cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Navigating and Covering

Searching, foraging, and cleaning tasks often combine navigation and covering. The goal is to cover the desirable area with minimal traveling time. In this Chapter, we explore primitive navigating and covering heuristics such as wall following, and the Hansel and Gretel method. We apply them to solve the tessellation problem, or called traveling workstation problem which combines navigating and covering simultaneously.
Autonomic neuropathy—in its many guises—as the initial manifestation of the antiphospholipid syndrome

Autonomic disorders have previously been described in association with the antiphospholipid syndrome. The present study aimed to determine the clinical phenotype of patients in whom autonomic dysfunction was the initial manifestation of the antiphospholipid syndrome and to evaluate for autonomic neuropathy in these patients. This was a retrospective study of 22 patients evaluated at the University of Colorado who were found to have a disorder of the autonomic nervous system as the initial manifestation of antiphospholipid syndrome. All patients had persistent antiphospholipid antibody positivity and all patients who underwent skin biopsy were found to have reduced sweat gland nerve fiber density suggestive of an autonomic neuropathy. All patients underwent an extensive evaluation to rule out other causes for their autonomic dysfunction. Patients presented with multiple different autonomic disorders, including postural tachycardia syndrome, gastrointestinal dysmotility, and complex regional pain syndrome. Despite most having low-titer IgM antiphospholipid antibodies, 13 of the 22 patients (59%) suffered one or more thrombotic event, but pregnancy morbidity was minimal. Prothrombin-associated antibodies were helpful in confirming the diagnosis of antiphospholipid syndrome. We conclude that autonomic neuropathy may occur in association with antiphospholipid antibodies and may be the initial manifestation of the syndrome. Increased awareness of this association is important, because it is associated with a significant thrombotic risk and a high degree of disability. In addition, anecdotal experience has suggested that antithrombotic therapy and intravenous immunoglobulin therapy may result in significant clinical improvement in these patients.
Abstract 63: Reduction in Glucocorticoid Receptor Expression Attenuates Pressure Overload-induced Cardiac Hypertrophy and Promotes Heart Failure in Mice

Background: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is an independent risk factor for heart failure and sudden death. In addition, LVH is also a compensatory mechanism that helps the heart cope with pressure overload. Stress is considered one factor that is related to cardiac outcomes. Glucocorticoids are primary stress hormones, whose role in the heart is poorly understood. Here, we hypothesize that a reduction in the expression of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) would decrease cardiac hypertrophy in response to pressure overload. Methods and Results: The GR homozygous mutation (GR-/-) is embryonic lethal. However, GR heterozygous mice (GR+/-) show a normal phenotype. We subjected GR+/- mice to transverse aortic constriction (TAC). At four weeks after TAC, the ratio of heart weight to tibia length increased significantly in wild-type mice (control) littermates compared with GR+/- mice. Cardiac myocyte size was also smaller in GR+/- mice vs controls, suggesting an attenuated cardiac growth response in these mice. In addition, GR+/- hearts displayed increased cell death and enhanced fibrosis in response to TAC. Cardiac function, determined by EF% and FS% (measured using the Vevo2100 imaging system), was significantly reduced in GR+/- mice compared with controls at eight weeks post-operation, while LVEDD was increased. Together, with the increased ratio of lung weight to body weight in GR+/- mice at eight weeks following TAC, this suggests an exaggerated heart failure in GR+/- mice. In vitro, hydrocortisone-induced cell growth in H9c2 cells was abolished by GR knockdown using siRNA. Finally, we looked at the mechanisms by which GR may play a role in the development of hypertrophy. We found reduced ERK-JNK activity in GR+/- hearts, suggesting that the reduced hypertrophic response in GR+/- mice occurs, at least partially, through abolished JNK and ERK activity. Conclusion: The glucocorticoid receptor is required for cardiac hypertrophy and protects the heart from heart failure during cardiac pressure overload.
Protein kinase D inhibitor CRT0066101 suppresses bladder cancer growth in vitro and in vivo through induction of cell cycle arrest at the G2-M phase.

e16024Background: Protein Kinase D (PKD) is implicated in tumor growth, death, invasion, and progression. CRT0066101 is an inhibitor of PKD and has antitumor activity in several types of carcinomas...
Reviewing RECIST in the Era of Prolonged and Targeted Therapy.

