cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pancreatic Cancer Screening.

This review describes the rationale for pancreatic cancer screening, outlines groups that are at elevated risk for pancreatic cancer, and summarizes the relative risk in each setting. We also review the methods available for performing pancreatic cancer screening and the recommended screening intervals. Several genetic mutations have been identified that increase the risk for pancreatic cancer. Most are rare, however, and at-risk individuals are most often those with a strong family history of pancreatic cancer (with multiple family members affected) but no identifiable genetic mutation. Known genetic syndromes that increase the risk for pancreatic cancer include hereditary pancreatitis, familial atypical mole and multiple melanoma, Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, Lynch syndrome, BRCA mutations, and Li-Fraumeni syndrome. Genetic testing should be performed in conjunction with genetic counseling, and testing of an affected family member is preferred if possible.The goal of pancreatic cancer screening is to identify pancreatic cancer at an early, curable stage or, ideally, to identify precancerous lesions that can be resected to prevent the development of cancer. Imaging can be performed with either endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) or magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP). These techniques are generally considered to be complementary, although an advantage of EUS is that cysts or solid lesions can be sampled at the time of the procedure. Published results of small cohorts of high-risk patients in pancreatic cancer screening programs have demonstrated a high prevalence of small cystic lesions identified on EUS or MRCP, which often represent side-branch intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMN). Knowledge of conditions and syndromes that increase pancreatic cancer risk allows one to identify those patients that may benefit from pancreatic cancer screening. As we gather evidence from large, international, multicenter cohorts of patients at high-risk for pancreatic cancer who are undergoing screening and as our understanding of the genetic underpinnings of pancreatic cancer improve, recommendations on screening will continue to be refined.
P170 Correlating DSA with flow and cytometric crossmatch results: How old is too old?

Aim The goal of this study was to analyze crossmatch (XM) results among HLA DSA + patients, evaluating (1) locus-specific cutoffs, (2) additive effect of multiple DSA, and 3) confidence in XM prediction when single antigen testing is remote from XM. Methods 739 flow (FCXM) and cytotoxic XM (CDC) with known DSA were performed for routine clinical testing. FCXM >50 MCS (T cells) or 100 MCS (B cells) was considered positive, >200 MCS strongly positive. HLA antibodies were measured by single antigen.We used single DSA in same sample as the XM to “fit” the prediction model (MFI vs. median channel shift (MCS)), then evaluated multiple DSA and DSA in the most recent (but not the same) serum. Results When detected in the same serum used for XM, the MFI of DSA to HLA-A, B and DRB1 showed linear correlation with both FCXM and CDC. 83% of XM with Class I DSA 15,000 MFI were always resulted in strong positive FCXM and CDC. For HLA-B DSA, 76.9% at 3,000–5,000 MFI resulted in positive T FCXM, compared with only 37.5% of DSA to HLA-A. Antibodies to HLA-Aw4/Bw4/6 epitopes, or homozygous antigens, had a much lower threshold for positive T-FCXM. Only 33.3% of C DSA >5,000 resulted in positive T FCXM, compared with 100% of A and B. 100% of DSA to HLA-DR >3,000 MFI resulted in positive B-FCXM. For DQ DSA 8,000 MFI, 87.5% were positive. DSA to DP had an even higher MFI threshold to cause a positive FCXM (>10,000 MFI). Single DQ or DP DSA, even >15,000 MFI, were rarely positive in CDC. If either the highest, average or sum of multiple DSA I >5,000 MFI, 100% of T FCXM were positive. If the highest DSA was >10,000 MFI, FCXM were always strong. In general, the sum of the DSA was a better predictor of XM than average or iDSA. If DSA was detected within 3 months of the XM, results trended very similarly to when DSA was measured in the same serum. However, 18.5% of patients whose DSA was detected within 6 months of XM, and 24.3% whose DSA was seen more than 6 months prior, showed sufficient variation in DSA MFI over time to cause inaccurate XM prediction. Conclusions Risk assessment and donor selection are done to the best of the lab’s ability with available information at the time of organ offer. Solid phase antibody testing less frequently than semiannually risks inaccurate XM prediction due to fluctuation in DSA strength.
Development of a Patient Decision Aid for Syncope in the Emergency Department: the SynDA Tool.

