets, much less is known about the influence of predators and parasitoids on crickets' use of refuges. Individual field crickets, Gryllus integer, differ in the amount of time they spend hiding in refuges when placed into a novel environment. Here, we studied the hiding behaviour of crickets from two populations (Arizona and California, U.S.A.) that differ in predation pressure. Tethering experiments conducted at both habitats demonstrated that more predators occur in the Arizona population's habitat than in the California population's habitat. We also found more parasitoid flies, which are attracted to male song, in Arizona than in California. We tested hiding times of both male and female crickets from each of the two populations in the laboratory. Male Arizona crickets from the high-predation habitat hid longer when placed into a novel environment in the laboratory than male California crickets from a low-predation habitat, although females from the two populations did not differ. Since the crickets we tested were the first-generation laboratory population derived from field-caught mothers, differences in behaviour were due to either nongenetic maternal effects or genetic effects. These results suggest that hiding times of male crickets in these populations have been shaped by natural selection acting through predation pressure.
Human Bocavirus: A New Viral Pathogen

In this issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, Allander et al. [1] report a study of the recently discovered human bocavirus (HBoV) in children hospitalized with wheezing. This study is a nice example of what is likely to be an increasingly common challenge and opportunity in infectious diseases: determining what diseases novel pathogens cause. HBoV was first described in 2005 after large-scale molecular screening for virus genome sequences led to its discovery in respiratory specimens [2]. Among the sequences identified were those from a novel parvovirus related to minute virus of canine and bovine parvovirus that was designated "human bocavirus." Because the virus sequences were amplified from respiratory specimens, the investigators hypothesized that the virus would cause respiratory disease, and they and others have since documented the presence of HBoV in 1.5%-11.3% of respiratory specimens obtained from patients with acute respiratory illness. Another new human parvovirus, PAR4, was
Leuprolide acetate-treated leiomyomas retain their relative overexpression of collagen type I and collagen type III messenger ribonucleic acid.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the levels of mRNA for the extracellular matrix proteins collagen type I, collagen type III, and fibronectin in leiomyomas and myometrium obtained from women treated with GnRH-agonist (GnRH-a) and to examine steroid hormone regulation of these proteins using an in vitro explant culture system. METHODS Northern blot analysis of mRNA was obtained from hysterectomy specimens at the time of surgery or after 48 hours of in vitro steroid treatment. A portion of the tissue was processed for RNA, and the remaining tissue was used to establish explant cultures. Extracellular matrix/alpha-tubulin ratio was computed for each band, and within each experiment the lowest ratio was standardized to a value of one densitometry unit to allow for comparison among experiments. RESULTS There is a relative overexpression of both collagen type I and collagen type III mRNAs but not fibronectin in leiomyomas compared to myometrium from the same uteri of women treated with GnRH-a. CONCLUSION Leiomyomas obtained from women treated with GnRH-a show an up-regulation of collagens type I and type III similar to that seen in leiomyomas obtained from women in the proliferative phase of their menstrual cycles.
Categorizing urgency of infant emergency department visits: agreement between criteria.

Background The lack of valid classification methods for emergency department (ED) visit urgency has resulted in large variation in reported rates of nonurgent ED utilization. Objectives To compare four methods of defining ED visit urgency with the criterion standard, implicit criteria, for infant ED visits. Methods This was a secondary data analysis of a prospective birth cohort of Medicaid-enrolled infants who made at least one ED visit in the first six months of life. Complete ED visit data were reviewed to assess urgency via implicit criteria. The explicit criteria (adherence to prespecified criteria via complete ED charts), ED triage, diagnosis, and resources methods were also used to categorize visit urgency. Concordance and agreement (κ) between the implicit criteria and alternative methods were measured. Results A total of 1,213 ED visits were assessed. Mean age was 2.8 (SD ± 1.78) months, and the most common diagnosis was upper respiratory infection (21.0%). Using implicit criteria, 52.3% of ED visits were deemed urgent. Urgent visits using other methods were as follows: explicit criteria, 51.8%; ED triage, 60.6%; diagnosis, 70.3%; and resources, 52.7%. Explicit criteria had the highest concordance (78.3%) and agreement (κ= 0.57) with implicit criteria. Of limited data methods, resources demonstrated the best concordance (78.1%) and agreement (κ= 0.56), while ED triage (67.9%) and diagnosis (71.6%) exhibited lower concordance and agreement (κ= 0.35 and κ= 0.42, respectively). Explicit criteria and resources equally misclassified urgency for 11.1% of visits; ED triage and diagnosis tended to overclassify visits as urgent. Conclusions The explicit criteria and resources methods best approximate implicit criteria in classifying ED visit urgency in infants younger than six months of age. If confirmed in further studies, resources utilized has the potential to be an inexpensive, easily applicable method for urgency classification of infant ED visits when limited data are available.
Accessibility ellipse and minimum energy trajectories.

