cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Blepharospasm plus Cervical Dystonia with Predominant Anterocollis: A Distinctive Subphenotype of Segmental Craniocervical Dystonia?

Background: Dystonia of the eyelids often spreads to affect other muscles in the craniocervical region. Certain blepharospasm-plus subphenotypes may be clinically unique. Methods: Seven subjects with the subphenotype of late-onset blepharospasm with apraxia of eyelid opening and anterocollis were identified from a database of over 1800 patients with primary dystonia. Results: Blepharospasm was the first affected site in 6/7 subjects followed by spread of the disease to the cervical muscles. Although 4 patients also had other forms of dystonia (laryngeal, lower face), none showed spread outside the craniocervical region. Family history of dystonia was present in 4/7. No mutations were identified in THAP1 or TOR1A . Overall, blepharospasm was difficult to treat, typically requiring both myectomy and substantial doses of botulinum toxin into the pretarsal orbicularis oculi muscles. In one subject, anterocollis markedly improved after deep brain stimulation. Discussion: Delineation and characterization of craniocervical dystonia subphenotypes may serve to guide genetic and therapeutic studies, in addition to clinical interventions. The blepharospasm with apraxia of eyelid opening and anterocollis subphenotype can be therapeutically challenging.
Rupture of abdominal aortic aneurysm with tear of inferior vena cava in a patient with prior endograft

We report a case of contained rupture of abdominal aortic aneurysm and tear of the inferior vena cava (IVC) 15 months after placement of an aortic endograft (ANEURX graft, Medtronic, Sunnyvale, Calif). A 63-year-old man with significant coronary artery disease underwent endograft exclusion of abdominal aortic aneurysm with Aneurx graft. The patient was seen with a rupture of the aortic aneurysm, probably caused by poor proximal fixation of the graft associated with separation of the left iliac extension limb from the main body of the graft. Angulated right iliac limb of the stent graft penetrated into the Ivc just above the common iliac junction and caused sealed perforation. Successful repair with aortobiiliac graft reconstruction after removal of the endograft was accomplished. The IVC laceration was repaired. Possible mechanisms of failure of endograft are discussed.
PROPERTIES OF GLYCOSIDES OF NEAMINE, KANAMYCIN A AND GENTAMICIN C1

Bioassays of glycosides of neamine, kanamycin A and gentamicin C1 showed that against most susceptible bacteria the potency was between 6 and 40% that of the parent compound. These alkali-labile and acid-stable glycosides appeared to be N-glycosides.
Cutting Edge: Complement (C3d)-Linked Antigens Break B Cell Anergy

C3dg adducts of Ag can coligate complement receptor type 2 (CR2; CD21) and the B cell Ag receptor. This interaction significantly amplifies BCR-mediated signals in Ag-naive wild-type mice, lowering the threshold for B cell activation and the generation of humoral immune responses as much as 1000-fold. In this study we demonstrate that CR2-mediated complementation of BCR signals can also overcome B cell anergy. Unlike Ag alone, BCR/CR2 costimulation (Ars-CCG/C3dg complexes) of anergic Ars/A1 B cells led to Ca2+ mobilization in vitro and the production of autoantibodies in vivo. Interestingly, the in vivo immune response of anergic cells occurs without the formation of germinal centers. These results suggest that the Ag unresponsiveness of anergic B cells can be overcome by cross-reactive (self-mimicking) Ags that have been complement-opsonized. This mechanism may place individuals exposed to complement-fixing bacteria at risk for autoimmunity.
Radiology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Obstructive pulmonary disease comprises a group of diseases characterized by a persistent reduction in expiratory airflow. These diseases include emphysema, chronic bronchitis, asthma, bronchiectasis, cystic fibrosis, tracheal neoplasms, and various bronchiolidites. The term chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is often reserved for emphysema and chronic bronchitis, two diseases that often occur together and may be indistinguishable clinically. Because it is possible that there will soon be treatment available for COPD in its early, reversible stages, it would be helpful to be able to detect emphysema before symptoms or physiologic consequences have developed. Because emphysema is defined as an anatomic derangement, it is best detected by imaging, that is, by plain radiography and particularly by high-resolution CT (HRCT) scan.
The Political Economy of Drug-user Scapegoating-and the philosophy and politics of resistance

In spite of years of drug wars and, in many countries, failure to implement harm-reduction approaches to HIV, drug use, drug injection, and IDU-associated HIV epidemics have spread to new countries and to many new individuals in countries where drug use and/or injection have been present for decades. Furthermore, the use of scapegoating rather than harm reduction seems to lead to worse medical care for IDUs with HIV and thus to higher probabilities of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis and other epidemic consequences. When we ask why such failed policies continue, issues of political economy, of what needs to be changed, and of how such change can occur become important. Long-term global economic trends towards reduced profit rates and heightened Competition, and the pressures these put on governments and corporations, have produced a period in which fundamental issues of political and economic structure are at stake; and, often, the response is a divide-and-rule politics to promote stability. National pol...
Overseas Studies and the Rise of Foreign Cultural Capital in Modern China