Objectives The objective was to develop a patient decision aid (DA) to promote shared decision making (SDM) for stable, alert patients who present to the emergency department (ED) with syncope. Methods Using input from patients, clinicians, and experts in the field of syncope, health care design, and SDM, we created a prototype of a paper-based DA to engage patients in the disposition decision (admission vs. discharge) after an unremarkable ED evaluation for syncope. In phase 1, we conducted one-on-one semistructured exploratory interviews with 10 emergency physicians and 10 ED syncope patients. In phase 2, we conducted one-on-one directed interviews with 15 emergency care clinicians, five cardiologists, and 12 ED syncope patients to get detailed feedback on DA content and design. We iteratively modified the aid using feedback from each interviewee until clarity and usability had been optimized. Results The 11 × 17-inch, paper-based DA, titled SynDA, includes four sections: 1) explanation of syncope, 2) explanation of future risks, 3) personalized 30-day risk estimate, and 4) disposition options. The personalized risk estimate is calculated using a recently published syncope risk-stratification tool. This risk estimate is stated in natural frequency and graphically displayed using a 100-person color-coded pictogram. Patient-oriented questions are included to stimulate dialogue between patient and clinician. At the end of the development process, patient and physician participants expressed satisfaction with the clarity and usability of the DA. Conclusions We iteratively developed an evidence-based DA to facilitate SDM for alert syncope patients after an unremarkable ED evaluation. Further testing is required to determine its effects on patient care. This DA has the potential to improve care for syncope patients and promote patient-centered care in emergency medicine.
Citrus in the World Food Outlook

GOALS. You invited me to develop two sub-topics relative to citrus in the world food outlook. The first and shorter is to update the speech delivered to your association in this auditorium three years ago.2 The second, to which more emphasis is to be given, is to discuss selected important citribusiness issues in such detail and at a sufficiently high level of generalization to provide perspective for your long-range profit planning as you develop products featuring adequate technology for citribusiness here and abroad.Paper published with permission.Compilation Copyright © 2018 ASME
In vitro and in vivo evaluation of etoposide - silk wafers for neuroblastoma treatment

Abstract High-risk neuroblastoma requires surgical resection and multi-drug chemotherapy. This study aimed to develop an extended release, implantable and degradable delivery system for etoposide, commonly used for neuroblastoma treatment. Different concentrations of silk, a biodegradable, non-toxic, non-immunogenic material were employed to prepare etoposide-loaded wafer formulations. Secondary structure of silk in the formulations was characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and optimized based on the crystalline structure. Accelerated in vitro degradation studies under different conditions such as acidic, alkaline, oxidizing mediums and high temperature, were performed. The integrity of the silk wafer structure was maintained unless exposed to 0.1 N NaOH for 24 h. In vitro release of etoposide was performed in PBS (phosphate buffered saline) at 37 °C. Silk coated 6% wafers released the drug up to 45 days, while uncoated wafers released the drug for 30 days. Cytotoxicity study was performed on KELLY cells to evaluate the etoposide cytotoxicity (LC50) and the long-term efficacy of the etoposide wafer formulations. The results showed that etoposide killed 50% of the cells at 1 μg/mL concentration and the wafer formulations demonstrated significant cytotoxicity up to 22 days when compared to untreated cells. Using an orthotopic neuroblastoma mouse model, intra-tumoral implantation of the coated 6%, uncoated 6%, or uncoated 3% silk wafers were all effective at decreasing tumor growth. Histological examination revealed tumor cell necrosis adjacent to the drug-loaded silk wafer.
Healing of elderly patients with diabetic foot ulcers, venous stasis ulcers, and pressure ulcers.

Although elderly patients have physiologic impairments in wound healing, their wounds should be expected to heal with the same frequency of closure as those in younger populations, albeit at a slower rate. However, compared to the general population, the elderly population has a higher incidence of chronic wounds: diabetic foot ulcers, pressure ulcers, and venous stasis ulcers. Experimental and clinical data indicate physiologically impaired healing is characterized by decreased angiogenesis and synthesis of critical growth factors. Further, compared to younger populations, the elderly have a higher rate of mortality associated with specific morbidities, such as sepsis and acute respiratory distress. As these morbidities may develop directly from the wound, early intervention is mandated. In this report, 40 consecutive elderly patients (65-102 years old) with chronic wounds were analyzed. All patients were provided the same treatment protocol and healing was defined as 100% epithelization and no drainage. Despite the wounds presenting in a nonhealing and/or infected state, 73% of these chronic wounds in elderly patients healed. This suggests that elderly patients with diabetic foot ulcers, pressure ulcers, and venous stasis ulcers close their wounds at a similar frequency as younger patients. Therefore, early intervention and comprehensive treatment that includes safe topical therapies, in addition to growth factors and cellular therapy used for chronic wounds, ensure these patients will be spared the morbidities of pain, amputation, osteomyelitis, and even death. We hypothesize that if all elderly patients with chronic wounds are provided early treatment, morbidities (e.g., amputation, sepsis, pain) and associated costs will decrease.
Physiological hypercortisolemia increases proteolysis, glutamine, and alanine production.