Abstract Accurate assessment of disease response is the foundation of therapeutic trails, which is why the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) serve as an international standard that investigators can utilize when examining patient outcomes. Nine years after the initial RECIST criteria were released, an update, RECIST 1.1, was published to improve on the initial criteria and address technologic advancements in imaging. Since then, advancements in both standard clinical and trial practices, combined with improvements in our understanding of cancer biology, have resulted in the identification of a number of limitations of the current RECIST 1.1, either in lack of clear guidance with regard to its best application or in potential benefit of capturing imaging-related data beyond standard categorical response details. As several of these situations reflect the consequences of prolonged control of metastatic disease by using targeted therapies, thoracic oncology has generated many of the key scenarios requiring elucidation and/or improvements. This article specifically examines current controversies in the interpretation and/or optimal utilization of RECIST 1.1, focusing on examples from thoracic oncology, and makes proposals, where possible, on how best to address these issues. These situations include addressing central nervous system versus extra–central nervous system response and progression, depth of response, oligoprogression versus polyprogression, continuation of systemic therapy after use of a local ablative therapy, and the impact of fluctuations in measurements bridging partial response and stable disease categories during prolonged therapy.
Crystal-on-crystal chips for in situ serial diffraction at room temperature

Recent developments in serial crystallography at X-ray free electron lasers (XFELs) and synchrotrons have been driven by two scientific goals in structural biology - first, static structure determination from nano or microcrystals of membrane proteins and large complexes that are difficult for conventional cryocrystallography, and second, direct observations of transient structural species in biochemical reactions at near atomic resolution. Since room-temperature diffraction experiments naturally demand a large quantity of purified protein, sample economy is critically important for all steps of serial crystallography from crystallization, crystal delivery to data collection. Here we report the development and applications of "crystal-on-crystal" devices to facilitate large-scale in situ serial diffraction experiments on protein crystals of all sizes - large, small, or microscopic. We show that the monocrystalline quartz as a substrate material prevents vapor loss during crystallization and significantly reduces background X-ray scattering. These devices can be readily adopted at XFEL and synchrotron beamlines, which enable efficient delivery of hundreds to millions of crystals to the X-ray beam, with an overall protein consumption per dataset comparable to that of cryocrystallography.
Calcification, Silicification, Bioerosion

Members of the phylum Porifera constitute an amazing array of species in terms of the kinds and shapes of mineral products they secrete. Depending upon the group, relatively enormous amounts of aragonite, calcite, and silica are secreted by these animals. In viewing sponges from this perspective, one is impressed by the diversity of transport and secretory mechanisms that have evolved in the phylum coupled with the almost total absence of the evolution of discrete tissues involved in these phenomena. In view of the fact that sponges lack an intraorganismal transport system, their capacity to secrete these minerals in large quantities is all the more amazing. The processing of precursors must be highly efficient on a cell to cell basis and may also functionally involve the intercellular matrix, although data on the latter point are not yet available. In a small number of species, the animals are capable of eroding calcareous substrata through a process assumed also to involve transport and secretory processes; these result both in the partial dissolution and the subsequent removal of the substratum.
Semi-Empirical Molecular Orbital Calculations Relevant to Adsorption and Catalysis on Metal Surfaces

The development of modern large electronic computers has led to major developments in theoretical approaches to surface chemistry. The application of semi-empirical quantum theory to surface chemistry is illustrated by calculations for clusters, adsorbed species (largely H atoms and CO) and, reactions of diatomic molecules on transition metal clusters. It is concluded that semi-empirical molecular orbital calculations have already demonstrated their utility to surface chemistry by presenting results that have modified the thinking of surface scientists about some surface processes. In particular the semi-empirical calculations brought to everyone’s attention the fact that metal s and p orbitals play an important role in chemisorption when previously attention had been focused almost exclusively on d orbitals. Also semi-empirical calculations gave a new interpretation for the ultraviolet photo-electron spectrum of CO adsorbed on Ni, which has subsequently received experimental support. In addition the semi-empirical calculations provide some guideline numbers in the use of molecular orbital theory as a framework within which to correlate and discuss experimental data such as catalytic reactivity on alloys.
Interfacial Phenomena in Materials Science

The present lecture notes discuss several important problems in materials science where interfacial phenomena play a crucial role, namely: equilibrium crystal shapes and Wulff construction, growth of a crystal nucleus from an undercooled melt, Mullins-Sekerka instability, growth of a dendrite and Ivantsov’s solution, surface-diffusion phenomena and grain boundary grooving as well as the Asaro-Tiller-Grinfeld instability of solid epitaxial films that leads to the formation of quantum dots. Mathematical models of the corresponding phenomena are presented in detail. The lecture notes are based on the books of Pimpinelli and Villain (2001), Davis (2001), Godreche (1992), Landau and Lifshits (1978) and original papers cited in the references.
Complex Systems Modeling of Urban Development: Understanding the Determinants of Health and Growth Across Scales