The process of social transformation and opening to the outside world in modern China accompanied a process of rising importance and popularity of overseas studies. As a result, foreign education (...
Abused Husbands: A Narrative Analysis

Husband abuse has been and continues to be a topic of controversy within the field of family violence. Although arguments persist over methodology, prevalence, and ideology, this study analyzes the narratives of 12 men who claimed to have been abused by their partners and compares their stories to the narratives and findings of past studies of wife abuse. In so doing, this study identifies that the accounts of the relationships of battered men and women follow similar patterns, including the structure of the relationships, the acceptance of the abuse, and the social context of the situation. This reinforces the findings of wife abuse research showing that abusive relationships display certain commonalties and reveals the necessity of future studies of battered males.
A model of peripheral auditory transduction using a phase vocoder with modified channel signals

Auditory hair cells convert acoustic signals into electrical potentials. The amplitude, frequency, and phase characteristics of this transduction process is probably important for human speech perception. Unfortunately hair cell transduction is nonlinear, and no completely adequate computational models have been developed. A useful body of physiological data does exists which describes the response of hair cells to simple signals such as tones and impulses. We present a hair cell transduction model, based upon a phase vocoder architecture, which can utilize this physiological data to faithfully reproduce important aspects of hair cell response.
A pipelined LMS adaptive FIR filter architecture without adaptation delay

Past methods for mapping the least-mean-square (LMS) adaptive finite-impulse-response (FIR) filter onto parallel and pipelined architectures either introduce delays in the coefficient updates or have excessive hardware requirements. We describe a hardware-efficient pipelined architecture for the LMS adaptive FIR filter that produces the same output and error signals as would be produced by the standard LMS adaptive filter architecture without adaptation delays. Unlike existing architectures for delayless LMS adaptation, the new architecture's throughput is independent of the filter length.
Asymptotically Free Gauge Theories. I

Asymptotically free gauge theories of the strong interactions are constructed and analyzed. The reasons for doing this are recounted, including a review of renormalization-group techniques and their application to scaling phenomena. The renormalization-group equations are derived for Yang-Mills theories. The parameters that enter into the equations are calculated to lowest order and it is shown that these theories are asymptotically free. More specifically the effective coupling constant, which determines the ultraviolet behavior of the theory, vanishes for large spacelike momenta. Fermions are incorporated and the construction of realistic models is discussed. We propose that the strong interactions be mediated by a "color" gauge group which commutes with SU(3) \ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{} SU(3). The problem of symmetry breaking is discussed. It appears likely that this would have a dynamical origin. It is suggested that the gauge symmetry might not be broken and that the severe infrared singularities prevent the occurrence of noncolor singlet physical states. The deep-inelastic structure functions, as well as the electron-positron total annihilation cross section are analyzed. Scaling obtains up to calculable logarithmic corrections, and the naive light-cone or parton-model results follow. The problems of incorporating scalar mesons and breaking the symmetry by the Higgs mechanism are explained in detail.
A 5-Bromodeoxyuridine-sensitive Interval during Drosophila Myogenesis

Drosophila myogenesis was monitored in vitro and the cells were treated with 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) or with thymidine at certain intervals. Muscle cells were scored for survival, contractility, and the uptake of thymidine and BrdU. Results indicated that the final S period for myoblasts takes place in vitro between 1.3 and 3.3 h following the initiation of gastrulation in the donor embryos. Treatment with 10-4 M BrdU during this interval inhibited myogenesis, but later treatment did not. Thymidine reversed or prevented the BrdU effect if given before the final myoblast division, but not if given afterwards. All results support the hypothesis that BrdU inhibits Drosophila myogenesis through its incorporation into DNA.
Discussion of "Second-Order Analysis of Plane Frames with One Element per Member"

The authors presented an analytical model that, as indicated by thetitle, can be used to determine the second-order response of planeframes with one element per member. The authors stated that “Acorotational element is developed directly from the governingsecond-orderdifferentialequationsofbeamtheory.Thecorotationalelement includes not only the effect of axial force on the bendingmoment (P-delta effect) but also the additional axial strain causedby end rotations. Hinged and semirigid end conditions are also in-cludedsothatplastichingescouldbeconsidered.Theresultinglocalelementtangentstiffnessmatrixiscomparedtotraditionallocalele-ment elastic and geometric stiffness matrices. The method is imple-mented and executed on two example problems in which only oneelement per member is used. Results compare favorably to thosefromanonlinearcommercialprograminwhichseveralelementspermemberareused.Athirdexampleproblemincludesbothgeometricandmaterial nonlinearitytodevelopapushovercurve.”Finally,theauthors concluded that “The elastic and ﬁrst geometric stiffnessmatrices degenerate to traditional elastic and geometric stiffnessmatrices if the initial member length L
Measure for Measure: How Proficiency-Based Accountability Systems Affect Inequality in Academic Achievement