Physiological elevations of plasma cortisol levels, as are encountered in stress and severe trauma, were produced in six normal subjects by infusing them with 140 micrograms.kg-1.h-1 of hydrocortisone for 64 h. Amino acid kinetics were measured in the postabsorptive state using three 4-h infusions of L-[1-13C]leucine, L-[phenyl-2H5]-phenylalanine, L-[2-15N]glutamine, and L-[1-13C]alanine tracers 1) before, 2) at 12 h, and 3) at 60 h of cortisol infusion. Before and throughout the study, the subjects ate a normal diet of adequate protein (0.8 g.kg-1.day-1) and energy intake. The cortisol infusion raised plasma cortisol levels significantly from 10 +/- 1 to 32 +/- 4 micrograms/dl, leucine flux from 83 +/- 3 to 97 +/- 3 mumol.kg-1.h-1, and phenylalanine flux from 34 +/- 1 to 39 +/- 1 (SE) mumol.kg-1.h-1 after 12 h of cortisol infusion. These increases were maintained until the cortisol infusion was terminated (64 h). These nearly identical 15% increases in two different essential amino acid appearance rates are reflective of increased whole body protein breakdown. Glutamine flux rose from 325 +/- 28 to 453 +/- 28 mumol.kg-1.h-1 by 12 h of cortisol infusion and remained elevated at the same level at 64 h. The increase in flux was primarily due to a 55% increase in glutamine de novo synthesis. Alanine flux increased from 207 +/- 13 to 285 +/- 23 mumol.kg-1.h-1 with acute hypercortisolemia and increased further to 475 +/- 59 mumol.kg-1.h-1 at 60 h of cortisol infusion, a result primarily of increased alanine de novo synthesis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Lateralization and Intrahemispheric Localization of Language and Memory During Surgical Therapy of Epilepsy

The indications for resections for medically intractable epilepsy include not only the identification of an epileptic focus, but also that the focus be in what Penfield called “dispensible” brain (Penfield and Jasper 1954), that is brain the removal of which is unlikely to lead to a new functional deficit. In practice, this generally means that the focus is not in areas essential for language, that the homologous area of the opposite hemisphere is functionally in-tact, and if the focus is in Rolandic cortex, the patient is willing to accept a sensorimotor deficit, or already has one. For the most common of the resections for epilepsy, in temporal lobe, the functionally essential areas that must be avoided are those for language and recent verbal memory. Areas essential for language provide a posterior limit to temporal lobectomy in the dominant hemisphere. Substantial recent verbal memory deficits have been present in several series of dominant hemisphere temporal lobectomies (Novelly et al. 1984; Rausch and Crandall 1982); indeed it has been suggested that this operation should not be considered for patients whose occupations depend on facile memory (Delgado-Escueta et al. 1983). This chapter reviews the organization of language and memory in the human brain, with particular emphasis on organization in temporal lobe. The techniques used by the author’s group for identifying areas essential for language and memory in individual patients are then discussed.
Medicalized Screens from the Cold War to the Social Web

The discovery of x-rays in the late nineteenth century made visual analysis of medicalized screens central to the practice of medicine. Until recently, however, medicine’s visual culture was defined by two distinct and separate types of screens: clinical-facing screens, displaying images to doctors, and consumer-facing screens, displaying images to the general public. The explosion of digital health technologies in the early twenty-first century has challenged this division, as well as the underlying premise that the content on these screens should be segmented according to audience, with access to clinical screens restricted to credentialed medical professionals. By opening up access to formerly closed sources of information, the social web has become a dynamic force in the convergence of clinical- and consumer-facing screens. In twenty-first century telehealth applications and entertainment television, screen-based media emphasize the aesthetic of realism to accomplish their effects through multi-platform, transmedia storytelling. By examining how the concept of objectivity functions across clinical and non-clinical spaces, this essay will explain how the evolution of medicalized screens since the middle of the twentieth century has transformed the production of medical knowledge and redefined the role of technology in popular representations of healthcare. Through an archaeology of medical media from the mid-twentieth century to the present, the essay will show that the source of medical realism and objectivity has shifted from the hospital setting to the screen itself, thereby reducing the human dimensions of the patient to digital signals and decontextualized data points.
Total phosphorus analyses: is the convenience of automated inline-UV digestion robust enough for freshwater nutrient monitoring?

Child AW, Moore BC. 2019. Total phosphorus analyses: is the convenience of automated inline-UV digestion robust enough for freshwater nutrient monitoring? Lake Reserve Manage. 35:140–147Phosphorus ...
Primary cell culture of adult zebrafish spinal neurons for electrophysiological studies.

