cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Whole-heart scaffolds—how to build a heart

Abstract Cardiovascular diseases are the primary cause of death worldwide. The natural evolution of heart disease leads to end-stage heart failure, when organ replacement becomes the only therapeutic option. However, heart transplantation is limited by the availability of donor organs, as well as the possibility of acute rejection and complications resulting from immunosuppressive therapy. As an alternative to transplants, the tissue engineering of whole organs—in particular, of autologous organs—has emerged as a promising therapeutic option. The process involves the construction and maintenance of tissues and organs in vitro by using natural or synthetic biomaterials as a scaffold. A decellularized whole heart, which is composed of extracellular matrix (ECM), proteins, and sugars, is a natural choice for a biologic cardiac scaffold. If generated properly, a decellularized scaffold retains the structure and components of the ECM with minimal damage, thus maintaining the intrinsic mechanical and geometric properties of the organ that are essential for successful recellularization. Engineered whole organs have the potential to alleviate the shortage of donor organs and to reduce the occurrence of rejection associated with transplantation because they can be generated with a recipient's own cells. The use of a natural ECM has emerged in part because synthetic matrices can be immunogenic and can undergo toxic degradation and trigger an inflammatory reaction. In this chapter, we will identify the critical components of the native human heart and present current knowledge regarding the generation of tissue-engineered whole hearts, with a focus on the use of decellularized ECM scaffolds.
Designing compact training sets for data-driven molecular property prediction through optimal exploitation and exploration

In this paper, we consider the problem of designing a compact training set comprising the most informative molecules from a specified library to build data-driven molecular property models. Specifically, using (i) sparse generalized group additivity and (ii) kernel ridge regression as two representative classes of models, we propose a method combining rigorous model-based design of experiments and cheminformatics-based diversity-maximizing subset selection within the e-greedy framework to systematically minimize the amount of data needed to train these models. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm on various databases, including QM7, NIST, and a dataset of surface intermediates for calculating thermodynamic properties (heat of atomization and enthalpy of formation). For sparse group additive models, a balance between exploration (diversity-maximizing selection) and exploitation (D-optimality selection) leads to learning with a fraction (sometimes as little as 15%) of the data to achieve similar accuracy to five-fold cross validation on the entire set. On the other hand, our results indicate that kernel methods prefer diversity-maximizing selection.
Preliminary estimating the burden of foodborne acute gastrointestinal illness in Beijing City

OBJECTIVE To estimate the burden of foodborne acute gastrointestinal illness(AGI) in community residents, and to provide the basis for prevention and control of foodborne diseases. METHODS Muli-stage stratified random cluster sampling was used to select samples in community population. A retrospective cross-sectional face-to-face household interviews were conducted over a 12-month period. Respondents were asked questions about vomiting and diarrhea within the 28 days prior to the interviews, healthcare seeking behavior and the related cost due to AGI. RESULTS There were 0. 15(95%CI 0. 13-0. 16)AGI episodes per person-year, foodboren infection resulted in 911975 AGI cases. About 290 190 cases sought healthcare, resulting in 9120 hospitallizations. The overall economic burden of foodborne AGI was 147 million Yuan per year, accounting for 0. 07᾿of the GDP. The direct cost of medical care was 107 million Yuan(medical costs and non-medical cost were 9. 4 million and 1. 2 million), and the direct cost was 4 million Yuan. CONCLUSION The burden of foodborne AGI in Beijing should not be ignored. It is necessary to improve the foodborne disease surveillance system to more accurately assess the impact of foodborne disease on society and health.
The National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food and Agriculture Science

Abstract The National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food and Agriculture Sciences is endowed by matching gifts from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research. This $100,000 prize is available to scientists in any field of the food and agricultural sciences who received their PhD in the last 20 years and performed their research at a U.S. institution. The prize is intended to stimulate innovative research in new areas of the food and agricultural sciences. Implementation of this prize implies that the NAS desires to encourage food and agricultural research no matter what the specialty. The prize is expected to energize the scientific community and attract younger scientists to explore new fields important to the production of food, feed, fiber, and fuel essential for meeting the expanding population of the world. Sponsorship by the NAS helps to foster a sense of importance to this highly appreciated prize.
Differences in the immune microenvironment between early and late-onset colon and rectal cancer.