How do proficiency-based accountability systems affect inequality in academic achievement? This paper reconciles mixed findings in the literature by demonstrating that three factors jointly determine accountability's impact. First, by analyzing student-level data from a large urban school district, we find that when educators face accountability pressure, they focus attention on students closest to proficiency. We refer to this practice as educational triage, and show that the difficulty of the proficiency standard affects whether lower or higher performing students gain most on high-stakes tests used to evaluate schools. Less difficult proficiency standards decrease inequality in high-stakes achievement, while more difficult ones increase it. Second, we show that educators emphasize test-specific skills with students near proficiency, a practice that we refer to as instructional triage. As a result, the effects of accountability pressure differ across high and low-stakes tests; we find no effects on inequality in low-stakes reading and math tests of similar skills. Finally, we provide suggestive evidence that instructional triage is most pronounced in the lowest performing schools. We conclude by discussing how these findings shape our understanding of accountability's impacts on educational inequality.
Imaging vessel wall biology to predict outcome in abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Background—Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) rupture risk is currently determined based on size and symptoms. This approach does not address the rupture risk associated with small aneurysms. Given the role of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in AAA weakening and rupture, we investigated the potential of MMP-targeted imaging for detection of aneurysm biology and prediction of outcome in a mouse model of AAA with spontaneous rupture. Methods and Results—Fifteen-week-old mice (n=66) were infused with angiotensin II for 4 weeks to induce AAA. Salineinfused mice (n=16) served as control. The surviving animals underwent in vivo MMP-targeted micro–single photon emission computed tomographic/computed tomographic imaging, using RP805, a technetium-99m–labeled MMP-specific tracer, followed by ex vivo planar imaging, morphometry, and gene expression analysis. RP805 uptake in suprarenal aorta on micro–single photon emission computed tomographic images was significantly higher in animals with AAA when compared with angiotensin II–infused animals without AAA or control animals. CD68 expression and MMP activity were increased in AAA, and significant correlations were noted between RP805 uptake and CD68 expression or MMP activity but not aortic diameter. A group of angiotensin II–infused animals (n=24) were imaged at 1 week and were followed up for additional 3 weeks. RP805 uptake in suprarenal aorta at 1 week was significantly higher in mice that later developed rupture or AAA. Furthermore, tracer uptake at 1 week correlated with aortic diameter at 4 weeks. Conclusions—MMP-targeted imaging reflects vessel wall inflammation and can predict future aortic expansion or rupture in murine AAA. If confirmed in humans, this may provide a new paradigm for AAA risk stratification. ( Circ Cardiovasc Imaging. 2015;8:e002471. DOI: 10.1161/CIRCIMAGING.114.002471.)
Variability in blood and blood component utilization as assessed by an anesthesia information management system

Background Data can be collected for various purposes with anesthesia information management systems. The authors describe methods for using data acquired from an anesthesia information management system to assess intraoperative utilization of blood and blood components. Methods Over an 18-month period, data were collected on 48,086 surgical patients at a tertiary care academic medical center. All data were acquired with an automated anesthesia recordkeeping system. Detailed reports were generated for blood and blood component utilization according to surgical service and surgical procedure, and for individual surgeons and anesthesiologists. Transfusion hemoglobin trigger and target concentrations were compared among surgical services and procedures, and between individual medical providers. Results For all patients given erythrocytes, the mean transfusion hemoglobin trigger was 8.4 ± 1.5, and the target was 10.2 ± 1.5 g/dl. Variation was significant among surgical services (trigger range: 7.5 ± 1.2-9.5 ± 1.1, P = 0.0001; target range: 9.1 ± 1.2-11.3 ± 1.4 g/dl, P = 0.002), surgeons (trigger range: 7.2 ± 0.7-9.8 ± 1.0, P = 0.001; target range: 8.8 ± 0.9-11.8 ± 1.3 g/dl, P = 0.001), and anesthesiologists (trigger range: 7.2 ± 0.8-9.6 ± 1.2, P = 0.001; target range: 9.0 ± 0.9-11.7 ± 1.3 g/dl, P = 0.0004). The use of erythrocyte salvage, fresh frozen plasma, and platelets varied threefold to fourfold among individual surgeons compared with their peers performing the same surgical procedure. Conclusions The use of data acquired from an anesthesia information management system allowed a detailed analysis of blood component utilization, which revealed significant variation among surgical services and surgical procedures, and among individual anesthesiologists and surgeons compared with their peers. Incorporating these methods of data acquisition and analysis into a blood management program could reduce unnecessary transfusions, an outcome that may increase patient safety and reduce costs.
Validating a standards-based classroom assessment of English proficiency: A multitrait-multimethod approach