Abstract Background Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are growing in popularity as a vertebrate model organism for the study of spinal neurocircuitry and locomotion. While many studies have used the zebrafish model system for electrophysiological analyses in embryonic and larval stages, there is a growing interest in studying spinal circuits and neurons from adult fish. New Method To expand upon the existing toolset available to the zebrafish research community, we have developed the first primary cell culture system of adult zebrafish spinal neurons. The intact spinal cord is dissected, and neurons are isolated through enzymatic digestion and mechanical dissociation. Identifiable neurons are viable for electrophysiological analyses after two days in culture. Results Spinal neurons in culture were confirmed by immunofluorescence labeling and found to exhibit distinct morphologies from other cell types, allowing neurons to be identified based on morphology alone. Neurons were suitable for calcium imaging and whole cell patch clamp recordings, which revealed excitable cells with voltage-gated whole cell currents, including tetrodotoxin-sensitive sodium currents. Comparison with Existing Methods This primary cell culture system is the only methodology available to isolate neurons from the adult zebrafish spinal cord. Other methods rely on keeping the spinal cord intact or the utilization of embryonic or larval stage fish. This method provides a robust platform for use in neurophysiological and pharmacological studies. Conclusions The novel primary cell culture system described here provides the first in vitro methodology available to isolate and culture neurons from the adult zebrafish spinal cord for use in electrophysiological analyses.
What Determines Debt Maturity

What determines the maturity structure of debt? In this article, I develop a simple model to explore how the optimal maturity of debt issued by a firm (or a country) depends both on the firm?s cyclical state and other features of the economic environment in which it operates. I find that firms with better current earnings and better growth prospects issue debt with longer maturity, while firms operating in more-volatile environments issue debt with shorter maturity. Yield to maturity is a poor indicator of the risk of debt issued by a firm. The reason is simple: Yield to maturity captures both default risk and a component that is a pseudo term premium. In the model, the market does require a term premium and one appears only because of the risk of default. It is not possible to separate the impact of maturity and risk.
Acute Cellular Rejection Early after Heart Transplantation Does Not Reduce Exercise Capacity in the First Year

Background Early graft dysfunction after orthotopic heart transplantation is associated with worse survival and functional outcomes. However, the prognostic implication of acute cellular rejection (ACR) early after transplant is less well defined. Here, we analyzed the association between early ACR and post-transplant exercise capacity. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of all heart transplant patients who underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) within a year of transplant at a single large academic center between 2000 and 2011. Early ACR was defined as cellular grade 2R or 3R histopathology seen on biopsy within 3 months of transplant. Exercise capacity was assessed during CPET by 1) peak VO2 and 2) total exercise time. CPET performed prior to diagnosis of rejection were excluded. The association between early ACR or grade of ACR and exercise parameters was analyzed using linear regression. Results A total of 230 patients (median age 55 [IQR 45-61], 79.6% male) who received a heart transplantation at our institution between 2000 and 2011 underwent CPET during the 1st year. Of these, 12% (n=40) developed early grade 2R rejection and 5% (n=12) developed early grade 3R rejection. No antibody mediated rejection (including hyperacute) was seen in this timeframe among patients who later underwent CPET. Neither peak VO2 (p=0.95) nor total exercise time (p=0.54) were predicted by early ACR of any grade. Conclusions Early cellular rejection does not predict worse exercise capacity in the first year after heart transplant. This inference is limited to patients who are able to undergo CPET.
Joint Vessel Segmentation and Deformable Registration on Multi-Modal Retinal Images Based on Style Transfer

In multi-modal retinal image registration task, there are two major challenges, i.e., poor performance in finding correspondence due to inconsistent features, and lack of labeled data for training learning-based models. In this paper, we propose a joint vessel segmentation and deformable registration model based on CNN for this task, built under the framework of weakly supervised style transfer learning and perceptual loss. In vessel segmentation, a style loss guides the model to generate segmentation maps that look authentic, and helps transform images of different modalities into consistent representations. In deformable registration, a content loss helps find dense correspondence for multi-modal images based on their consistent representations, and improves the segmentation results simultaneously. Experiment results show that our model has better performance than other deformable registration methods in both quantitative and visual evaluations, and the segmentation results also help the rigid transformation.1
Scaling out speculative execution of finite-state machines with parallel merge

A finite-state machine (FSM) is a key component for many important applications, such as Huffman decoding, regular expression matching and HTML tokenization. Due to its inherent dependencies and unpredictable memory access pattern, FSM computations are considered to be extremely difficult to parallelize. As such, significant research efforts have been made to accelerate FSM computations. Although they achieve promising performance results on multi-core machines, these methods are not scalable for emerging many-core architectures such as the GPUs. Based on our experiments, we point out that the bottleneck of achieving scalability on GPUs is the sequential merge inherent to these methods. However, unlike the case for simple reduction loops, parallel merge implementations for FSM computations typically require runtime checks and re-executions, which can also impede performance. Based on these observations, we develop parallel merge techniques that select efficient runtime check implementations and avoids unnecessary re-executions. Further, based on GPU architectural features, we develop optimization techniques to improve performance. We evaluate our parallel merge implementations on a set of representative algorithms. Experimental results show that our parallel merge implementations are 2.02-6.74 times more efficient than corresponding sequential merge implementations and achieve better scalability on an Nvidia V100 GPU.
A Statistical Method for Constructing Tang Poet Social Networks