There is growing interest in the systematic scientific understanding of cities and urbanization due to an increase in data availability about many aspects of urban life throughout the world, as well as ready access to more powerful computation and modeling capabilities. Cities are manifestly complex systems in that social, economic, health and other aspects of urban processes are interconnected in the lives of each urban dweller and depend on the nature of urban services and infrastructure over their built environments. Despite this truism, the modeling of cities as complex systems across all these interdependent dimensions is relatively new. This paper presents a primer to different modeling approaches to cities and urbanization, pointing out their realms of applicability as well as critical areas where they are currently insufficient. Specifically, I give a short introduction to five main traditions—agent-based, spatial equilibrium, contagion, life-course and growth models—and discuss how they are becoming increasingly articulated and interdependent to create more realistic and more predictive models of cities. From this perspective, I summarize a research agenda for urban theory and modeling focused on understanding issues of growth and development across scales of organization from individuals to neighborhoods, cities and urban systems.
Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Signaling in the Hypothalamus: Mechanisms Related to Nicotine’s Effects on Food Intake

Despite health risks associated with smoking, up to 20% of the US population persist in this behavior; many smoke to control body weight or appetite, and fear of post-cessation weight gain can motivate continued smoking. Nicotine and tobacco use is associated with lower body weight, and cessation yields an average weight gain of about 4 kg, which is thought to reflect a return to the body weight of a typical nonsmoker. Nicotine replacement therapies can delay this weight gain but do not prevent it altogether, and the underlying mechanism for how nicotine is able to reduce weight is not fully understood. In rodent models, nicotine reduces weight gain, reduces food consumption, and alters energy expenditure, but these effects vary with duration and route of nicotine administration. Nicotine, acting through nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), increases the firing rate of both orexigenic agouti-related peptide and anorexigenic proopiomelanocortin neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus (ARC). Manipulation of nAChR subunit expression within the ARC can block the ability of nicotine and the nicotinic agonist cytisine from decreasing food intake; however, it is unknown exactly how this reduces food intake. This review summarizes the clinical and preclinical work on nicotine, food intake, and weight gain, then explores the feeding circuitry of the ARC and how it is regulated by nicotine. Finally, we propose a novel hypothesis for how nicotine acts on this hypothalamic circuit to reduce food intake. Implications: This review provides a comprehensive and updated summary of the clinical and preclinical work examining nicotine and food intake, as well as a summary of recent work examining feeding circuits of the hypothalamus. Synthesis of these two topics has led to new understanding of how nAChR signaling regulates food intake circuits in the hypothalamus.
Identification and elucidation of proline-rich antimicrobial peptides with enhanced potency and delivery.

Proline-rich antimicrobial peptides (PrAMPs) kill bacteria via a nonlytic mechanism in which they permeate through the outer membrane, utilize protein-mediated transport across the inner membrane, and target the ribosome to inhibit protein synthesis. We previously reported that substitutions of oncocin ( VDKPPYLPRPRPPRRIYNR - NH 2 ) with a pair of cationic residues improved the antimicrobial activity. In this study, we applied the design protocol to three other PrAMPs: apidaecin-1b, pyrrhocoricin, and bactenecin 7(1-16) and found that the substitutions (R4K and I8K/R) for apidaecin-1b improve the activity by twofold (p < .05) against nonpathogenic Escherichia coli. Moreover, the substitutions (L7K/R and R14K) for pyrrhocoricin improve the activity by 2-10-fold (p < .05) against some strains of E. coli and Salmonella Typhimurium. We also performed activity tests against inner membrane protein (SbmA or YgdD) knockout strains. The result is consistent with previous studies that SbmA is the major transporter for apidaecin-1b and pyrrhocoricin derivatives. However, bactenecin 7(1-16) functions independently of these transporters. In addition, several apidaecin-1b derivatives exhibit enhanced activity relative to wild-type only in the absence of SbmA, which is consistent with mutations that enhance transport across the inner membrane. A high performance liquid chromatography-based kinetic assay for cellular association and internalization demonstrates that the selected cationic mutations can improve cellular association in minimal media, but this enhanced association is not required for increased activity, which suggests the importance of inner membrane transport. These functional studies on cationic mutants of PrAMPs advance understanding of potency and mechanism and advance the ability to engineer improved antimicrobials as evidenced by the identification of the pyrrhocoricin mutant (L7R and R14K) with 10-fold elevated potency against pathogenic E. coli.
Experts, Generalists, Laypeople -- and the Federal Circuit

A natural experiment is currently unfolding in the patent world. The same validity issues are sent to a diverse range of adjudicators: administrative patent judges, with technical and scientific expertise; district court judges, who range from classic legal generalists to de facto patent law specialists; and juries, composed of layperson novices. The findings made at the trial level, regardless of forum, are in turn reviewed by a singular controlling entity — the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. This Article capitalizes on the current adjudicatory structure of patent law, analyzing more than two thousand Federal Circuit orders and opinions — each hand-coded for validity findings and their disposition on appeal issue-by-issue. The result is a uniquely complete and clear dataset, offering a window into these tribunals’ different mutual relationships — and one into the varying effects of expertise and specialization in the patent world overall. A straightforward empirical analysis of the data, moreover, challenges several longstanding and widespread anecdotal assumptions about patent adjudication. In brief, the data suggest that the Federal Circuit affirms findings made by the PTAB reliably more often than findings made by district court judges — particularly when the findings involve questions of fact rather than questions of law. Whether the district court judge (or district itself) has more prior experience with patent cases appears to be irrelevant. Whether the finding was made by a jury, on the other hand, is highly relevant, with those findings affirmed at the highest rate of all. Moreover, PTAB findings that invalidate patent claims are affirmed more often than findings that uphold patent claims. No similar pattern exists in district court appeals. And the underlying technological subject matter of the patent at issue does not seem to perceptibly influence results on appeal for either.
Appendix F: Solutions to Problems