The use of standards-based classroom assessments to test English learners' language proficiency is increasingly prevalent in the United States and many other countries. In a large urban school district in California, for example, a classroom assessment is used to make high-stakes decisions about English learners' progress from one level to the next, and as one of the criteria for reclassifying students as Fluent English Proficient. Yet many researchers have questioned the validity of using classroom assessments for making high-stakes decisions about students (Brindley, 1998; 2001; Rea-Dickins and Gardner, 2000). One way to investigate the validity of the inferences drawn from these assessments is to examine them in relation to other measures of the same ability. In this study, a multivariate analytic approach was used to examine the extent to which the English Language Development (ELD) Classroom Assessment measures the same constructs as the CELDT (California English Language Development Test), the state...
Micrometeorology of a Smooth and Rugose Biological Soil Crust Near Coon Bluff, Arizona

Abstract Extensive research has been conducted on the structure, function, and management of biological soil crusts (BSCs) (cf. Belnap and Lange 2003). Little research, however, has been conducted on spatial aspects of BSCs, such as (micro)climate, biogeomorphology, and model-building for large area assessment and management. This preliminary experiment explores the micrometeorology of both a dry and a wet stand of BSC on a pediment in the Sonoran Desert. A researcher-induced precipitation event was used to simulate an actual precipitation event on a 0.5-m2 plot; another, adjacent plot was left “dry.” Using a thermister, connected to a datalogger, temperature above, in, and below the BSC was recorded in 5-min intervals over a 24-hr period. Simultaneously, using a solarimeter, incoming and outgoing radiation measurements were recorded at the same temporal scale and intervals. The data show a significant difference between the dry and wet BSC plots in both temperature and outgoing radiation over the tempora...
Association of Urine Dipstick Proteinuria and Postoperative Renal Function Following Robotic Partial Nephrectomy.

Abstract Introduction: In patients with normal estimated renal function before robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RPN), there is still a risk for de Novo chronic kidney disease (CKD). We assessed the role of dipstick spot proteinuria in risk stratifying patients for CKD progression. Materials and Methods: From our prospectively maintained, institutional review board-approved database of patients undergoing RPN, we queried those with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) >60 and bilateral functional units. We assessed proteinuria through dipstick (trace or above) on voided urine in preoperative urologic appointment 60 preoperatively,...
EntropyExplorer: an R package for computing and comparing differential Shannon entropy, differential coefficient of variation and differential expression

Differential Shannon entropy (DSE) and differential coefficient of variation (DCV) are effective metrics for the study of gene expression data. They can serve to augment differential expression (DE), and be applied in numerous settings whenever one seeks to measure differences in variability rather than mere differences in magnitude. A general purpose, easily accessible tool for DSE and DCV would help make these two metrics available to data scientists. Automated p value computations would additionally be useful, and are often easier to interpret than raw test statistic values alone. EntropyExplorer is an R package for calculating DSE, DCV and DE. It also computes corresponding p values for each metric. All features are available through a single R function call. Based on extensive investigations in the literature, the Fligner-Killeen test was chosen to compute DCV p values. No standard method was found to be appropriate for DSE, and so permutation testing is used to calculate DSE p values. EntropyExplorer provides a convenient resource for calculating DSE, DCV, DE and associated p values. The package, along with its source code and reference manual, are freely available from the CRAN public repository at http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/EntropyExplorer/index.html .
Hepatitis B and Asian Americans

There are approximately 350 million people worldwide who have persistent hepatitis B infection, including 1.25 million Americans. The majority of chronic hepatitis B infection in the U.S. occur among Asian and Pacific Islanders. The high incidence of hepatitis B directly contributes to the much higher rate of liver cancer for Asian and Pacific Islanders compared to non-Hispanic Whites. As a result, liver cancer is a significant disparity for Asian Americans compared to other racial/ethnic groups. This chapter summarizes the pathophysiology and clinical considerations for hepatitis B and its effects on Asian Americans, factors related to hepatitis B screening among Asian Americans, and current efforts to reduce the effect of hepatitis B on Asian Americans.
Valuing experience in a baccalaureate social work class on human behavior