Unpowered orbital transfer and flight paths, discussing accessibility elliptical boundary and minimum energy trajectories
An Efficient and Adaptive Decentralized File Replication Algorithm in P2P File Sharing Systems

In peer-to-peer file sharing systems, file replication technology is widely used to reduce hot spots and improve file query efficiency. Most current file replication methods replicate files in all nodes or two end points on a client-server query path. However, these methods either have low effectiveness or come at a cost of high overhead. File replication in server side enhances replica hit rate, hence, lookup efficiency but produces overloaded nodes and cannot significantly reduce query path length. File replication in client side could greatly reduce query path length, but cannot guarantee high replica hit rate to fully utilize replicas. Though replication along query path solves these problems, it comes at a high cost of overhead due to more replicas and produces underutilized replicas. This paper presents an Efficient and Adaptive Decentralized (EAD) file replication algorithm that achieves high query efficiency and high replica utilization at a significantly low cost. EAD enhances the utilization of file replicas by selecting query traffic hubs and frequent requesters as replica nodes, and dynamically adapting to nonuniform and time-varying file popularity and node interest. Unlike current methods, EAD creates and deletes replicas in a decentralized self-adaptive manner while guarantees high replica utilization. Theoretical analysis shows the high performance of EAD. Simulation results demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of EAD in comparison with other approaches in both static and dynamic environments. It dramatically reduces the overhead of file replication, and yields significant improvements on the efficiency and effectiveness of file replication in terms of query efficiency, replica hit rate, and overloaded nodes reduction.
Optical imaging of mitochondrial redox state in rodent model of retinitis pigmentosa

Oxidative stress (OS) and mitochondrial dysfunction contribute to photoreceptor cell loss in retinal degenerative disorders. The metabolic state of the retina in a rodent model of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) was investigated using a cryo-fluorescence imaging technique. The mitochondrial metabolic coenzymes nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) are autofluorescent and can be monitored without exogenous labels using optical techniques. The cryo-fluorescence redox imaging technique provides a quantitative assessment of the metabolism. More specifically, the ratio of the fluorescence intensity of these fluorophores (NADH/FAD), the NADH redox ratio (RR), is a marker of the metabolic state of the tissue. The NADH RR and retinal function were examined in an established rodent model of RP, the P23H rat compared to that of nondystrophic Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. The NADH RR mean values were 1.11±0.03 in the SD normal and 0.841±0.01 in the P23H retina, indicating increased OS in the P23H retina. Electroretinographic data revealed a significant reduction in photoreceptor function in P23H animals compared to SD nozrmal rats. Thus, cryo-fluorescence redox imaging was used as a quantitative marker of OS in eyes from transgenic rats and demonstrated that alterations in the oxidative state of eyes occur during the early stages of RP.
Branching in Polysphondylium whorls: Two-dimensional patterning in a three-dimensional system

During morphogenesis in the slime mold Polysphondylium pallidum, spherical masses of cells called whorls pinch off from the slug at regular intervals. Soon afterward, branches form at equidistant positions around the whorl equator. We have quantified the relationship between the number of cells in a whorl, and the number of branches that form. We find that the number of branches produced is proportional to the surface area of the whorl, suggesting that the patterning process is confined to the whorl surface. This observation is consistent with theoretical arguments that mechanisms for pattern formation would likely operate in one or two dimensions, not three.
Control design for a diesel engine model with time delay

The concept of control Lyapunov function has proven a useful tool for designing robust control laws for nonlinear systems. Recently, this concept has been extended to time-delay systems in the form of control Lyapunov Razumikhin functions and control Lyapunov Krasovsky functionals (CLKF). Universal formulas, such as Sontag's formula (1989) and domination redesign formula, apply to CLKF's and achieve robustness properties that include infinite gain margin. In this paper we illustrate the application of a CLKF based design on a model of turbocharged diesel engine with exhaust gas recirculation valve that includes intake-to-exhaust transport delay.
Feasibility of a High Average Power Crossed Field Closing Switch