The solutions to the problems set at the end of each chapter are presented here. In some of the solutions, literature references are provided and additional material has been added to aid the interpretation of the results.
Stand Your Ground

This chapter examines the moral justifiability of “stand your ground” (SYG) laws. First, it sets forth the parameters of self-defense as understood in the philosophical literature. Next, it focuses on the necessity limitation and questions whether this limitation can be defensibly weakened to accommodate SYG laws. Finding no comfort for SYG statutes in a weakened necessity limitation, the chapter turns to the proportionality constraint and examines approaches that increase the interests that may permissibly be defended as well as approaches that abandon proportionality altogether. Finally, this chapter maintains that the most perspicuous lens through which to view SYG laws is that of law enforcement because what SYG laws actually do is place citizens in the role of police. The justifiability of such enforcement authority turns, then, on two further questions. It must be appropriate for citizens to serve this function. But second, it must be appropriate for the state to stand its ground.
Introduction to machine and deep learning for medical physicists

Recent years have witnessed tremendous growth in the application of machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) techniques in medical physics. Embracing the current big data era, medical physicists equipped with these state-of-the-art tools should be able to solve pressing problems in modern radiation oncology. Here, a review of the basic aspects involved in ML/DL model building, including data processing, model training, and validation for medical physics applications is presented and discussed. Machine learning can be categorized based on the underlying task into supervised learning, unsupervised learning, or reinforcement learning; each of these categories has its own input/output dataset characteristics and aims to solve different classes of problems in medical physics ranging from automation of processes to predictive analytics. It is recognized that data size requirements may vary depending on the specific medical physics application and the nature of the algorithms applied. Data processing, which is a crucial step for model stability and precision, should be performed before training the model. Deep learning as a subset of ML is able to learn multilevel representations from raw input data, eliminating the necessity for hand crafted features in classical ML. It can be thought of as an extension of the classical linear models but with multilayer (deep) structures and nonlinear activation functions. The logic of going "deeper" is related to learning complex data structures and its realization has been aided by recent advancements in parallel computing architectures and the development of more robust optimization methods for efficient training of these algorithms. Model validation is an essential part of ML/DL model building. Without it, the model being developed cannot be easily trusted to generalize to unseen data. Whenever applying ML/DL, one should keep in mind, according to Amara's law, that humans may tend to overestimate the ability of a technology in the short term and underestimate its capability in the long term. To establish ML/DL role into standard clinical workflow, models considering balance between accuracy and interpretability should be developed. Machine learning/DL algorithms have potential in numerous radiation oncology applications, including automatizing mundane procedures, improving efficiency and safety of auto-contouring, treatment planning, quality assurance, motion management, and outcome predictions. Medical physicists have been at the frontiers of technology translation into medicine and they ought to be prepared to embrace the inevitable role of ML/DL in the practice of radiation oncology and lead its clinical implementation.
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk stratification in general medical patients at an academic medical center

Hospital-acquired venous thromboembolism (VTE) is still a concern for general medical patients. Pharmacologic prophylaxis can reduce VTE incidence, but there is the potential for adverse effects. Therefore, determining which patients should receive VTE prophylaxis via risk scoring tools is essential. Limited evidence exists for the ideal venous thromboembolism risk assessment model (RAM) in hospitalized medical patients, as compared to other hospitalized patient subgroups such as surgical patients. The primary objective was to investigate the utilization and appropriateness of our institution-based VTE RAM and comparison to the Padua Prediction Score (PPS). This would allow for a gauge of provider risk assessment accuracy as well as appropriate predictive potential of the PPS or whether an alternative to the PPS should be considered. A total of 330 adult general medicine patients were included in this retrospective chart review. When compared to our institution-based VTE RAM, providers predominately stratified patients at a higher VTE risk than the institution-based VTE RAM. VTE incidence was 0.3%, which was lower than predicted. Significant discordance exists between providers’ VTE risk assessment and that predicted by RAMs. Our institution-based VTE RAM appears comparable to PPS; however, it was not being utilized by providers, resulting in potentially unnecessary use of pharmacologic prophylaxis.
Recognizing Pain in Motor Imagery EEG Recordings Using Dynamic Functional Connectivity Graphs