Social problems are best understood through active engagement in the community, experiences that bring to light the social problems at hand. Social work education lends itself especially to practical application and experience, as addressing social welfare problems can never be entirely theoretical. Experiential education offers social work students such an opportunity, and the social work field experience offers social work students an opportunity for applied learning. Kolb’s theory of experiential adult learning, which argues that adults learn through concrete experiences, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation, provides a useful framework for understanding the importance of experiential learning in social work education. In this paper, I discuss Kolb’s contribution to adult learning theory, particularly how his theory built upon previous conceptual frameworks for understanding the adult learner. I also apply Kolb’s theory to my own learning and social work education practice. Finally, I reflect upon how my own learning experiences inform my understanding of Kolb’s experiential learning theory and my current perspective as a social work educator in a baccalaureate social work human behavior class in the United States.
Multiresonant Coherent Multidimensional Electronic Spectroscopy of Colloidal PbSe Quantum Dots

We demonstrate the use of multiresonant coherent multidimensional spectroscopy (CMDS) for obtaining 2D spectra of the diagonal and cross-peaks of the 1S and 1P excitons and biexcitons in PbSe quantum dots and their coherent and incoherent dynamics. We show that multiresonant CMDS line narrows the inhomogeneous broadening and resolves the excitonic peaks from the background that often obscures peaks. We develop theoretical methods that extract details of the homogeneous and inhomogeneous broadening, the Coulombic coupling within the biexciton, and the relative exciton and biexciton transition moments. The population dynamics are measured by scanning the excitation pulse time delays over all time orderings. Phase modulations of individual coherences are observed because of heterodyning between scattered light and the four-wave mixing signal. The experiments demonstrate that CMDS can be used to obtain quantum state resolved dynamics of the electronic states in complex nanostructures and other important mater...
Anaesthesia consent in public hospital population - An ethical dilemma.

Sir, I read with interest the article published by Kumar et al.[1] in your esteemed journal. I would like to commend the authors for summarising an issue that is extremely important considering the increasing incidence of medico-legal litigations under consumer protection act. Anaesthesia and anaesthesiologists are usually blamed, when surgical deaths are under litigations. I am writing to bring to the notice of the readers and authors, another closely related issue – Awareness about Anaesthesia. Although some of us work in private hospitals with well-informed patients, there is a section of our patients who are not so privileged. These patients do not have the resources to sue or question why they were not properly informed, but for the most part, trust in our judgement and decisions. Multiple studies[2,3,4,5] have been done in Indian public hospital population to find out the quantum of basic information about anaesthesia that the people had in public hospitals of India who were undergoing surgery. Attempts have been made to analyse whether patients were aware about anaesthesia and relevant issues such as type, who administers anaesthesia, anaesthesia as a speciality and importance of consent. Although a full discussion of the results is beyond the scope of this letter, it was disheartening to discover that only about 10–30% of uneducated public hospital population knew about anaesthesia as a physician speciality.[2,3] All these studies uniformly confirmed that education was significantly related to awareness about anaesthesia. Singh et al. highlighted another interesting finding in rural population: About 83.6% patients were not aware of contents of pre-operative consent they had signed.[5] In view of the above-mentioned findings, I would like to stress on the point Kumar et al. underlined – ‘Consent should be informed’. Consent paper work in local language may be beneficial in educating our patients, though this will need to be a state-based system change to avoid potential legal complications. Another consideration is the poor healthcare staff–patient ratio and overworked resident physicians in majority of the public hospitals. This might be a road block in our attempt to improve the awareness about our speciality in public hospital population. Despite the evolution of anaesthesia as a speciality in the last few decades, by leaps and bounds, people have misconceptions and at times are totally ignorant about this speciality. Therefore, it is imperative that we not only inform people about the details and risks of anaesthesia that they will be undergoing, but also educate them about our speciality which is not therapeutic, but plays a vital role in the surgical outcome. Financial support and sponsorship Nil. Conflicts of interest There are no conflicts of interest.
Abstract 1101: Examining the role of the mechanical microenvironment in pancreatic cancer: microrheology studies in 3D tumor models.