Existing scholarship on Tang Poetry often focuses on linguistics or the cultural and social impact of selected poets. In this paper, a method was developed for constructing a Tang poet network based on natural language processing and statistical graphical learning. The proposed method used Tang poems from Quan Tang Shi as the data source and contained a few major steps: disambiguate poet names via China Biographical Database, build a document-poet matrix, and infer Tang poet networks via Poisson Graphical Lasso. The inferred Tang poet networks were then evaluated and discussed. The Tang poet networks constructed in this study will benefit humanity scholars and poetry lovers alike, and the method developed can, with minor modifications, be reused by other scholars with similar research interests in Chinese literature.
Phase I study of rucaparib and irinotecan in advanced solid tumors with homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) mutations.

3513Background: Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPi) are approved for multiple tumor types with HRD mutations. In efforts to prolong durations of response, combination treatments of PARP...
Steady-state stimulated Raman generation and filamentation using complex vector vortex beams

Stimulated Raman scattering and laser filamentation produced using nanosecond pulsed complex vector vortex beams (CVVB) are investigated in a 20 cm long methanol cell. The CVVB is generated using q-plates and is tested at orbital angular momentum (L) values of 1, 2, 3, and 4 and circular, radial, and azimuthal polarizations. The results illustrate that the stability and intensity of the generated stimulated Raman has dependence on input polarization and L value. During filamentation, the beam is also shown to break up into multiple primary filaments and that there is a reduction in small-scale filamentation when using CVVBs.
NuMorph: tools for cellular phenotyping in tissue cleared whole brain images

Abstract Tissue clearing methods allow every cell in the mouse brain to be imaged without physical sectioning. However, the computational tools currently available for cell quantification in cleared tissue images have been limited to counting sparse cell populations in stereotypical mice. Here we introduce NuMorph, a group of image analysis tools to quantify all nuclei and nuclear markers within the mouse cortex after tissue clearing and imaging by a conventional light-sheet microscope. We applied NuMorph to investigate a Topoisomerase 1 (Top1) conditional knockout mouse model with severe brain structure deficits and identified differential effects of Top1 deletion on cortical cell-types and structures that were associated with spatial patterns of long gene expression. These tools are applicable for the study of 3D cellular level structural deficits in brains from other animal models of neuropsychiatric disorders.
Virtual Outreach: Lessons from a Coding Club's Response to COVID-19

Undergraduate students at Michigan State University (MSU) have offered Spartan Girls Who Code (SGWC) clubs on the MSU campus for three spring semesters. Marketed to 6th-12th graders who identify as female, SGWC aims to (1) introduce participants to the fundamentals of computing, (2) contextualize computing in modern life, (3) improve participants' confidence and attitudes toward computing, and (4) foster an inclusive, supportive, and welcoming learning environment. Toward these ends, MSU students serve as near-peer mentors, guiding participants in active learning, collaborative learning, project-based learning and culturally-relevant computing activities. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, SGWC was forced to abruptly transition to virtual meetings after the first five in-person meetings of the spring 2020 session. Club attendance fell in the immediate wake of Michigan public school closures by about 50%. But retention and morale of those who attended the first virtual session was high. Moreover, feedback from those who completed SGWC and their parents indicate overall satisfaction with the virtual adaptation of SGWC and support that it was successful in achieving its goals. This paper highlights lessons distilled over the course of SGWC's transition to a virtual format. Our goal is to provide a vision for the post-pandemic role of out-of-school time coding clubs in the diversification and development of future computer scientists.
Clustered Hierarchical Anomaly and Outlier Detection Algorithms.

Anomaly and outlier detection in datasets is a long-standing problem in machine learning. In some cases, anomaly detection is easy, such as when data are drawn from well-characterized distributions such as the Gaussian. However, when data occupy high-dimensional spaces, anomaly detection becomes more difficult. We present CLAM (Clustered Learning of Approximate Manifolds), a fast hierarchical clustering technique that learns a manifold in a Banach space defined by a distance metric. CLAM induces a graph from the cluster tree, based on overlapping clusters determined by several geometric and topological features. On these graphs, we implement CHAODA (Clustered Hierarchical Anomaly and Outlier Detection Algorithms), exploring various properties of the graphs and their constituent clusters to compute scores of anomalousness. On 24 publicly available datasets, we compare the performance of CHAODA (by measure of ROC AUC) to a variety of state-of-the-art unsupervised anomaly-detection algorithms. Six of the datasets are used for training. CHAODA outperforms other approaches on 14 of the remaining 18 datasets.
Privacy at Risk: The New Government Surveillance and the Fourth Amendment