The goal of this paper is to investigate whether motor imagery tasks, performed under pain-free versus pain conditions, can be discriminated from electroencephalography (EEG) recordings. Four motor imagery classes of right hand, left hand, foot, and tongue are considered. A functional connectivity-based feature extraction approach along with a long short-term memory (LSTM) classifier are employed for classifying pain-free versus under-pain classes. Moreover, classification is performed in different frequency bands to study the significance of each band in differentiating motor imagery data associated with pain-free and under-pain states. When considering all frequency bands, the average classification accuracy is in the range of 77:86−80:04%. Our frequency-specific analysis shows that the gamma band results in a notably higher accuracy than other bands, indicating the importance of this band in discriminating pain/no-pain conditions during the execution of motor imagery tasks. In contrast, functional connectivity graphs extracted from delta and theta bands do not seem to provide discriminatory information between pain-free and under-pain conditions. This is the first study demonstrating that motor imagery tasks executed under pain and without pain conditions can be discriminated from EEG recordings. Our findings can provide new insights for developing effective brain computer interface-based assistive technologies for patients who are in real need of them.
Transcatheter Patent Ductus Arteriosus Closure in Extremely Premature Infants

Abstract Transcatheter closure of the patent ductus arteriosus (TC-PDA) is feasible in very premature infants, as an alternative to surgical ligation when clinically indicated. TC-PDA can be performed with high procedural success and a low complication rate in these tiny infants, but there are unique considerations that differ from conventional TC-PDA in larger children and adults: The bedside or catheterization-laboratory environment should be optimized for the premature infant; an antegrade approach with complete avoidance of femoral arterial cannulation is recommended due to the very high associated morbidity; fluoroscopy is minimized, primarily guiding catheter and wire movement to reduce radiation exposure; and intraprocedural transthoracic echocardiography is the primary modality to assess device position and vascular obstruction. There are now numerous suitable devices, some of which have been approved for use in this particular patient population. We expect that there will be increasing adoption of TC-PDA as centers understand the procedural techniques, risks, and excellent outcomes that are summarized herein.
Soil biodegradation of cotton fabrics treated with common finishes

Cotton is one of the most widely used natural fibers available. However, to overcome some of its shortcomings, manufacturers have placed various finishes on cotton fabrics to improve wrinkle recovery, flame retardancy, anti-microbial behavior, water repellency, etc. This study measures the impact of common finishes on the biodegradability of 100% cotton fabrics in a soil laboratory environment. Under a controlled laboratory environment, cotton fabrics treated with 9 different finishing chemicals or chemical combinations were tested according to the standard test method, ASTM D5988-12, for up to 154 days. Results indicate crosslinked fibers show better protection from biodegradation when compared to the control fabric and non-crosslinked fabrics. The production of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a function of time was measured to determine the degree of biodegradation. Untreated cotton samples produced 2500 mg of CO2 after 154 days, approximately 40% more than that of the crosslinked treated fabric. Weightless studies showed the untreated fabrics and non-crosslinked finished having 40–60% weight loss after 154 days, while the crosslinked fabrics had unless than 20% weight loss over the same time period. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images were used to observe the visual degradation level for each sample showed certain treated fabrics showed a less evidence of cracking on the fiber surface along with less microorganism growth. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis showed that in general, treated fabrics with higher CO2 production and higher weight loss showed greater evidence of microorganism growth when analyzing peak bands typically associated with microorganism growth irreversibly bonded to the fibers.
IONM Troubleshooting in Spinal Procedures

A useful reference for practitioners of neuromonitoring that explains how to anticipate, avoid, and properly attend to technical problems that may arise while providing intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) in spinal procedures.
Contemporary Use of the Femoropopliteal Vein in Vascular Reconstructions.