A growing body of literature points to the importance of the mechanical microenvironment, including rheology (rigidity, viscoelastic properties) of the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM), as a regulator tumor growth behavior. This is particularly provocative for tumors of the pancreas, which are noted for profound desomplasia characterized by exceptionally dense, collagen-rich, hypovascular, fibrous stroma. While this property of pancreatic tumor stroma has been implicated in drug resistance, and even explored as a therapeutic target (stromal depletion), key questions about the role of the mechanical microenvironment remain unanswered. For example, it is unclear the extent to which this extreme matrix rigidity is driven by the tumorigenic program or what its role is in contributing to the notorious treatment-resistance of these tumors, beyond serving as a physical barrier to drug penetration. In this study we leverage in vitro 3D pancreatic tumor-fibroblast co-culture models combined with particle tracking microrheolgy as a tool to longitudinally probe the mechanical properties of the surrounding ECM during growth and in response to exogenous stimuli. Cultures are prepared by embedding pancreatic cancer cells (PANC-1, AsPC-1 or Capan-1) along with normal human fibroblasts (MRC-5) and (biologically-inert) fluorescent tracer probes in a collagen matrix. The Brownian motion of tracer probes obtained by high-speed digital video microscopy and subsequent offline particle tracking analysis, is used as a reporter of spatio-temporal changes in the viscoelastic properties of ECM. This, combined with our previously introduced high-content quantitative imaging approach for assessment of growth and treatment response in 3D tumor models comprises a platform for mapping of interdependent changes in the matrix mechanics and tumor growth behavior. In this study we correlate changes in matrix stiffness under normal growth, with and without stromal fibroblasts present as signaling partners and TGF-β stimulation. We further explore local mechanical effects by comparing groupings of trajectories of probes proximal and distant from tumor nodules. In ongoing studies we are examining the impact of traditional chemotherapeutics and photodynamic therapy (PDT) on modulation of the mechanical microenvironment and conversely, the impact of ECM rigidity on treatment sensitivity. Citation Format: Jonathan P. Celli, Imran Rizvi, Dustin Jones, William Hanna, Tayyaba Hasan. Examining the role of the mechanical microenvironment in pancreatic cancer: microrheology studies in 3D tumor models. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1101. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-1101
Effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy on AIDS patients in Jiaxing from 2004 to 2010

Objective To study the effectiveness of free antiretroviral therapy on AIDS patients in Jiaxing from 2004 to 2010.Methods 80 cases with HIV/AIDS were given free standardized antiretroviral treatment.Blood samples were collected periodically for detection of CD4+T lymphocyte,hemogram and biochemical parameters.Results In general,after treatment,the amount of CD4+T lymphocyte increased remarkably within 15 months,then declined slightly in the month of 18,and reached the highest of 204.32±124.15/ul in the month of 24.However,the increasing patterns of CD4+T lymphocyte varied among patients with different CD4+T cell baseline.Usually CD4+T cell count increased dramatically during treatment in patients with baseline of under 200/ul(P0.01),while this increasing happened only after 13 months of treatment in those with baseline of over 200/ul(P0.05).The study also showed that during a course of 12 months treatment,the therapeutic effect was the best in patients with baseline CD4+T cell of over 200/ul,followed by those of between 100-200/ul.Also the major biochemical parameters as lymphocyte,hemoglobin,platelet and fasting plasma glucose had all greatly improved after antiretroviral therapy(P0.01).Conclusions The antiretroviral therapy has an tremendous effect on AIDS patients,suggesting that patients who meet the standard treatment requirement should be treated accordingly.
Safety of distributed interlock function in digital substation

Based on Markov model theory,a quantitative analysis method is proposed to assess the safety of distributed interlock function of digital substation as a supplement to the qualitative methods.The implementation process of the distributed interlock function and the transmission characteristic of the interlock information are analyzed.The models of permanent and instantaneous failures,which bring the indeterminable delay in interlock information transmission,and the models of repeating interlock information transmission and delay are set up.Based on these models,a model using SIL(Safety Integrity Level) to assess the distributed interlock function is established and its analytic expression is deduced.The state probability and SIL of a case are calculated as an example,showing that the rational transmission scheme of interlock information can improve its safety.
The growth retarded fetus.

Intrauterine growth retardation is caused by a variety of genetic and environmental influences, recognition of which is important both for prevention and for therapeutic and prognostic reasons.
Wrap technique to cover exposed Achilles tendon with the soleus muscle

Numerous etiologies may lead to loss of Achilles tendon coverage. Currently, multiple coverage options are available to the reconstructive surgeon; however, described techniques may not meet every patient’s need. In this case report, we describe the use of a simple technique, utilizing the soleus to cover exposed Achilles by folding the muscle circumferentially around the tendon. The technique described is a local option, creates minimum morbidity, does not require microsurgical skills, and can be performed quickly. Level of Evidence: Level V, therapeutic study.
Putting Humpty Dumpty together again: When illustration shuts down interpretation

When conventional illustrations tell readers what to imagine, critical visual literacy is compromised. The ideal relationship between illustrations and words in children’s picture books involves a ...
Spies Among Us: The New York Cell, 1914–1915

Even before the European war started in the summer of 1914, the Germans were worried about the Americans supplying arms, ammunition, and food to the Allies. The German Ambassador to the United States, Count Johann von Bernstorff, was instructed to set up a spy network in the United States, centered on the East Coast ports. This chapter describes the beginning of that network, starting in the biggest and busiest American port—New York.
ADHD and Bipolar Disorder Subtype

A familial relationship between attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and bipolar disorder (BPD) was examined in 140 children with ADHD, 120 non-ADHD controls, and their 822 first-degree relatives by analyses of structured psychiatric interviews at the Pediatric Psychopharmacology Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
Combined systemic elimination of MET and epidermal growth factor receptor signaling completely abolishes liver regeneration and leads to liver decompensation