Results of an experimentalprogram to determine the feasibility of using a crossed field device as a high average power triggered closing switch are reported. The tube contained coaxial, cylindrical electrodes and was triggered by pulsing a magnetic field (<0.1 T) to a value sufficiently high to trap electrons and initiate conduction. Holdoff voltages up to 60 kV were achieved, with peak (circuit limited) currents as high as 20 kA and pulse durations in the range of 1 to 100 ?s. Ignition jitter was ~0.1 ?s, and the voltage recovery rate was 2 kV/?s after 20 kA conduction and a 50 ?s deionization time. These single and double shot data indicate that it should be possible to build such a device to operate at high average power levels for use in high power (MW) modulators.
The molecular machines that mediate microRNA maturation

MicroRNAs (miRNA) are small RNAs that regulate the translation of thousands of message RNAs and play a profound role in mammalian biology. Over the past 5 years, significant advances have been made towards understanding the pathways that generate miRNAs and the mechanisms by which miRNAs exert their regulatory functions. An emerging theme is that miRNAs are both generated by and utilized by large and complex macromolecular assemblies. Here, we review the biology of mammalian miRNAs with a focus on the macromolecular complexes that generate and control the biogenesis of miRNAs.
Trajectory-based warm season grassland mapping in Missouri prairies with multi-temporal ASTER imagery

Abstract Tallgrass prairie in North America has been largely converted to croplands and cool season grasslands. In Missouri, only 0.5% of the tallgrass prairie remains in a form of isolated prairie islands. This study sought to delineate prairie-native warm season grass (WSG) from cool season grass (CSG) using five ASTER images acquired on 03/11/2008, 05/12/2007, 07/12/2007, 08/16/2007 and 10/19/2007. Temporal trajectories of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the normalized difference moisture index (NDMI) were extracted to examine temporal variation of WSG and CSG grasslands in a growth cycle. It was found that the spring–summer period revealed maximal spectral differences between these two grass types. CSG reached peak NDVI in May while WSG tended to have peak NDMI in July. NDVI was more useful than NDMI in summer–fall. The NDVI trends in this period varied with both phenology and grassland treatments such as haying and grazing, which provided additional information in WSG/CSG delineation. A hierarchical decision tree was developed to delineate WSG and CSG grasslands in a 3-tier process. The WSG lands including those publically conserved prairies were identified in the lower Osage Plain in southwest Missouri. The accuracies were about 80% and could be improved with more frequent satellite observations. The trajectory-based decision tree in this study provides a robust approach of long-term WSG/CSG mapping.
Audience Clicks and News Placement A Study of Time-Lagged Influence in Online Journalism

The rise of sophisticated tools for tracking audiences online has begun to change the way media producers think about media audiences. This study examines this phenomenon in journalism, building on a revised theoretical model that accounts for greater audience engagement in the gatekeeping process. Research suggests that news editors, after long resisting or ignoring audience preferences, are becoming increasingly aware of and adaptive to consumer tastes as manifest via metrics. However, research also finds a gap in the news preferences of editors and audiences. This study asks: Who influences whom more in this disparity? Through longitudinal secondary data analysis of three U.S. online newspapers, and using structural equation modeling, this study finds that (a) audience clicks affect subsequent news placement, based on time-lagged analysis; (b) such influence intensifies during the course of the day; (c) there is no overall lagged effect of news placement on audience clicks; and (d) the lagged effect of...
Knowledge Management in Collaborative Design for Manufacture

With the development of the increasing requirement for the market, the knowledge management is a main part of it. How to increase the ability of the enterprise is an important problem for the designers. A methodology for the knowledge management for the manufacture is proposed to meet the requirement. Firstly, the conception of the knowledge management is introduced, which can assist to acknowledge the knowledge. Then the collaborative design and the collaborative design process are constructed. Knowledge based on ontology and knowledge sharing is present for application. At last, a framework of knowledge management in collaborative design for manufacture is constructed, which is helpful for designers complete the task.
An Evaluation of the Single‐Channel Auto Analyzer in the Quantitation of Anti‐Rh0

. Quantitation of Rh antibody with the Auto-Analyzer is remarkably precise during short periods of replication. As the duration of operation extends over several hours considerable variation develops. This can be minimized with frequent calibrations. However, repeated intralaboratory tests on the same specimen over a period of several months show the range in values can vary from the mean by ±30%; with interlaboratory testing this may reach ±50%. Nevertheless, the AA technique does represent a distinct advance in the accuracy of Rh antibody quantitation when compared with established manual methods. With better control of the sources of variation such as drift in sensitivity and of cell base, and with extension of the accurate part of the calibration curve or limiting determinations to the most accurate portion, it should be possible to improve considerably the accuracy of the system. The correlations of prenatal serologic data determined quantitatively on the AA with severity of disease, were found, in these studies on a limited number of cases, not to be significantly better than those obtained with the semiquantitative manual methods employed. Studies of amniotic mud with enzyme treated cells gave the best prediction of severity of disease when done either by automated or manual methods.
Culture Wars and City Politics: Local Government's Role in Social Conflict