214Background: Over the past 35 years, there has been a significant increase in the number of patients below the recommended initial screening age (50 years old) diagnosed with colorectal cancer (C...
Axonal debris accumulates in corneal epithelial cells after intraepithelial corneal nerves are damaged: A focused Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscopy (FIB-SEM) study

Abstract The intraepithelial corneal nerves (ICNs) that innervate the corneal epithelium are maintained through interactions with corneal epithelial cells and the extracellular matrix they produce. One to several axons bundle together within the basal cell layer and extend parallel to the ocular surface or branch and extend apically. Here we use 3-dimentional (3D) ultrastructural reconstructions of control and trephine injured mouse corneal epithelium and stroma produced using Focused Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscope (FIB-SEM) to determine whether corneal epithelial or immune cells resident in the epithelium remove axonal debris and degrade it in their lysosomes after trephine injury to the cornea. We demonstrate that axonal fragments are internalized in the corneal epithelium and accumulate within electron dense structures consistent with lysosomes 3 h after trephine injury in both epithelial and immune cells located among the basal cells of the trephine injured cornea. Confocal imaging showed fewer CD45+ immune cells within the corneal epithelium after trephine injury compared to controls. The resolution obtained using FIB-SEM also allowed us to show that the presence of sensory axons at the basal aspect of the epithelial basal cells close to the anterior aspect of the epithelial basement membrane (EBM) is associated with a focal reduction in EBM thickness. In addition, we show using FIB-SEM and confocal imaging that superficial trephine injuries that do not penetrate the stroma, damage the integrity of anterior stromal nerves. These studies are the first to look at the mouse cornea following nerve injury using FIB-SEM.
The Linear Response Function of an Idealized Atmosphere. Part II: Implications for the Practical Use of the Fluctuation–Dissipation Theorem and the Role of Operator’s Nonnormality

AbstractA linear response function (LRF) relates the mean response of a nonlinear system to weak external forcings and vice versa. Even for simple models of the general circulation, such as the dry dynamical core, the LRF cannot be calculated from first principles owing to the lack of a complete theory for eddy–mean flow feedbacks. According to the fluctuation–dissipation theorem (FDT), the LRF can be calculated using only the covariance and lag-covariance matrices of the unforced system. However, efforts in calculating the LRFs for GCMs using FDT have produced mixed results, and the reason(s) behind the poor performance of the FDT remain(s) unclear. In Part I of this study, the LRF of an idealized GCM, the dry dynamical core with Held–Suarez physics, is accurately calculated using Green’s functions. In this paper (Part II), the LRF of the same model is computed using FDT, which is found to perform poorly for some of the test cases. The accurate LRF of Part I is used with a linear stochastic equation to s...
The Legality of Presidential Self-Pardons

The traditional understanding of the Article II Pardon Clause is that the President may grant clemency to anyone who has committed a federal offense. Yet, a question exists whether that “anyone” includes the President. The issue has arisen on three occasions: in the 1970s, when President Richard Nixon was under investigation for his involvement in crimes associated with Watergate; in the 1980s, when the Iran-Contra Investigation raised the question whether President George H.W. Bush knew about an illegal arms-for-hostages arrangement; and more recently when President Donald Trump publicly stated that he had the legal authority to pardon himself to end a Department of Justice investigation into Russia’s involvement in the 2016 presidential election. No court has ruled on the legitimacy of a presidential self-pardon, and commentators have disagreed over the issue. In my opinion, the Article II Pardon Clause allows the President to pardon himself, but the Article I Impeachment and Removal Clauses permits Congress to remove the President for doing so. Clemency was a prerogative of the English Crown. The King’s grant of a pardon was conclusive and not subject to revision by Parliament or the English courts. The Pardon Clause reflects the prerogative nature of that power. Its text contains only two restrictions—one limiting clemency to federal offenses, the other denying the President the ability to halt impeachment proceedings—and neither one prevents self-pardons. Supreme Court case law does not justify creating a self-pardon exception. As interpreted by the Court, the Pardon Clause is the last surviving remnant of the royal prerogatives. To be sure, the Take Care Clause imposes a fiduciary obligation on a President, one comparable to the obligation borne by a private trustee, to act in the best interests of his client—the public—and a President can breach that duty by excusing himself from criminal liability. But the Impeachment and Removal Clauses provide the appropriate remedy for any abuse of presidential authority, including any misuse of the pardon power. That conclusion will not satisfy anyone who believes that there must be a judicial remedy available for every wrong, but it is the best reading of the text of our Constitution.
A case series analysis of serious exacerbations of viral hepatitis and non-viral hepatic injuries in tocilizumab-treated patients.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Reports of moderate to severe liver injury associated with tocilizumab, an interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor antagonist, have been reported in the post-marketing setting. This case series aims to characterize cases of tocilizumab-associated clinically significant hepatic injury. METHODS We analysed cases of severe acute liver injury associated with tocilizumab reported in the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System and the medical literature. RESULTS We identified 12 cases in which tocilizumab was a suspected primary cause of liver injury and eight cases in which serious sequelae of underlying or coincident viral hepatitis were temporally associated with its use. Using the Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network (DILIN) severity scale, five of 12 cases were Grade 5 (two liver transplants, three deaths), one was Grade 4 (liver failure) and six were Grade 3 (serious events with elevated bilirubin). Two cases reported liver atrophy with low hepatocellular expression of Ki-67, a marker of cellular proliferation. Among the eight cases of tocilizumab-associated viral hepatitis exacerbation, three were scored as DILIN severity Grade 5 (one liver transplant, two deaths), one was Grade 4 (liver failure), and four were Grade 3. The reported viral hepatitis events were hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation (n = 3), hepatitis C virus (HCV) flare (n = 1), cytomegalovirus (CMV)-induced liver failure (n = 1), Epstein-Barr virus hepatitis (n = 1), acute hepatitis E (HEV, n = 1) and HEV-induced macrophage activation syndrome (n = 1). CONCLUSION Tocilizumab may be a primary cause of severe liver injury, as well as exacerbate underlying viral hepatitis. The disruption by tocilizumab of IL-6-mediated immune protection and hepatocyte regeneration may aggravate clinical outcomes in some cases.
Phase I/II Study of Capmatinib Plus Erlotinib in Patients With MET-Positive Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.