Receptor tyrosine kinases MET and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are critically involved in initiation of liver regeneration. Other cytokines and signaling molecules also participate in the early part of the process. Regeneration employs effective redundancy schemes to compensate for the missing signals. Elimination of any single extracellular signaling pathway only delays but does not abolish the process. Our present study, however, shows that combined systemic elimination of MET and EGFR signaling (MET knockout + EGFR-inhibited mice) abolishes liver regeneration, prevents restoration of liver mass, and leads to liver decompensation. MET knockout or simply EGFR-inhibited mice had distinct and signaling-specific alterations in Ser/Thr phosphorylation of mammalian target of rapamycin, AKT, extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2, phosphatase and tensin homolog, adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase α, etc. In the combined MET and EGFR signaling elimination of MET knockout + EGFR-inhibited mice, however, alterations dependent on either MET or EGFR combined to create shutdown of many programs vital to hepatocytes. These included decrease in expression of enzymes related to fatty acid metabolism, urea cycle, cell replication, and mitochondrial functions and increase in expression of glycolysis enzymes. There was, however, increased expression of genes of plasma proteins. Hepatocyte average volume decreased to 35% of control, with a proportional decrease in the dimensions of the hepatic lobules. Mice died at 15-18 days after hepatectomy with ascites, increased plasma ammonia, and very small livers. Conclusion MET and EGFR separately control many nonoverlapping signaling endpoints, allowing for compensation when only one of the signals is blocked, though the combined elimination of the signals is not tolerated; the results provide critical new information on interactive MET and EGFR signaling and the contribution of their combined absence to regeneration arrest and liver decompensation. (Hepatology 2016;64:1711-1724).
Prior use of both a statin and ARB is associated with lower mortality for patients hospitalized with pneumonia

Introduction: Studies suggest that statins and/or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) might be beneficial for infections. However there is little information on whether combination therapy with statins and ARBs might be associated with improved outcomes. Our purpose was to examine the association of prior outpatient receipt of statins and ARBs on 30-day mortality for patients hospitalized with pneumonia. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using national Department of Veterans Affairs data of patients > 65 years hospitalized with pneumonia over a 5-year period. We used multilevel regression models to examine the association of either statins, ARBs, or both statins and ARBs, after controlling for sociodemographics, comorbid conditions, prior outpatient health care utilization, and severity of illness, as well as for the admitting hospital. Results: We identified 50,119 patients who meet the inclusion criteria, and 30.0% received statins only, 3.9% received only ARBs, and 2.1% receive both ARBs and statins. Overall, mortality at 30-days was 14.3%. In the adjusted models, prior statin use only (odds ratio 0.63, 95% confidence interval 0.57- 0.69), prior ARB use only (0.69, 0.54- 088), and prior statin and ARB combination use (0.40, 95% 0.31-0.52) were all associated with lower 30-day mortality. Discussion: Prior receipt of both a statin and ARB was associated with significantly lower mortality as compared to statins or ARBs only. Randomized controlled trials are needed to examine potential mechanisms of action and whether acute initiation at the time of presentation of statins and ARBs for those with these infections may be beneficial.
Multi-channel multi-model feature learning for face recognition

We propose a new facial recognition system which learns the multi-channel and multi-model facial representations.A new autoencoder with ADMM optimization which increases the recognition rates is designed.The new system learns facial representations that promote to capture intra-facial-region changes more precisely.The face recognition rates are boosted using unsupervised and hand-crafter features.We achieve the state-of-the-art results on several facial datasets. Different modalities have been proved to carry various information. This paper aims to study how the multiple face regions/channels and multiple models (e.g., hand-crafted and unsupervised learning methods) answer to the face recognition problem. Hand crafted and deep feature learning techniques have been proposed and applied to estimate discriminative features in object recognition problems. In our Multi-Channel Multi-Model feature learning (McMmFL) system, we propose a new autoencoder (AE) optimization that integrates the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). One of the advantages of our AE is dividing the energy formulation into several sub-units that can be used to paralyze/distribute the optimization tasks. Furthermore, the proposed method uses the advantage of K-means clustering and histogram of gradients (HOG) to boost the recognition rates. McMmFL outperforms the best results reported on the literature on three benchmark facial data sets that include AR, Yale, and PubFig83 with 95.04%, 98.97%, 95.85% rates, respectively.
Viral Marketing for Smart Cities: Influencers in Social Network Communities

Social networks are used by cities primarily for announcing local-area events, but also for increasing engagement of citizens in votes and elections. Given the current plethora of heterogeneous social networks, city administrators can benefit from social networks to promote initiatives, which are important to a current smart city as well use them to discover future needs in order to manage resources more efficiently. Our focus in this paper is how we can adapt commercial and viral marketing techniques to smart city systems to influence the behavior, opinion and choices of citizens in order to improve their well being and that of the whole society as well as predicting future trends and events.
Parathyroid Carcinoma: Challenges in Diagnosis and Treatment