The author focuses on morals-based controversies, or culture wars, that have engulfed U.S. cities over issues such as gay rights, pornography, the operation of abortion clinics, hate-group activity...
Providing QoS for sensor enabled emergency applications

One of the most important issues in sensor enabled emergency applications is the QoS provisioning. Wireless LANs plays critical role in providing anywhere and anytime connectivity for many sensor enabled emergency applications. This paper addresses the issue of provisioning QoS over the wireless channel between the sensor enabled emergency application and the wireless access points (e.g., wireless hotspots in various locations). Unlike traditional QoS provisioning which supports voice and data applications, resulted by the extremely rare events which lack the predictability, it is not trivial to provide adequate QoS support for the emergency data traffic with strong erratic nature. In this paper, we first investigated several potential alternative schemes to support QoS in emergency applications. An express dual channel (EDC) based QoS provisioning approach is then proposed. The proposed mechanism is not only simple and efficient, but also results in the minimum delay for the erratic emergency data traffic. Simulation results show the proposed EDC based solution provides satisfactory QoS for emergency applications
Circulating Tumor Cells: A Novel Prognostic Factor for Newly Diagnosed Metastatic Breast Cancer

Purpose Metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is incurable; its treatment is palliative. We investigated whether the presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) predicts treatment efficacy, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) in patients with newly diagnosed MBC who were about to start first-line therapy. Patients and Methods One hundred seventy-seven patients with measurable MBC were enrolled onto a prospective study. Eighty-three of the 177 patients were entering first-line treatment, and these patients are the focus of this analysis. CTCs from 7.5 mL of whole blood drawn before treatment initiation (baseline) and monthly thereafter for up to 6 months were isolated and enumerated using immunomagnetics. Results The mean (± standard deviation) follow-up time was 11.1 ± 4.4 months (median, 12.2 months). Forty-three patients (52%) had ≥ five CTCs at baseline. The median PFS was 7.2 months (95% CI, 4.9 to 9.4 months), and the median OS was more than 18 months. Patients with ≥ five CTCs at base...
PET of Human Prostate Cancer Xenografts in Mice with Increased Uptake of 64CuCl2

Our objective was to determine whether human prostate cancer xenografts in mice can be localized by PET using 64CuCl2 as a probe (64Cu PET). Methods: Athymic mice bearing human prostate cancer xenografts were subjected to 64Cu PET, followed by quantitative analysis of the tracer concentrations and immunohistochemistry study of human copper transporter 1 expression in the tumor tissues. Results: Human prostate cancer xenografts expressing high levels of human copper transporter 1 were well visualized on the PET images obtained 24 h after injection but not on the images obtained 1 h after injection. PET quantitative analysis demonstrated a high concentration of 64CuCl2 in the tumors in comparison to that in the left shoulder regions (percentage injected dose per gram of tissue: 3.6 ± 1.3 and 0.6 ± 0.3, respectively; P = 0.004), at 24 h after injection. Conclusion: The data from this study suggested that locally recurrent prostate cancer might be localized with 64Cu PET using 64CuCl2 as a probe.
Space-efficient visualisation of large hierarchies