PURPOSEMET dysregulation is an oncogenic driver in non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as well as a mechanism of TKI (tyrosine kinase inhibitor) resistance in patients with epidermal growth factor ...
University-Based Higher Education on Nonprofit and Nongovernmental Organizations in South Korea: Comparative Analysis between South Korea and the United States

From the early 1990s to the present, the nonprofit sector in South Korea has grown exponentially in size and scope, resulting in increased calls for the development of nonprofit education programs to educate future leaders of the nonprofit sector in South Korea. This article reports on a study undertaking to determine the scope and dimensions of the nonprofit and non-governmental organization (NPO/NGO) education in South Korea, identifying university-based nonprofit education programs in South Korea and analyze curricular content employing Wish and Mirabella’s seven-category model for evaluating curricular content in nonprofit programs. At present, South Korea offers 23 NPO/NGO degree programs at 16 universities with a combined total of 634 courses being offered as part of these degree programs. In addition, there are 45 universities offering three or more NPO/NGO related courses outside of the identified 23 NPO/NGO degree programs among the top 50 South Korean Universities, including the aforementioned 16 universities. Our findings show that South Korean NPO/NGO degree programs are more focused on advocacy and public policy related topics than on other categories of curriculum content, and with very little focus on financial management related topics in particular. The paper concludes with a discussion of the unique structure of NPO/NGO degree programs compared with programs in the United States, highlighting the proportional difference between the internal and external functions. Subscribe to JNEL
Downregulation of PDGFRß Signaling Overcomes Crizotinib Resistance in a TYRO3 and ALK Mutated Neuroendocrine-Like Tumor.

Patient-derived xenografts provide significant advantages over long-term passage cell lines when investigating efficacy of treatments for solid tumors. Our laboratory encountered a high-grade, metastatic, neuroendocrine-like tumor from a pediatric patient that presented with a unique genetic profile. In particular, mutations in TYRO3 and ALK were identified. We established a human patient-derived xenoline (PDX) of this tumor for use in the current study. We investigated the effect of crizotinib, a chemotherapeutic known to effectively target both TYRO3 and ALK mutations. Crizotinib effectively decreased viability, proliferation, growth, and the metastatic properties of the PDX tumor through downregulation of STAT3 signaling, but expression of PDGFRs was increased. Sunitinib is a small molecule inhibitor of PDGFRs and was studied in this PDX independently and in combination with crizotinib. Sunitinib alone decreased viability, proliferation, and growth in vitro and decreased tumor growth in vivo. In combination, sunitinib was able to overcome potential crizotinib-induced resistance through downregulation of ERK 1/2 activity and PDGFRs receptor expression; consequently, tumor growth was significantly decreased both in vitro and in vivo. Through the use of the PDX, it was possible to identify crizotinib as a less effective therapeutic for this tumor and suggest that targeting PDGFRs would be more effective. These findings may translate to other solid tumors that present with the same genetic mutations.
P46 Farm to School Program Prevalence: Do School Characteristics Matter?

Background Farm to School programs (FTSP) have been promoted as part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) to improve school children's access of nutritious, local food. Objective We investigate the prevalence of FTSP in K-12 schools before and after the implementation of the HHFKA. We also examine differences in prevalence of FTSP by school-level (elementary vs middle/high school), proportion of students enrolled from various race/ethnicity groups and proportion of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals (FRPM). Study Design, Setting, Participants A secondary analysis of data collected between 2010–2017 from 148 schools participating in the New Jersey Child Health Study (NJCHS) was analyzed. Schools were located in 4 low-income high minority cities in NJ: Camden, New Brunswick, Newark, and Trenton. Measurable Outcome/Analysis Schools’ personnel answered surveys at 3 time points between 2010-2017 and reported on their schools’ participation in the FTSP for the year of the survey and the previous year. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to examine FTSP prevalence rates for each year of data collection and for time periods categorized as before and after the implementation of the HHFKA. Differences in prevalence rates were compared by school characteristics. Results Across all years, on average significantly (P Conclusion Elementary schools are more likely to participate in FTSP and rates of participation in the program across K-12 schools have increased significantly in recent years.
Hippo-Yap Pathway Orchestrates Neural Crest Ontogenesis