Introduction Current practice patterns favor endovascular treatment, resulting in fewer open procedures. When needed, greater saphenous vein and/or prosthetic conduits are considered the first choice for open vascular bypass. However, there is a cohort of patients in which these conduits are either not available or not suitable to address the surgical requirements. One alternative is to use femoropopliteal vein (FPV), an often-overlooked conduit. We report on the contemporary use of FPV in a tertiary vascular institution. Methods All patients who underwent FPV harvest, as defined by CPT code 35572, between 2005 and 2019 were identified. Patient demographics (sex, age, baseline laboratory values, medical co-morbidities), indication for use of FPV, complications specific to vein harvest, operative details, post-operative course, and outcomes were recorded. Results Ninety patients had harvest of FPV for creation of 123 conduits. In this study, a conduit was defined as a segment of vein used to perfuse a distinctly separate vascular bed. We identified four cohorts in which FPV was used: aorto-iliac reconstruction in 38 patients for infected graft (19), occlusive disease (8), aortitis (5), mycotic aneurysm (5), and malignancy (1); peripheral artery revascularization in 26 patients for ilio-femoral reconstruction (15), femoropopliteal reconstruction (4), upper extremity/cerebrovascular reconstruction (6), and coronary bypass (1); mesenteric revascularization in 20 patients for acute or acute on chronic ischemia (12), chronic ischemia (7) or aneurysm (1); and dialysis access in 6 patients. There was a high incidence of pre-existing comorbid conditions in all groups, but most notably those patients who underwent aorto-iliac reconstruction. Harvest-related or conduit-related complications included compartment syndrome, graft-associated hemorrhage, surgical site infection, and lymphatic complications. Primary graft patency at 3 years was 83% ± 4% (aorto-iliac), 83% ± 6% (peripheral), 100% (mesenteric), and 23% ± 19% (dialysis access, P Conclusions While use of FPV has potential significant harvest-related, conduit-related, or systemic complications, FPV is useful for a variety of needs, almost universally available, and durable. In the current era where endovascular approach is the focus, FPV should not be forgotten as a potential conduit that can be used for a variety of vascular reconstruction indications.
Risk of Second Malignancies Following Treatment for Genitourinary Tumors

The advances in the diagnosis and theraphy of genitourinary cancers during the last two decades have significantly improved the prognosis and prolonged the survival of genitourinary cancer patients. The therapeutic success has been accompanied by concerns for long-term side-effects of treatments, including therapy-related second malignancies (Boyer and Raghavan 1992). Due to their low curability, most second cancers significantly compromise the prognosis of these patients, often nulliflying the success of curing the primary cancer.
Diagnostic errors of right lower quadrant pain in children: beyond appendicitis

Right lower quadrant pain in children can result from various underlying conditions other than acute appendicitis. The common mimics of acute appendicitis are related to acute gastrointestinal and genitourinary diseases. Diagnosis of right lower quadrant pain in the pediatric population can be challenging, especially when the symptoms are often nonspecific. This article reviews the currently available imaging techniques for evaluating a child with right lower quadrant pain and the spectrum of differential diagnoses with a focus on imaging clues to a specific diagnosis.
Laboratory Infrared Transmission Measurements of Interplanetary Dust and Implications for Remote Observations of Cosmic Particles

Laboratory infrared absorption spectra of interplanetary dust particles show that most fall into one of three spectral groups (1) designated as “pyroxenes”, “olivines”, and “hydrated silicates”.
The Contributions of Donald Lee Johnson to Understanding the Quaternary Geologic and Biogeographic History of the California Channel Islands

Abstract. Over a span of 50 years, native Californian Donald Lee Johnson made a number of memorable contributions to our understanding of the California Channel Islands. Among these are (1) recognizing that carbonate dunes, often cemented into eolianite and derived from offshore shelf sediments during lowered sea level, are markers of glacial periods on the Channel Islands; (2) identifying beach rock on the Channel Islands as the northernmost occurrence of this feature on the Pacific Coast of North America; (3) recognizing of the role of human activities in historic landscape modification; (4) identifying both the biogenic and pedogenic origins of caliche “ghost forests” and laminar calcrete forms on the Channel Islands; (5) providing the first soil maps of several of the islands, showing diverse pathways of pedogenesis; (6) pointing out the importance of fire in Quaternary landscape history on the Channel Islands, based on detailed stratigraphic studies; and (7), perhaps his greatest contribution, clarif...
Adenylate cyclase of Brevibacterium liquefaciens: Inactivation by neuraminidase, phospholipase A and phospholipase C

Summary A soluble adenylate cyclase of Brevibacterium liquefaciens was stimulated by DL-lactate as well as pyruvate. The purified enzyme stained positive with the periodate-Schiff reagent. Activation by the two metabolites was rapid and reversible, and was abolished by a preliminary incubation with neuraminidase, phospholipase C or phospholipase A. Neuraminidase and phospholipase C destroyed the response to pyruvate and lactate with similar kinetics, whereas phospholipase A affected the lactate response more than the pyruvate response. Loss of adenylate cyclase activity was not due to inhibition caused by products released by the three enzymes; neither was adenylate cyclase activity restored by the addition of sialic acid nor phosphoglycerides. These results suggest that adenylate cyclase activity is associated with a lipo-glycoprotein and that the enzyme may have been detached from the bacterial cell membrane.
Modeling spread of ideas in online social networks

Internet based online social networks collectively facilitate the spread of ideas. Hence, to understand how social networks evolve as a function of time, it is critical to learn the relationship between the information dissemination pathways or flows and the type of ideas being disseminated. We first classify the spread of ideas into two types based on their rate and nature of proliferation; fads and non-fads. A 'fad' refers to an idea that quickly becomes popular in a culture, remains popular for a brief period, and then loses popularity dramatically. We then model the information dissemination pathways for both these types of ideas. Our results indicate that the proliferation of information in a network strongly correlates with the the type of idea, the degree of participation of the nodes, and a node's availability i.e., presence. Further we derived that after reaching a certain saturation point, fad exhibits periodic spreading behavior implying that a fad rarely completely disappears from a network. We use data from an instant messaging network community to verify the proposed theoretical modeling framework.
Teaching Election Law