Relational information visualisation concerns viewing relational data, where the underlying data model is a graph. Hierarchical visualisation is one of hot topics in graph visualisation in which the data is organised in a hierarchical structure. As the amount of information, that we want to visualise, becomes larger and the relations become more complex, classical visualisation techniques and hierarchical drawing methods tend to be inadequate. Traditional hierarchical visualisation algorithms are more concerned with the readability of the layouts. They usually do not consider the efficient utilisation of the geometrical plane for the drawings. Therefore, for most hierarchical layouts, a large portion of display space is wasted as background. The aim of this research is to investigate a space-efficient approach to handle the visualisation of large hierarchies in two-dimensional spaces. This thesis introduces a new graph visualisation approach called enclosure+ connection for visualizing large hierarchies. This approach maximises the space utilisation by taking advantages of the traditional enclosure partitioning approach, while it retains the display of a traditional node-link diagram to hopefully provide users a direct perception of relational structures. The main contribution of this thesis is layout and navigation algorithms for visualising large hierarchies. Two layout algorithms, the space-optimised tree and the EncCon tree, have been developed to achieve the space-efficient visualisation. Both algorithms use the enclosure concept to define layout of hierarchies, which ensure the efficient utilisation of display space. Two focus+context navigation and interaction methods have been proposed to cooperate with the visualization of large hierarchies. Several advanced computer graphics approaches, such as graphic distortion and transparency, are used for the development of these navigation methods. Two case studies have been implemented to evaluate the layout algorithms and the associated navigation methods. The first case study is an application of a shared collaborative workspace which aims to provide users with a better assistance for visual manipulation and navigation of knowledge-based information. The second case study is a visual browser for navigating large-scale online product catalogues.
Reaction of (μ-H)2Os3(CO)9(PPh3) with Acetylene and Ethylene. Structures, Dynamics, and Interconversion of Two Isomers of the Vinyl Complex (μ-H)Os3(CO)9(PPh3)(μ-CHCH2)

As reported previously by Brown and Evans, the reaction of (μ-H)2Os3(CO)9(PPh3) with acetylene provides two isomers of the hydrido vinyl compound (μ-H)Os3(CO)9(PPh3)(μ-η2-CHCH2) (2). The solid-state structures of these two isomers now have been defined by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. The major isomer 2a contains a triangular array of osmium atoms with the vinyl ligand bridging the Os(2)−Os(3) edge, forming a σ-bond to Os(3) and a π-bond to Os(2), and the triphenylphosphine ligand coordinating to Os(2) in an “in-plane” position. The presence of the hydride ligand also bridging the Os(2)−Os(3) edge was deduced indirectly. The minor isomer 2b also contains a triangular Os3 array with the vinyl ligand bridging the Os(2)−Os(3) edge and forming a σ-bond to Os(2) and a π-bond to Os(3). The triphenylphosphine ligand is bound to Os(1). The presence of the bridging hydride on the Os(1)−Os(3) edge was not directly detected but was supported by analysis of the structure; the hydride ligand therefore does not...
A Modular Phase Transfer and Ligand Exchange Protocol for Quantum Dots

In this paper, we describe a quantum dot (qdot) phase transfer protocol using ligand exchange and the amino acid histidine. The phase transfer from nonpolar solvents to aqueous buffers is homogeneous, and no appreciable precipitation occurs. The molecule histidine was chosen in order to first displace the organic encapsulation and second to provide a weakly chemisorbing intermediate at the qdot ionic interface. This allows the histidine to act as an intermediate shell upon which further direct ligand exchange can occur. Since this intermediate encapsulation is easily displaced by an assortment of different molecules while in aqueous buffers, we refer to this approach as modular. Characterization via FTIR and NMR revealed the extent of ligand exchange, and provides insights into the interfacial binding mechanism. The colloidal stability and photostability of the qdots was probed via UV−vis and steady state fluorescence, which revealed promising quantum yield stability of greater than 1 year. The qdots have...
A Look Back on the Development of Good Clinical Practice

As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of ACRP, this installment of the “QA Q&A Corner” reflects back on the changes in tone and direction that have happened in the realm of good clinical practice—the international quality standard for the conduct of clinical trials—over the past 40 years and more.
Enteroblastoma complicating regional enteritis.

A patient with regional enteritis had a tumor composed of both carcinomatous and embryonal rhabdomyosarcomatous elements arising in an excluded segment of small bowel. We have designated this tumor as enteroblastoma. Malignant tumors of the small bowel, including adenocarcinoma, lymphoma, and, in this case, an unusual blastomatous neoplasm, may complicate regional enteritis. Such tumors have been located within excluded bowel segments in 44% of the reported cases. The possibility of malignancy should not be overlooked in patients with regional enteritis, particularly where previous bypass has been performed.
A psychosocial cognitive model of employment status choice

A model of employment status (self-employed vs. wage-or-salary employed) choice based on psychological, sociological and cognitive variables resolves the traditional shortcomings of occupational tr...
Cerebellar Vermis Anomaly in ADHD

Cerebellar and vermal volumes were measured by quantitative MRI studies in 46 right-handed boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 47 matched healthy controls, and results were analyzed at the Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD.
Of Patterns and Profiles