Neural crest (NC) cells are a migratory stem cell population in vertebrate embryogenesis that can give rise to multiple cell types, including osteoblasts, chondrocytes, smooth muscle cells, neurons, glia, and melanocytes, greatly contributing to the development of different tissues and organs. Defects in NC development are implicated in many human diseases, such as numerous syndromes, craniofacial aberration and congenital heart defects. Research on NC development has gained intense interest and made significant progress. Recent studies showed that the Hippo-Yap pathway, a conserved fundamental pathway with key roles in regulation of cell proliferation, survival, and differentiation, is indispensable for normal NC development. However, the roles and mechanisms of the Hippo-Yap pathway in NC development remain largely unknown. In this review, we summarize the key functions of the Hippo-Yap pathway indicated in NC induction, migration, proliferation, survival, and differentiation, as well as the diseases caused by its dysfunction in NC cells. We also discuss emerging current and future studies in the investigation of the Hippo-Yap pathway in NC development.
Neurological sequelae of COVID-19: a review.

The COVID-19 pandemic has produced a myriad of challenges, including identifying and treating neurological sequelae. COVID-19 can cause olfactory and respiratory dysfunction with average recovery within 1 month and a minority of patients experiencing symptoms at 8-month follow-up. Headaches are also very common (up to 93%) amongst patients with persistent COVID-19 symptoms. COVID-19 illness may also affect cognition, although results are mixed. While many studies have focused on acute COVID-19 symptoms, more longitudinal studies will need to assess the neurological sequelae of the disease. Furthermore, care must be taken when attributing sequelae to COVID-19 illness and not an unrelated cause. Finally, there is concern that COVID-19 may be associated with secondary illnesses, such as Guillain–Barre, and may even contribute to the development of diseases, such as Alzheimer’s.
Ouabain Binding and Na,K-ATPase in Released Human Red Cell Ghosts

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the ouabain binding and Na, K-ATPase in released human red cell ghosts. Resealed ghosts are particularly suitable experimental models as one is able to precisely control the concentration of desired ligands on both sides of the membrane. The study of the interaction of cardiac glycosides with Na, K-ATPase has proved to be an indispensable tool in defining and characterizing numerous properties of the Na, K-ATPase transport complex. Resealed ghosts were prepared by a modification of the method of Bodemann and Passow to contain a high intracellular sodium concentration and various concentrations of Na/K pump ligands. [ 3 H]Ouabain binding assays were performed in a high sodium medium with the concentration of labeled cardiac glycoside ranging from 10 –7 to 10 –8 M . By exposing resealed ghosts to [ 3 H]ouabain for various time periods, preparing hypotonically lysed membranes from these treated ghosts, and assaying the fractional inhibition of the Na, K-ATPase activity, the relationship between the number of ouabain molecules bound per ghost and the fractional inhibition of Na, K-ATPase was obtained. It was found that one molecule of [ 3 H]ouabain was sufficient to inhibit one Na, K-ATPase complex.
Renal glomerulotubular mechanisms during normal pregnancy. I. Glomerular filtration rate, renal plasma flow, and creatinine clearance.

Abstract When compared with existing data, our findings of renal glomerulotubular patterns during normal pregnancy seem to be in conflict with those cited in most reports. Perhaps it is significant to note that most of the existing literature does not deal with serial determinations of renal hemodynamics performed in the same patient at different intervals throughout the same pregnancy. The explanation that apprehension during the first examination is responsible for the elevated glomerular filtration rate cannot be confirmed, since the values obtained among the “spot” determinations were comparable to those obtained from patients studied serially. All our patients were ambulatory, were carrying out their usual normal activities, and were not placed on restrictive diet or intake. The constant-infusion technique was used throughout and a uniform concentration of the testing agents maintained by intravenous administration of all testing agents. Diuretics or other artificial means to produce conditions different from those ordinarily seen in the normal pregnant patient were not utilized. The reduced glomerular filtration rate and renal plasma flow in the normal pregnant patient may well permit the increased tubular reabsorption, not only of water but of sodium as well. This then appears to establish a perfect prelude for an increase in the sodium space and therefore for the development of toxemia of pregnancy with its characteristic edema. It seems that, from these studies, most patients could well be on the brink of developing some degree of pre-eclampsia during what is supposed to be an apparently normal pregnancy.
Characterizing effective trading strategies: Insights from a computerized double auction tournament

Abstract This paper presents a comparative analysis of 30 computer trading programs that participated in a double auction tournament held at the Santa Fe Institute in 1990 and 1991. Our objective is to characterize the form of effective trading strategies in double auction markets. We find that a simple rule-of-thumb is a highly effective and robust performer over a wide range of trading environments, significantly outperforming more complex algorithms that use statistically-based predictions of future transaction prices, explicit optimizing principles, and sophisticated ‘learning algorithms’.
What does Willingness-to-Pay reveal about hospital market power in merger cases? †