Parathyroid carcinoma is a malignant neoplasm affecting 0.5% to 5.0% of all patients with primary hyperparathyroidism. Since it was first described by De Quervain in 1904 to this day, it continues to defy diagnosis and treatment because of its rarity, overlapping features with benign parathyroid disease, and lack of distinct characteristics. En bloc surgical extirpation of the tumor with clear margins remains the best curative treatment. Although prolonged survival is possible with recurrent or metastatic disease, cure is rarely achievable. Efficacy of adjuvant therapies, such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy, in management of persistent, recurrent, or metastatic disease has been disappointing.
A Comprehensive Evaluation of the Genetic Relatedness of Listeria monocytogenes Serotype 4b Variant Strains.

Recently, we have identified a link between four listeriosis incidents/outbreaks to a variant of Listeria monocytogenes serotype 4b strains, 4bV. Although 4bV strains have been reported from clinical specimens as well as from foods, listeriosis outbreaks occurring in 2014 – 2016 were the first reported outbreaks involving 4bV in the USA. Since traditional typing methods do not detect members of this group, we undertook a systematic and retrospective analysis of all Listeria monocytogenes in the NCBI WGS sequence read archive database in order to investigate the burden of 4bV strains among all listeriosis cases. This analysis identified the presence of isolates causing sporadic cases as well as those associated with the aforementioned outbreaks, as determined by WGS and traditional epidemiology. In total, approximately 350 L. monocytogenes 4bV strains were identified from multiple parts of the US as well as from Australia and Chile, dating back to 2001. The genomic relatedness of these strains was compared using the CFSAN SNP Pipeline and Multi Locus Virulent Sequence Typing (MVLST). Using the CFSAN Pipeline tool, the 4bV strains were found to group into seven clusters that were separate from 4b strains. All seven clades appeared to contain isolates from both clinical and non-clinical sources. Conversely, the MVLST analysis revealed that practically all of the strains belonged to a single clade, suggesting that 4bV strains from disparate geographic regions and sources are under varied selective pressure, restricting diversity across these six virulence loci while allowing more variability across the genome as a whole. Further evaluation of these 4bV strains identified genes potentially acquired from a lineage II source external to the lmo0733-lmo0739 region, as well as highly conserved SNPs unique to the 4bV strains when compared to those from other lineages. Taken together this data suggests that 4bV strains have undergone adaptive responses to selective pressures that may enhance survival in the environment while maintaining the pathogenic potential of serotype 4b strains.
Significance of basal follicle-stimulating hormone levels in women with one ovary in a program of in vitro fertilization.

Objective To understand the impact of having a single ovary on basal follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) level and its diagnostic and prognostic usefulness in in vitro fertilization (IVF). Design All IVF cases from July 1987 to June 1990 with known basal FSH (n=1,272) were divided into those with one and those with two ovaries to compare outcomes based on basal FSH levels. Setting Tertiary care academic center with a large IVF practice. Main Outcome Measures Basal FSH, age, and IVF outcomes including peak estradiol, numbers of follicles aspirated, oocytes retrieved, fertilized, and transferred, and pregnancies (clinical and ongoing). Results In women with only one ovary, basal FSH was increased, and IVF outcomes were poorer. The rise in FSH was able, in large part, to account for the diminished performance in the single ovary cases. Conclusions Women with only one ovary have higher basal FSH levels than those with two ovaries, and this rise can be used to predict their IVF performance.
Treatment Outcomes with Biosimilars: Be Aware of the Nocebo Effect

Over the years, biologic agents have proven their importance in the management of chronic autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and inflammatory bowel disease. Biosimilars, which are biologic medicines, are highly similar to approved biologic medicines, and are comprehensively developed and rigorously tested to ensure efficacy and safety are similar to the reference product. A broader armamentarium of biosimilars is expected to improve patients’ access to safe and effective biologic medicines, thus offering benefits to healthcare systems around the globe. Here we consider the factors that may compromise the benefits of biosimilars being realized, including patient and physician perception of biosimilars, and an often overlooked factor, the nocebo effect, which is re-emerging with the widespread adoption of biosimilar medicines. We have also described a variety of strategies and recommendations that could help limit the nocebo effect. Funding: Biogen.
Team Co-occurence in Internet Search Engine Queries: An Analysis of the Excite Data Set

Unique queries submitted to the Excite search engine were analyzed for empirical regularities in the co-occurrence of search terms. The distribution of frequency of term pair occurrences was fitted to three models used in informetric studies to determine whether the pattern of term usage followed a Zipfian distribution. Relatively poor fits were obtained for two of the models tested. . .