Prior to writing my first column as Chair of the Society for Music Teacher Education (SMTE), I decided to take some time to review all the “From the Chair” columns written by the chairs preceding me. I’m certainly not the first to do so. Previous chairs have referenced earlier columns as a way to remind us of the recurring issues forming the focus of our work as music teacher educators. Others have elected to reflect on previous chairs’ columns to mark anniversaries of the Society, as Rosemary C. Watkins did in the Fall 1995 issue of the Journal of Music Teacher Education (JMTE) where she provided a brief history of the then 15-year-old SMTE, and as Sara Bidner did in the spring of 2002 when she reflected on 20 years of the Society.
A Domain Oriented LDA Model for Mining Product Defects from Online Customer Reviews

Online reviews provide important demand-side knowledge for product manufacturers to improve product quality. However, discovering and quantifying potential products’ defects from large amounts of online reviews is a nontrivial task. In this paper, we propose a Latent Product Defect Mining model that identifies critical product defects. We define domain-oriented key attributes, such as components and keywords used to describe a defect, and build a novel LDA model to identify and acquire integral information about product defects. We conduct comprehensive evaluations including quantitative and qualitative evaluations to ensure the quality of discovered information. Experimental results show that the proposed model outperforms the standard LDA model, and could find more valuable information. Our research contributes to the extant product quality analytics literature and has significant managerial implications for researchers, policy makers, customers, and practitioners.
The effects of triethyl lead on the development of hippocampal neurons in culture

Triethyl lead is the major metabolite of tetraethyl lead, which is used in industrial processes and as an antiknock additive to gasoline. We tested the hypothesis that low levels of triethyl lead (0.1 nmol/L to 5μmol/L) interfere with the normal development of cultured E18 rat hippocampal neurons, possibly through increases in intracellular free calcium ion concentration, [Ca2+]in. The study assessed survival and differentiation using morphometric analysis of individual neurons. We also looked at short-term (up to 3.75-h) changes in intracellular calcium using the calcium-sensitive dye fura-2. Survival of neurons was significantly reduced at 5 μmol/L, and overall production of neurites was reduced at ≥2 μmol/L. The length of axons and the number of axons and dendrites were reduced at ≥1 μmol/L. Neurite branching was inhibited at 10 nmol/L for dendrites and 100 nmol/L for axons. Increases in intracellular calcium were observed during a 3.75-h exposure of newly plated neurons to 5 μmol/L triethyl lead. These increases were prevented by BAPTA-AM; which clamps [Ca2+]in at about 100 nmol/L. Culturing neurons with BAPTA-AM and 5 μmol/L triethyl lead did not reverse the effects of triethyl lead, suggesting that elevation of [Ca2+]in is not responsible for decreases in survival and neurite production. Triethyl lead has been shown to disrupt cytoskeletal elements, particularly neurofilaments, at very low levels, suggesting a possible mechanism for its inhibition of neurite branching at nanomolar concentrations.
ISG15 in Host Defense Against Candida albicans Infection in a Mouse Model of Fungal Keratitis.

Purpose ISG15, a di-ubiquitin-like protein, is critical for controlling certain viral and bacterial infections. We sought to determine if ISG15 plays a role in corneal innate immunity against Candida albicans (C. albicans) using a C57BL/6 (B6) mouse model of human fungal keratitis. Methods Scarified corneas of adult B6 mice were pretreated with TLR5 ligand flagellin and then inoculated with C. albicans. The expression of ISG15 and other genes involved in ISG15 conjugation (ISGylation) was determined by real-time PCR. ISG15 expression and distribution in infected corneas were assessed by immunohistochemistry. ISGylation was examined by Western blotting. siRNA knockdown and recombinant ISG15 were used to elucidate the effects of ISG15 on controlling fungal keratitis by clinical scoring, fungal number plate counting, ELISA cytokine determination, and polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) infiltration measurement. Results Heat-killed C. albicans induced expression of ISG15, and hBD2 was markedly enhanced by flagellin-pretreatment in cultured human primary corneal epithelial cells (CECs). In vivo, C. albicans infection induced the expression of ISG15, ISGylation-associated genes (UBE1L, UBCH8, and HERC5), and ISGylation in mouse CECs, all of which were enhanced by flagellin-pretreatment. siRNA knockdown of ISG15 increased keratitis severity, dampened flagellin-induced protection, and greatly suppressed the expressions of ISGylation enzymes, IFN-γ, but not CXCL2 in B6 mouse CECs. Recombinant ISG15, on the other hand, enhanced corneal innate immunity against C. albicans and suppressed infection-induced IL-1β, but not IL-Ra expression. ISG15 alone induced the expression of IL-1Ra, CXCL10, and CRAMP in mouse CECs. ISG15 was upregulated and secreted in cultured human CECs in response to challenge in a type 1 IFN-dependent manner. Conclusions Our data, for the first time, demonstrate that ISG15 acts as an immunomodulator in the cornea and plays a critical role in controlling fungal keratitis.
Content-driven Faculty Development in Community College Early Childhood Education Programs