In hospital merger cases, the courts have often based geographic market areas on patient flow criteria. Given patient heterogeneity and the importance of distance to hospitals and health plan restrictions on hospital choices, Capps et al. (2003a) show that potential market power eects can be understated. While willingness-to-pay(WTP) measures derived from logit demand models provide an alternative approach, for antitrust purposes it is necessary to show how WTP relates to the likely price eects of mergers. This paper examines the connection between health plan prices and WTP that results from bargaining between managed care plans and hospitals. We study two merger cases in Florida and New York State to evaluate the reliability of this measure. Employing data available before a merger has occurred, we find that this method can provide reliable predictions of patients' post-merger willingness-to-pay that imply conservative predictions of post-merger prices.
Giant hypertrophic gastropathy (Menetrier's disease): pharmacologic effects on protein leakage and mucosal ultrastructure

Seven patients with giant hypertrophic gastropathy participated in a gastric intubation perfusion study to investigate the route and mechanism of protein leakage associated with this disease. All patients had gastric tight junctions wider than those in healthy controls. Acute administration of propantheline bromide reduced gastric albumin leakage (-50.7%, p less than 0.05) and concurrently decreased width of tight junctions (p less than 0.05) in all patients. Another antisecretory agent, cimetidine, had no consistent effect on protein leakage or on the width of tight junctions. Pentagastrin and bethanechol chloride increased protein loss but had no effect on the width of tight junctions. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that proteins may take a paracellular route via the tight junctions as they traverse the gastric mucosa and that this may have a cholinergic mechanism.
Hormonal Regulation of Fluid and Electrolytes: Effects of Heat Exposure and Exercise in the Heat

A review of the endocrine factors which subserve fluid and electrolyte regulation during acute or chronic sedentary heat exposure or during exercise in the heat necessarily focuses on two target organs — the sweat gland and the kidney. While the acquisition of heat acclimation in humans is partially characterized by a striking ability to secrete increased quantities of a more dilute sweat (3,121,131), there are relatively few studies in the scientific literature describing the direct hormonal control of sweat secretory rate, composition, or total output. Further, studies which have reported these direct effects of exogenously administered hormones (e.g. aldosterone, angiotensin I or II, antidiuretic hormone or vasopressin) on sweat gland activity provided, at best, inconsistent results with various investigators reporting increased, decreased, or no effects on sweat secretion.
On Bias in To Values Derived With Compact and PCVN Specimens

The Heavy-Section Steel Irradiation (HSSI) Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) includes a task to investigate the bias in the reference fracture toughness transition temperature values, To , derived with the pre-cracked Charpy (PCVN) and compact specimens. The PCVN specimen, as well as any other fracture toughness specimen that can be made out of the broken Charpy specimens, may have exceptional utility for the evaluation of RPV steels. The Charpy V-notch specimen is the most commonly used specimen geometry in surveillance programs. Precracking and testing of Charpy surveillance specimens would allow one to determine and monitor directly actual fracture toughness instead of requiring indirect predictions using correlations established with impact data. However, there are a growing number of indications that there might be a bias in To values derived from PCVN and compact specimens. The present paper summarizes data from the series of experiments that use subsize specimens for evaluation of the transition fracture toughness of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steels conducted within the HSSI Program. Two types of compact specimens and three types of three-point bend specimens from five RPV materials were used in these subsize experiments. The current results showed that To determined from PCVN specimens with width (W) to thickness (B) ratio W/B=1, on average, are lower than To determined from compact specimens with W/B=2. At the same time, three-point bend specimens with W/B=2 exhibited To values that were very similar to To values derived from compact specimens.Copyright © 2004 by ASME
Improved Method for Determination of Respiring Individual Microorganisms in Natural Waters

A method is reported that combines the microscopic determinations of specific, individual, respiring microorganisms by the detection of electron transport system activity and the total number of organisms of an estuarine population by epifluorescence microscopy. An active cellular electron transport system specifically reduces 2-(p-iodophenyl)-3-(p-nitrophenyl)-5-phenyl tetrazolium chloride (INT) to INT-formazan, which is recognized as opaque intracellular deposits in microorganisms stained with acridine orange. In a comparison of previously described sample preparation techniques, a loss of >70% of the counts of INT-reducing microorganisms was shown to be due to the dissolution of INT-formazan deposits by immersion oil (used in microscopy). In addition, significantly fewer fluorescing microorganisms and INT-formazan deposits, both ≤0.2 μm in size, were found for sample preparations that included a Nuclepore filter. Visual clarity was enhanced, and significantly greater direct counts and counts of INT-reducing microorganisms were recognized by transferring microorganisms from a filter to a gelatin film on a cover glass, followed by coating the sample with additional gelatin to produce a transparent matrix. With this method, the number of INT-reducing microorganisms determined for a Chesapeake Bay water sample was 2-to 10-fold greater than the number of respiring organisms reported previously for marine or freshwater samples. INT-reducing microorganisms constituted 61% of the total direct counts determined for a Chesapeake Bay water sample. This is the highest percentage of metabolically active microorganisms of any aquatic population reported using a method which determines both total counts and specific activity.
Sixteen-slice CT angiography in patients with suspected blunt carotid and vertebral artery injuries.