In the last couple years, new editions of the two most prominent election law casebooks have been released, and one entirely new casebook has been published. This is an opportune moment, then, both to review the volumes and to assess the state of the field. Fortunately, both are strong. All of the casebooks are well-organized, thorough in their coverage, and full of insightful commentary. And the field, at least as presented by the volumes, is impressively confident in its substantive and methodological choices. There is a high level of consensus as to both the subject areas that election law should include and the analytical methods that it should employ.Instructors looking to select a casebook thus are faced with an embarrassment of riches. Because all of the volumes are excellent, my suggestion is that instructors make their choice based on their own substantive and methodological inclinations. Those who are most interested in representational issues and in doctrinal context should select Issacharoff, Karlan, and Pildes. Those who wish to emphasize campaign finance and empirical political science should choose Lowenstein, Hasen, and Tokaji. And those who want to focus on democratic theory, history, and an unusually wide array of sources should pick Gardner and Charles. There is no going wrong here.
Centrin-based contractile fibers: chromatographic purification of centrin.

Publisher Summary Centrin is a component of an assortment of calcium-modulated cytoskeletal fiber systems found associated with flagellar basal apparatus, centrosomes, and mitotic spindle poles of eukaryotic cells. It is an acidic, low-molecular-weight, calcium-binding phosphoprotein that belongs to the EF-hand superfamily of calcium-binding proteins centrin-based systems include striated flagellar roots, transition zone fibers, fibrous bundles, and pericentriolar lattice. Centrin-based fibers play a role in anchoring the flagellar basal apparatus to the nucleus, in positioning of basal bodies and centrioles during the cell cycle, in severing microtubules at the time of flagellar excision, and in coiling the paraflagellar rod of transverse flagella. In this chapter is presented detailed methods for generating milligram quantities of pure centrin. These methods involve expression of a cDNA clone encoding Chlamydomonas centrin in Escherichia coli, and chromatographic purification of the expressed protein. The chromatographic method described works well for the purification of centrin from isolated Chlamydomonas flagella. The chapter discusses the construction of E. coli BL21 pT7-5Cen, induction and lysis of E. coli BL21 pT7-5Cen, phenyl-sepharose CLdB chromatography, superose-12 gel filtration chromatography, mono Q anion-exchange chromatography, and the troubleshooting methods. Problems encountered include inactive ampicillin, which may result in the selection and growth of bacteria that have lost the pT7-Zen plasmid; failure of transcription induction because of inactive Isopropylthio- β -glactoside (IPTG) or T7 promoter; induction of protein products that are larger or smaller than centrin because of improper bacterial transcription and/or translation; inefficient digestion of the bacterial cell wall with lysozyme; and inefficient binding of centrin to a fouled phenylsepharose column. To troubleshoot and assess the efficiency of the purification procedure, it is advised to prepare SDS-PAGE samples of E. coli BL21 pT7-5Cen before and after IPTG induction, whole-cell lysate following sonication, P1, S1, P2, S2, column voids, and column elution fractions.
Subthreshold MOSFET conduction model and optimal scaling for deep-submicron fully depleted SOI CMOS

In this paper we present results of a comprehensive study of the subthreshold characteristics of deep-submicron fully depleted SOI MOSFETs, and suggest optimal CMOS scaling rules based on PISCES simulations and two-dimensional analytic modeling for circuit simulation. Measurements reveal that the subthreshold swing S, which is nearly ideal at 60 mV for long-channel fully depleted devices, tends to increase drastically as L is scaled to deep-submicron values. Our previous study showed that the front-surface current contributes to the increased S via gate bias-dependent source/drain charge sharing, which reduces the effective threshold voltage. A more recent study shows that current throughout the SOI film body, including the back surface, tends to overwhelm the front-surface current in the subthreshold region, rendering the drain current less dependent on the front-gate bias and hence increasing S even more. >
Cheek pouch capacity in heteromyid rodents

Cheek pouch volumes (V in cm3) were positively and significantly related to body mass (M in g) in 12 species and 14 populations of heteromyid rodents by the relationship V=0.065 M0.887. When genera were considered separately, Microdipodops, Perognathus, and Thomomys conformed closely to the relationship, but Dipodomys did not. All species could obtain sufficient energy to meet their daily requirements from one maximum cheek pouch load, but the larger Dipodomys and Thomomys can carry a greater amount of energy relative to their needs. It is postulated that Thomomys and herbivorous Dipodomys conform to the relationship because they must transport food of low density and nutritional value; other Dipodomys, which feed on seeds of high density and greater nutritional worth, appear to have passed a threshold in size beyond which conformance to an allometric relationship is unnecessary. Thus, the two most important factors governing cheek pouch capacity are body mass and the density of the preferred food.
Materials science: purity rolled up in a tube.