Community colleges are key providers of early childhood teacher and paraprofessional education, and their programs include content knowledge that helps future educators work effectively with young ...
Sin and Self-Functioning, Part 5: Antireligious Humanistic Values, Individualism, and the Community:

Grace alone or in combination with intrinsic religiosity was associated with less narcissistic Exploitiveness, Machiavellianism, and individualism while being congruent with a belief in authority a...
Structural and magnetic properties of Fe and carbon nanotubes derived from coconut shells

Ferric oxide (Fe2O3) was directly reduced to metallic Fe using the carbon source from the coconut shells at temperatures above 1400 °C in argon gas atmospheres. X-ray diffraction analysis showed the presence of α-, γ- phases of Fe in addition to the presence of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). By selecting the appropriate ratios of coconut shell powder to Fe2O3, it is demonstrated that pure Fe is produced without any residual ferric oxide. The quantitative analysis of each of the Fe phases and carbon nanotubes was dependent on the temperature and the duration of processing at high temperature. Transmission electron microcopy results showed copious amount of carbon nanotubes in the samples. Magnetic property measurements suggested that, the average magnetic moment is consistent with presence of α-phase and the ferromagnetic γ-phase of Fe. This novel method of producing pure α- and γ-Fe in the presence of carbon nanotubes using coconut shells has potential applications as nanocomposites.
Composing for the (dis)Embodied ensemble: notational systems in (dis)Appearances

This paper explores compositional and notational approaches for working with controllers. The notational systems devised for the composition (dis)Appearances are discussed in depth in an attempt to formulate a new approach to composition using ensembles that navigates a performative space between reality and virtuality.
The Enforceability of Releases in Property Insurance Claims

The article deals with an important issue in property insurance. After a property loss, the property insurance company’s adjuster offers an amount to settle the claim and the owner accepts payment of that amount. The adjuster may have the owner execute a release as a condition of payment. Subsequently the owner discovers that the assessment of the loss at the time payment was made failed to account for all of the damage for which it was entitled to payment under the policy. The owner files a claim with the company for additional compensation, and the company proffers the release as a defense to any further liability. Is the company obligated to pay, or does the release bar any further claim?This issue arises particularly frequently after hurricanes and other catastrophes. Releases are often demanded from property owners, who are under financial and emotional pressure to accept a settlement in order to begin repairs or rebuilding. Only later does the owner discover that the settlement is inadequate, and the release is presented as a roadblock to full recovery.Part I of the article explains the process of adjusting property losses and how releases are sometimes used in that process. Part II discusses the application of the pre-existing duty rule to this process and concludes that the rule makes a release ineffective unless it is given as part of the resolution of a good faith, genuine dispute between insurer and insured. Part III addresses the modern function of the pre-existing duty rule and criticism of it, the public policy favoring the settlement of disputes, and the public policy favoring the payment of insurance claims, and explains how the purposes of the rule and the policies coalesce to support its application in the releases cases.
Sound Propagation in a Range-Dependent Shallow Ocean with a Bottom Containing Vertical Sound Speed Gradients

A coupled normal-mode model of acoustic propagation for a gradually range-dependent ocean environment is developed to accommodate an arbitrary layering of the ocean and sediment with piecewise-linear range segmentation. This paper specifically focuses on the detailed solution of the range- separated equations. Theoretically, no limit is imposed on the number of layers and range segments, or on the number of modes that are to be calculated and summed. Practically, however, the model is best applied to low-frequency propagation in a quasi-stratified shallow ocean. Furthermore, such applications best exploit the model’s capacity to accurately treat bottom penetration in combination with sound speed gradient layering. Such gradients are here shown to influence decisively the character of bottom-limited upslope propagation over a continental shelf. To wit, previous studies showed for isospeed profiles that upon mode cutoff in the water, sound penetrates steeply downward into the bottom and is lost. We demonstrate that upward-refracting water columns weaken this effect, although it is still present. More importantly, we show that for upward-refracting bottom gradients, as are often present in sediments, sound will continue propagating shorewards beyond cutoff underneath the ocean bottom, as a potentially receivable signal.
A nude mouse model of human osteosarcoma lung metastases for evaluating new therapeutic strategies.