Background We sought to determine whether 16-slice multidetector CT angiography (CTA) has sufficient negative predictive value for use as the initial imaging examination for patients with suspected blunt carotid and vertebral artery injury (BCVI) and to estimate the positive predictive value of different screening criteria in assessing BCVI. Study design We conducted a retrospective study of patients who were imaged for suspected BCVI at a Level I trauma center during 2004. The policy at our center was to evaluate all patients with specific indications with CTA, and at the discretion of the clinical service, four-vessel digital subtraction angiography (DSA) if the CTA was normal. We recorded injury grade, location, and diagnostic certainty from the imaging report. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients with normal CTA who also had normal DSA. Results Of 372 patients imaged with CTA for suspected BCVI, 271 had normal studies. Eighty-two (30%) of those with normal initial CTA were further examined with DSA, which was normal or equivocal in 75 of these 82 patients (CTA negative predictive value, 92% [95% CI, 83% to 97%]). The aggregate positive predictive value of BCVI screening criteria was 19% (95% CI, 14% to 23%). Lateral element cervical vertebral fractures and skull base fractures were the most predictive criteria. Conclusions Multidetector CTA misses relatively few injuries and adequately supplants DSA as a screening study in patients with risk factors for BCVI. Radiologists should maintain a high degree of suspicion in patients who meet screening criteria. Optimal imaging strategies should focus on the most predictive criteria.
Generalizing causal knowledge: theory and algorithms

This article is a short summary of the full dissertation thesis that was defended in 2014 at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Activity of Penicillin in vitro

SummaryThe observations of Florey, et al.3 on the antibacterial activity of penicillin against Gram positive organisms are confirmed and extended. Preparations have been obtained of such activity that 0.03 γ inhibits the growth of 2 to 4 million hemolytic streptococci. This represents an equivalent of 240-250 Oxford units per mg.
Dialysis Outcomes as a Measure of Adequacy of Dialysis

Truly adequate dialysis would restore patients to full health, with functional status and length of life indistinguishable from others of the same age, sex, and race without chronic kidney disease. We are far from achieving such outcomes, however, in part because of the dearth of available evidence on which areas of care should be emphasized to get the greatest clinical and psychosocial benefits at the most affordable costs. A clear understanding of the strengths and limitations of currently available evidence can help guide researchers and clinicians in this field, and likely will lead to increasing emphasis on identification and management of comorbid conditions and a focus on preventative medicine. Optimal dialysis will be accomplished only when normal kidney functions are mimicked by artificial devices to a much greater extent than is currently the case.
Relationship of cesarean delivery to lower birth weight-specific neonatal mortality in singleton breech infants in the United States.

Abstract Objective: The preferred route of delivery for breech presentation has been controversial. We compared the birth weight-specific neonatal mortality of vaginal births to cesarean births in singleton births with breech presentation. Methods: A total of 371,692 singleton live births with breech presentation were selected for the study from the United States birth cohorts for the years 1989–1991. Differences in birth weight specific mortality were compared using a z-statistic for differences in proportions and by logistic regression. Results: Compared to primary vaginal births, primary cesarean births had significantly lower neonatal mortality for all birth weight groups, despite increased prevalence of fetal malformations in the cesarean as compared with vaginally delivered group. This mortality difference was greatest in the first hour of life. Difference in overall neonatal (less than 28 days) mortality rate ranged from a low of 1.6-fold in the 500–749 g group (726.6 per 1000 vaginal births compared with 456.3 per 1000 cesarean births, P Conclusion: Singleton live births with breech presentation delivered by cesarean had lower birth weight-specific neonatal mortality as compared with vaginal births.
Evidence for subduction in the ice shell of Europa

Despite widespread evidence for extension, there have been few signs of contraction on the icy surface of Jupiter’s Europa. Evidence for a subduction-like convergent boundary suggests that Europa may have active plate tectonics.
Numerical methods for one-dimensional reaction-diffusion equations arising in combustion theory

A review of numerical methods for one-dimensional reaction-diffusion equations arising in combustion theory is presented. The methods reviewed include explicit, implicit, quasi-linearization, time linearization, operator-splitting, random walk and finite-element techniques and methods of lines. Adaptive and nonadaptive procedures are also reviewed. These techniques are applied first to solve two model problems which have exact traveling wave solutions with which the numerical results can be compared. This comparison is performed in terms of both the wave profile and computed wave speed. It is shown that the computed wave speed is not a good indicator of the accuracy of a particular method. A fourth-order time-linearized, Hermitian compact operator technique is found to be the most accurate method for a variety of time and space sizes.
Visit Coaching: Building on Family Strengths to Meet Children's Needs