Without our consent and often without our knowledge, the government can constantly monitor many of our daily activities, using closed circuit TV, global positioning systems, and a wide array of other sophisticated technologies. With just a few keystrokes, records containing our financial information, phone and e-mail logs, and sometimes even our medical histories can be readily accessed by law enforcement officials. As Christopher Slobogin explains in "Privacy at Risk", these intrusive acts of surveillance are subject to very little regulation. Applying the Fourth Amendment's prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures, Slobogin argues that courts should prod legislatures into enacting more meaningful protection against government overreaching. In setting forth a comprehensive framework meant to preserve rights guaranteed by the Constitution without compromising the government's ability to investigate criminal acts, Slobogin offers a balanced regulatory regime that should intrigue everyone concerned about privacy rights in the digital age.
OP64 – 2760: Oligoclonal bands predict multiple sclerosis in children with isolated optic neuritis

Background Isolated optic neuritis (ON) in childhood may remain a single episode or mark the clinical beginning of multiple sclerosis (MS). Higher age and pathological cranial MRI (cMRI) at presentation were previously demonstrated as independent risk factors of conversion to MS. Objective To further evaluate potential MS risk factors, including cerebrospinal fluid findings (CSF), in children with ON as a first demyelinating event. Methods Children with isolated uni- or bilateral ON as a first demyelinating event below age 18 were included in this retrospective multicenter cohort study. The minimal follow-up (FU) for those not converting to MS according to McDonald 2010 was 2 years. Age, sex, laterality of ON, cMRI (no vs ≥1 MS-compatible lesion outside the optic nerves) and intrathecal oligoclonal IgG bands (OCB) were assessed as risk factors using simple and multiple Cox proportional-hazards regressions. Results Of 357 included children 284 had uni- and 73 bilateral isolated ON. Median FU of patients not developing MS was 4.2 years (range 2.0–22.0). Univariate analyses revealed age (HR 1.15, 95% CI 1.10–1.22, p Conclusion Cerebrospinal fluid analysis may supplement cMRI to determine the risk of MS in children with isolated ON as a first demyelinating event.
Multiplanar MDCT measurement of esophageal hiatus surface area: association with hiatal hernia and GERD.

Accurate measurement of esophageal hiatus size is clinically important, especially when antireflux surgery is planned. We present a novel method for in vivo measurement of esophageal hiatal surface area using MDCT multiplanar reconstruction. We aimed to determine whether large hiatal area is associated with hiatal hernia and gastroesophageal reflux disease. We retrospectively analyzed subjects prospectively enrolled in the COPDGene® project. We created two test groups, one with hiatal hernia on chest CT and one with GERD on medical treatment identified by history without hernia. Matched control groups were formed. We performed CT postprocessing to define the double-oblique plane of the esophageal hiatus, on which the hiatal surface area is manually traced. Subjects with hernia (n = 48) had larger mean hiatus areas than matched controls (6.9 vs. 2.5 cm2, p < 0.0001), and were more likely to have GERD (42 vs. 10 %, p < 0.0005). Subjects with mixed (type III) hernias had larger hiatuses compared to subjects with sliding (type I) hernias, who, in turn, had larger hiatuses than subjects without hernia (p < 0.0001). Hernia-negative subjects with GERD (n = 55) did not have significantly larger mean hiatal areas compared to matched controls (3.0 vs. 2.5 cm2, p = 0.12). Twenty measurements obtained by two radiologists showed correlation of 0.93, with mean difference of 0.5 cm2 (p = 0.20). We devised a method to measure in vivo esophageal hiatal surface area using MDCT reconstruction and established the normal size range for the first time. This methodology has the potential to guide decision-making in antireflux surgery technique preoperatively, and assess surgical result postoperatively. The presence of hernia correlated with large hiatuses and GERD. However, hiatal area failed to identify those with GERD in the absence of hiatal hernia.
Replication of Variola Virus in Suspended Cultures of Mammalian Cells

The studies reported here describe the successful propagation of variola virus in spinner cultures of mammalian cells, and the factors which influence its growth. Five established cell lines were used for the propagation of variola virus in a spinner culture system. Low doses of virus did initiate an infection but virus yields did not approach those obtained when an intermediate inoculum was used. Although the nonviable cell population remained low during the course of infection with an intermediate amount of virus, with an inoculum of 105 infectious units per ml or higher, the percentage of nonviable cells increased rapidly and by the sixth day after infection the population was totally nonviable. Intracellular replication of variola virus occurred early and rapidly in a spinner culture of guinea pig lung cells, whereas the liberation of virus into the suspending medium was a more gradual process. Several complete medium changes tend to maintain a suitable environment for the infected cell culture resulting in fairly high and constant viral titers over a period of 7 days.
Consequences of copper deficiency are not differentially influenced by carbohydrate source in young pigs fed a dried skim milk-based diet.