Before carbon nanotubes can fulfil their potential in device applications, better ways must be found to produce pure samples of them. A promising approach involves wrapping them up in a shell of polymer.
The Politics of Illegal Dumping: An Environmental Justice Framework

Studies of the intersection between environmental hazards and community demographics have concluded that environmental inequality is prevalent in communities across the United States. While these studies offer persuasive indicators of environmental inequality, we still have little understanding of the social forces involved in the production of these unequal outcomes. Drawing on a case study of a community of color facing illegal dumping, I propose an environmental justice framework to explain the social dynamics that produced this outcome.
Analysis of Visible Radiative Properties of Vertically Aligned Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Finite-difference time-domain method is used to investigate the optical properties of vertical arrays of multi-walled carbon nanotubes. Individual carbon nanotubes are treated as solid circular cylinders with an effective dielectric tensor. Our results confirm that carbon nanotube arrays have extremely low reflectivity as observed in experiments. Compared with the commonly used Maxwell-Garnett theory, our calculations generally give larger reflectance and absorptance and smaller transmittance, which are attributed to the diffraction and scattering within the cylinder array structure. The effects of volume fraction, tube length, and incidence angle on radiative properties are investigated respectively. Low volume fraction and long tubes are more favorable to achieve low reflectance and high absorptance. The angular dependence study shows that there exists an optimum incidence angle at which the reflectance can be minimized, indicating that a small misalignment in carbon nanotube arrays can slightly enhance the absorptance. Our results also indicate that an even darker material could be achieved by using carbon nanotubes with good alignment on the top surface.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Is This the Orient

This paper is an experiment in applying Edward Said's notion of "human experience" to visual materials. Caan we avoid the polarizing structure of Orientalisrn by accessing "experience" and do visual images lend themselves to such an approach? Illustrated travel books from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century arc the basis of this study.
Capillary hemangiomas: case study of a novel laser treatment and a review of therapeutic options.

. Capillary (or strawberry) hemangiomas can present a difficult problem in management, and much controversy exists over whether it is better to watch and wait for natural involution, or to be more aggressive and attempt to prevent some of the negative potential sequelae. A case study of a neonate with a large, early macular capillary hemangioma of the head and neck successfully treated with the 585-nm pulsed dye laser is presented. In addition, a review of a number of treatments for more advanced lesions is presented. Modalities discussed include argon, carbon dioxide, and neodymium: YAG lasers; cryotherapy; local and systemic steroids; and surgical excision.
Detection of Toxigenic Clostridium difficile: Comparison of the Cell Culture Neutralization, Xpert C. difficile, Xpert C. difficile/Epi, and Illumigene C. difficile Assays

Clostridium difficile is the most important cause of nosocomial diarrhea. Several laboratory techniques are available to detect C. difficile toxins or the genes that encode them in fecal samples. We evaluated the Xpert C. difficile and Xpert C. difficile/Epi (Cepheid, CA) that detect the toxin B gene (tcdB) and tcdB, cdt, and a deletion in tcdC associated with the 027/NAP1/BI strain, respectively, by real-time PCR, and the Illumigene C. difficile (Meridian Bioscience, Inc.) that detects the toxin A gene (tcdA) by loop-mediated isothermal amplification in stool specimens. Toxigenic culture was used as the reference method for discrepant stool specimens. Two hundred prospective and fifty retrospective diarrheal stool specimens were tested simultaneously by the cell cytotoxin neutralization assay (CCNA) and the Xpert C. difficile, Xpert C. difficile/Epi, and Illumigene C. difficile assays. Of the 200 prospective stools tested, 10.5% (n = 23) were determined to be positive by CCNA, 17.5% (n = 35) were determined to be positive by Illumigene C. difficile, and 21.5% (n = 43) were determined to be positive by Xpert C. difficile and Xpert C. difficile/Epi. Of the 50 retrospective stools, previously determined to be positive by CCNA, 94% (n = 47) were determined to be positive by Illumigene C. difficile and 100% (n = 50) were determined to be positive by Xpert C. difficile and Xpert C. difficile/Epi. Of the 11 discrepant results (i.e., negative by Illumigene C. difficile but positive by Xpert C. difficile and Xpert C. difficile/Epi), all were determined to be positive by the toxigenic culture. A total of 21% of the isolates were presumptively identified by the Xpert C. difficile/Epi as the 027/NAP1/BI strain. The Xpert C. difficile and Xpert C. difficile/Epi assays were the most sensitive, rapid, and easy-to use assays for the detection of toxigenic C. difficile in stool specimens.