Visits between children in foster care and their families often do not build on family strengths or help them demonstrate they can meet their children's safety and developmental needs. Visits can alienate parents, children, and foster parents, and the parent's grief, anger, and preoccupation with complying with court-ordered treatment often obscure their children's needs. Visit coaching is an innovative approach that can replace parenting classes and office-based visits with hands-on guidance for families in meeting their children's needs. The visit coach, who may be their caseworker or a variety of other trained individuals, helps parents take charge of visits and demonstrate more responsiveness to each child.
Octree‐based reasonable‐quality hexahedral mesh generation using a new set of refinement templates

An octree-based mesh generation method is proposed to create reasonable-quality, geometry-adapted unstructured hexahedral meshes automatically from triangulated surface models without any sharp geometrical features. A new, easy-to-implement, easy-to-understand set of refinement templates is developed to perform local mesh refinement efficiently even for concave refinement domains without creating hanging nodes. A buffer layer is inserted on an octree core mesh to improve the mesh quality significantly. Laplacian-like smoothing, angle-based smoothing and local optimization-based untangling methods are used with certain restrictions to further improve the mesh quality. Several examples are shown to demonstrate the capability of our hexahedral mesh generation method for complex geometries. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Self-Oscillations of a Charged Particle

It is found that certain rigid charge distributions can oscillate without radiation even when no forces are present, other than their own retarded fields. The periods are of the order of the time required for light to cross the particle. The energy of these oscillations is always positive, and there are therefore no exponentially increasing unstable motions of the type possessed by the Dirac classical electron.
Islam, Muslims and Arabs in America: the other of the other of the other ...

(1999). Islam, Muslims and Arabs in America: the other of the other of the other ... Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs: Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 33-47.
Trends in Prevalence and Control of Diabetes in the United States, 1988–1994 and 1999–2010

The prevalence of diabetes in the United States has increased over the past 2 decades. The authors examined these trends using NHANES data and explored the roles of hemoglobin A1c and fasting plasm...
Motion of continuous surfaces through stagnant viscous non‐Newtonian fluids

An analysis is given of the hydrodynamics and drag of a rigid sheet moving through a stagnant non-Newtonian fluid. The methods of boundary layer theory are applied and it is shown that a ‘similarity’ transformation is sometimes possible. The effect of the apparent viscosity on the velocity field and drag is discussed and detailed solutions for different non-Newtonian viscosities are obtained by integral momentum methods. The problem of drawing a cylinder through a non-Newtonian fluid is also discussed. On presente une analyse de l'hydrodynamique et de la resistance a l'avancement d'une feuille rigide qui se deplace dans un fluide non-newtonien et stagnant. On applique les methodes de la theorle de la couche-limite et montre qu'une transformation “de similarite” est parfois possible. On discute l'effet de la viscosite apparente sur le champ de vitesse et la resistance a l'entraǐnement et obtient des solutions detaillees pour differentes viscosites non-newtoniennes au moyen des methodes integrates de la force vive. On discute aussi le probleme de l'entrainement d'un cylindre dans un fluide non-newtonien.
Folklore Rules: A Fun, Quick, and Useful Introduction to the Field of Academic Folklore Studies

This concise introduction to the study of folklore offers an appealing alternative to existing folklore textbooks. Lynne McNeill's talent for teaching undergraduates is clear in this eloquently wri...
A user interface for database creation use and maintenance

Most users of micro-computers are not professionally trained in computer science and many are in occupations where a form or table is a common way of collecting and maintaining information. The form-based systems and the non-normal form database systems address this interface area, but each has its own limitations either in terms of complexity or applicability or both. A user interface system designed for use on a personal computer, which avoids the limitations of previous systems, has been designed. This paper describes a user interface system which provides for the use of a screen image of a table or form, allows for the creation, storage and manipulation of data in a database which is relational in logical structure through the screen image of the tables or form, and avoids the limitations previously mentioned. The mappings required to move screen images expressed as set relations to the relations in the normalized database are the focus of this paper.
Development of off-flavour in non-melting flesh peach genotypes

Studies performed to investigate the development of off-flavour in some NMF peach genotypes revealed that there were certain chemical components that were consistently associated with the disorder. Generally there was a significant increase in total soluble phenolics, polyphenoloxidase (PPO) activity and ethanol with an increase in both the percentage of off-flavoured fruit and the degree of off-flavour with time in storage at 8 °C in NMF genotypes. Total soluble sugars and soluble solids decreased significantly during the storage period. These changes in chemical composition of NMF genotypes were not observed in MF and NMF genotypes that did not show off-flavour development. Highly significant linear correlations were detected between off-flavour development and soluble phenolics, PPO activity, ethanol, total soluble solids and soluble sugars in Fla 92-21C and USDA 87P285, lines with the highest percentage of off-flavoured fruit. Soluble phenolics, chlorogenic acid, PPO activity and ethanol were positively correlated but soluble sugars and soluble solids were negatively correlated with off-flavour development. The accumulation of soluble phenolics and ethanol and the reduction in soluble solids and sugars appear to be associated with the development of off-flavour in NMF peach genotypes.
Transcription of the ribosomal RNA genes of an amphibian by the RNA polymerase of a bacterium.