The purpose of these studies was to develop a metastatic osteosarcoma nude mouse model to evaluate the in vivo efficacy of new therapeutic compounds. Human SAOS-2 osteosarcoma cells (10(6) cells) were injected i.v. into nude mice. Cells isolated from a rare pulmonary metastases 6 months later were established (SAOS-LM1) in culture and re-injected. This procedure was repeated 5 additional times to produce the SAOS-LM6 cell line. Visible pulmonary nodules were present 8 weeks following i.v. injection of 10(6) SAOS-LM6 cells as compared to 17 weeks using SAOS-LM2 cells. Microscopic SAOS-LM6 pulmonary metastases were demonstrated at 6 weeks. Administration of adriamycin on week 9 resulted in regression of macroscopic SAOS-LM6 lung tumors. The ability of the model to be used to evaluate the effectiveness of a biologic agent against microscopic disease was also verified. It was concluded that this model can assess therapeutic efficacy and therefore, may have a role in investigating the potential of novel approaches aimed at eliminating pulmonary metastatic osteosarcoma.
Endoscopic Diagnosis of Esophageal Neoplasms

Late stage cancers of the esophagus are routinely diagnosed by endoscopy and biopsy. To improve the poor prognosis of patients with these diseases requires an approach that will detect these cancers at early stages when treatment is most likely to be curative. In the United States, early adenocarcinoma of the esophagus can be diagnosed using a systematic endoscopic biopsy protocol in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease and Barrett‘s esophagus who are at increased risk. Although population screening for squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus is conducted in other parts of the world, a similar approach cannot be recommended in the United States because of the low prevalence of the disease. Endoscopists must be alert to the earliest symptoms of squamous cell carcinoma and the subtle mucosal abnormalities associated with this disease so that it can be detected at an early curable stage.
Collaborative Spectrum Sensing in the Presence of Byzantine Attacks

Abstract Cognitive radio (CR) has emerged as an enabling technology for supporting dynamic spectrum access (DSA). DSA enables the solution of the spectrum scarcity problem by exploiting transmission opportunities in the underutilized spectrum bands of primary users. In collaborative (or distributed) spectrum sensing, multiple CRs collaborate with each other by sharing their inference to make a global inference regarding the availability of the spectrum, i.e., licensed primary channels. This approach has been shown to have various advantages in terms of spectrum utilization and robustness. A key component of collaborative spectrum sensing is the distributed data fusion scheme. However, the distributed nature of these schemes makes them quite vulnerable to adversarial attacks. A potential attack on this scheme is the Byzantine (or data falsification) attack where some of the CRs are reprogrammed by an adversary, and these malicious CRs (also referred to as Byzantines) introduce false sensing information in the fusion process to degrade the spectrum-sensing process. In this chapter, we analyze the performance limits of collaborative spectrum sensing under Byzantine attacks for different practical network architectures. Specifically, we begin the study from an attacker’s perspective and discuss the optimal attacking strategies for given attacking resources. Next, we discuss possible countermeasures from a network designer’s perspective and present robust spectrum-sensing algorithms. Finally, we discuss some of the main challenges and research opportunities that exist in emerging CR-based sensing networks. This chapter provides comprehensive insights into the use of signal processing methods for robust spectrum sensing in cognitive radio networks.
Understanding The Experiences of Youth In Collaborative Technical Workplaces

In many communities, a limited number of job opportunities exist which allow youth to practice valuable technical and collaborative skills necessary for future employment in competitive and high-paying fields. While prior research has examined youths' technology use in various settings such as home or school, my dissertation research seeks to understand how youth use technology to collaborate at work. The goal of this work is to understand the challenges faced by youth as they transition into technical workplaces and to investigate how we can better prepare them for collaborative work through technological and interpersonal interventions.
Biological Factors in Parenting and Child Development

Parenting and children’s development function in a family system that involves many biological factors that interact with the environment and the parent–child relationship. There has been rapid growth in parenting research that incorporates indirect and direct measures of a variety of biological factors, in the hope of better articulating the mechanisms of child and family development, as well as improving the efficacy of interventions to improve developmental and parenting outcomes. In the current chapter, we review this literature, with particular emphasis on genetics, neural structure and function, and hormones. We provide an overview of the major methodological approaches used, and findings pertaining to key dimensions of parenting and parent–child relationships (e.g., warmth, conflict, attachment), and children’s cognitive and social-emotional development. The chapter also points to gaps in knowledge and new directions that will be fruitful for basic and applied research in future.