Carbohydrates (CHO) such as fructose (FR) or sucrose, but not starch (ST), aggravate the consequences of dietary copper (Cu) deficiency in rats. To evaluate whether this Cu×CHO interaction is pertinent to human health, the pig was used as an animal model. In two studies, 66 weanling pigs were fed dried skim milk (DSM)-based diets for 10 wk with 20% of the total calories provided as either FR, glucose, or ST and containing either deficient (1.0–1.3 μg/g diet) or adequate (7.1 μg/g) levels of Cu. Plasma and tissue levels of Cu, the activities of plasma ceruloplasmin ferroxidase and erythrocyte Cu, Zn-superoxide dismutase, and hematocrits were lower (p<0.05) in animals fed Cu-deficient diets. The relative cardiac mass of all Cu-deficient groups was greater (p<0.05) than that of animals fed Cu-adequate diets. These effects were in general unaffected by type of CHO. For comparison, weaned male rats were also fed DSM-based containing diets ST or FR with adequate or deficient Cu for as long as 10 wk. Rats consuming the Cu-deficient diets were characterized by significantly lower hematocrits, decreased tissue Cu levels, and enlarged hearts, regardless of the CHO source. Together, these data demonstrate that DSM-based diets are not suitable for delineation of potential Cu×CHO interactions, and one or more components of DSM may exacerbate the consequences of dietary Cu deficiency.
Whither the Race: A Comment on the Effects of the Delawarization of Corporate Reorganizations

Recent empirical work has demonstrated that large, publicly held firms tend to file for bankruptcy in Delaware. In our previous work, we have documented this trend, and argued that it may be efficient for prepackaged bankruptcies, while it unclear if it is efficient for traditional Chapter 11 cases. In this piece, we respond to LoPucki and Kalin's assertion that Delaware bankruptcy court performs worse than others. They base this claim on the observation that firms that file for bankruptcy in Delaware are more likely to file for bankruptcy a second time than are firms that file in another jurisdiction. We demonstrate a number of problems with their analysis. These include that: they have failed to offer a robust definition of what constitutes a successful reorganization; they do not adequately justify focusing narrowly on refiling rates; and that a substantial number of firms drop out of their sample which may adversely affect their results. Moreover, contrary to their assumption, we also show that there may be an optimal refiling rate that is above zero. In any given case, there may be a trade off between resolving the case quickly and the risk of a subsequent filing. We conclude that, while their results are provocative, there remains much more work to be done before strong implications can be drawn from them.
Behavioral Study of Circular Tubular Beam-Columns

A parametric study of welded steel circular beam-columns is presented to assess the effect of residual stresses and the degree of end restraint on member behavior. The effect of external hydrostatic pressure on strength is also considered. Ultimate load capacities are determined by a general purpose beam-column program that provides the option of incorporating longitudinal residual stress patterns and nonlinear configuration of stress-strain relationships. A comparison is made between interaction diagrams developed with and without considering residual stresses for various end moment and fixity conditions. Analytical results are also compared with the AISC interaction equations for ultimate conditions.
Regulation of Glutamine Synthetase II. Patterns of Feedback Inhibition in Microorganisms

The feedback inhibition of glutamine synthetase was investigated by use of partially purified enzyme preparations from Salmonella typhimurium, Micrococcus sodonensis, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus licheniformis, Clostridium pasteurianum, Rhodospirillum rubrum, Neurospora crassa, Candida utilis, and Chlorella pyrenoidosa. Inhibition analyses indicated that the enzyme of each organism can be effectively regulated with mixtures of end products from the diverse pathways of glutamine metabolism. When tested individually, tryptophan, histidine, alanine, glycine, glutamine, 5'-adenylate (AMP), cytidine-5'-triphosphate, carbamyl phosphate, and glucosamine-6-phosphate gave limited inhibition. In most cases, the inhibitors were independent in their action, and cumulative degrees of inhibition were obtained with mixtures of these end products. In contrast, with the glutamine synthetases of the two Bacillus species, the simultaneous presence of AMP and histidine (or AMP and glutamine) gave inhibition greater than the sum of the amounts of inhibition caused by either inhibitor alone. Also, alanine and carbamyl phosphate acted synergistically to inhibit the enzyme from N. crassa. The remarkable similarity in the overall patterns of end-product inhibition observed with the enzymes from different sources indicates that these diverse organisms have evolved comparable mechanisms for the regulation of glutamine metabolism. Nevertheless, the enzymes from different sources do differ significantly in their physical and catalytic properties, as was demonstrated by dissimilarities in their purification behaviors, specificity for nucleotide substrate, ability to catalyze the glutamyl transfer reaction, and ability to utilize Mn(++) and Mg(++) as activators for the biosynthetic reaction.
Replacement of glutamic acid 29 with glutamine leads to a loss of cooperativity for AMP with porcine fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase.