Abstract DNA-dependent RNA polymerase from Escherichia coli transcribes purified ribosomal RNA genes from the toad Xenopus laevis in a non-random manner similar to the transcription which occurs in vivo. To show this, the strand of rDNA † which is transcribed in vivo (H-strand) has been separated from the non-transcribed strand (L-strand) and the hybridization of ribosomal RNA, total nuclear RNA, and complementary RNA to the two strands has been compared. Ribosomal RNA is transcribed in vivo only from the H-strand and from only half of the nucleotide sequences on the H-strand; the other half of the H-strand, which is non-homologous to rRNA, is termed “spacer DNA”. The majority (80%) of cRNA transcribed by E. coli RNA polymerase from native rDNA is also homologous to the H-strand. Of the cRNA transcribed from the H-strand of native rDNA, about 85% is homologous to the rRNA gene sequences; the other 15% is homologous to the spacer region. Furthermore, E. coli RNA polymerase initiates preferentially within the sequence coding for 18 s rRNA and progressively transcribes more 28 s rRNA with time. This suggests that the 18 s rRNA sequence is located near or at the 5′ end of the 40 s rRNA molecule which is the precursor of both 18 S and 28 s rRNA in vivo.
Understanding the Transcriptional and Translational Regulatory Roles of Non-Classical Neural Zinc Finger Proteins Involved in the Development of the Nervous System

Zinc plays a crucial role in the development of the nervous system. Disruption of zinc homeostasis results in several nervous system disorders, including cerebral stroke, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, mental retardation, periventricular leukomalacia, and brain cancer. Two ‘zinc finger’ proteins, Neural Zinc Finger Factor-1 (NZF-1) and Myelin Transcription Factor 1 (MyT1), play key roles in the development of the nervous system: NZF-1 regulates the development of neurons and MyT1 regulates the development of oligodendrocytes. Both proteins contain clusters of highly homologous yet modular CCHHC domains that can selectively recognize/regulate different genes when zinc is coordinated to the domains. The mechanisms of zinc mediated DNA recognition by these proteins is not well understood. Using a combination of biochemical, biophysical and spectroscopic approaches, including fluorescence anisotropy, NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, we have begun to map out the key interactions that drive molecular recognition and we will present a current model for these recognition events. In addition, we will present evidence that a novel Co-Schiff base complex inhibits the function of NZF-1, by disrupting the zinc coordination and accompanying folding of the CCHHC domains. This complex has the potential to be used as a functional probe and small molecule inhibitor of NZF-1.
Spiral Waves in Two-Dimensional Models of Ventricular Muscle: Formation of a Stationary Core

Previous experimental studies have clearly demonstrated the existence of drifting and stationary electrical spiral waves in cardiac muscle and their involvement in cardiac arrhythmias. Here we present results of a study of reentrant excitation in computer simulations based on a membrane model of the ventricular cell. We have explored in detail the parameter space of the model, using tools derived from previous numerical studies in excitation-dynamics models. We have found appropriate parametric conditions for sustained stable spiral wave dynamics (1 s of activity or approximately 10 rotations) in simulations of an anisotropic (ratio in velocity 4:1) cardiac sheet of 2 cm x 2 cm. Initially, we used a model that reproduced well the characteristics of planar electrical waves exhibited by thin sheets of sheep ventricular epicardial muscle during rapid pacing at a cycle length of 300 ms. Under these conditions, the refractory period was 147 ms; the action potential duration (APD) was 120 ms; the propagation velocity along fibers was 33 cm/s; and the wavelength along fibers was 4.85 cm. Using cross-field stimulation in this model, we obtained a stable self-sustaining spiral wave rotating around an unexcited core of 1.75 mm x 7 mm at a period of 115 ms, which reproduced well the experimental results. Thus the data demonstrate that stable spiral wave activity can occur in small cardiac sheets whose wavelength during planar wave excitation in the longitudinal direction is larger than the size of the sheet. Analysis of the mechanism of this observation demonstrates that, during rotating activity, the core exerts a strong electrotonic influence that effectively abbreviates APD (and thus wavelength) in its immediate surroundings and is responsible for the stabilization and perpetuation of the activity. We conclude that appropriate adjustments in the kinetics of the activation front (i.e., threshold for activation and upstroke velocity of the initiating beat) of currently available models of the cardiac cell allow accurate reproduction of experimentally observed self-sustaining spiral wave activity. As such, the results set the stage for an understanding of functional reentry in terms of ionic mechanisms.