Mutations in the AMP binding site of porcine fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase were carried out by site-specific mutagenesis based on the crystal structure of the enzyme (Ke, H., Zhang, Y., and Lipscomb, W.L. (1990) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 87, 5243-5247). The mutant and wild-type enzymes were characterized by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, circular dichroism spectrometry, and initial rate kinetics. One of the mutant forms of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, Glu-29-->Gln, is ligated to the phosphoryl moiety of AMP, a potent inhibitor of the reaction, whereas the other mutant, Thr-31-->Val, is associated with the purine base of AMP. No discernible alteration in structure as measured by circular dichroism spectrometry was noted for the mutants relative to the wild-type enzyme. As expected, major changes in kinetic parameters between the mutants and the wild-type enzyme were associated with inhibition by AMP. AMP, a competitive inhibitor with respect to Mg2+ in the fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase reaction, exhibits cooperativity in the case of the wild-type and the mutant Thr-31-->Val enzymes with a Hill coefficient of 2.0. On the other hand, cooperativity is completely lost in the case of Glu-29-->Gln fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase.
A telephonic-based trial to reduce depressive symptoms among Latina breast cancer survivors.

Objective Greater mental health symptomatology of Latina breast cancer (LBC) patients along with the paucity of intervention trials to reduce distress underscores the scientific and practice gaps in comprehensive care. This trial investigated the effect of a paraprofessionally delivered, telephonic-based psycho-educational intervention on depressive symptoms among LBC patients. Methods Latina breast cancer patients were recruited from the California Cancer Registry, hospital registries, and support groups. Participants were randomly assigned to the intervention or control condition. The primary outcome was level of depressive symptoms as measured by the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale. Results One hundred ninety-nine LBC patients (84 English language preferred and 115 Spanish language preferred) participated. The overall trial outcomes demonstrated a statistically significant decrease in depressive symptoms among LBC patients in the intervention condition compared with LBC patients in the control condition, after controlling for depressive symptoms at T1 and language (p < 0.05). At follow-up, 63% of intervention LBC patients reported at least a five-point decrease in symptoms compared with 26% of control LBC patients (p < 0.05). English language-preferred and Spanish language-preferred LBC patients in the intervention condition showed approximately an eight-point mean decrease in depressive symptoms from baseline (M = 23.5 and M = 26.6, respectively) to follow-up (M = 15.7 and M = 18.4, respectively) (p < 0.001), whereas those in the control condition showed no significant change. Conclusions Results demonstrate the effectiveness of a culturally responsive, paraprofessionally delivered intervention to reduce depressive symptoms among LBC patients. Therefore, community oncology practices can affiliate with trained paraprofessionals to implement mental health services to address distress among our growing and increasingly ethnically, linguistically, and economically diverse oncology patient population. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Gari Processing in Edo North: A Cottage Industry Window into the Past

House-hold level cassava processing in Edo North continues today in many villages with non-mechanized methods for grinding, pressing and cooking to make gari. In Akoko-Edo villages, these gari-making methods and the food-making work areas involve traditional processes and some modern materials. Images are presented illustrating manual cassava processing and gari production. The conservation of some processing methods may reflect root crop collection and processing that pre-dates cassava introduction these areas. Work areas, manual tools and family roles and activities are examined to offer general insights into early food-making history in Southwestern Nigeria.
Inflectional domains and Comp features

Abstract In this paper I argue for a typology of morphosyntactic relations between verbs and inflectional domains: on the one hand, there are languages like English, in which V must raise to Infl to license inflection (perhaps at LF); on the other hand, there are languages like Akan, in which (most) inflectional features spread from Infl to V or from V to V under certain structural conditions. The availability of feature spreading of the latter sort is argued to be responsible for the occurrence of various types of serial verb constructions in such languages. It is conjectured that those inflectional categories that correspond to features of complementizers cannot be spread in this way, and thus require V-to-I-to-C to be licensed.
Preoperative radiation therapy for carcinoma of the esophagus

From 1960 through 1973, 415 patients with carcinoma of the esophagus were treated with radiation therapy. Three hundred and thirty-two patients had planned preoperative irradiation to a dose of 4500 rads in 18 fractions, and 101 of these had subsequent resections with either colon or stomach replacement. The operative mortality in this group was 18% and the 2- and 5-year survivals were 22.8 and 13.6%, respectively. The dose of 4500 rads in 18 fractions produced tumor sterilization in 3% and reduction to in situ carcinoma in 10% of these 101 patients. The survival was considerably improved in this small group of patients. Those patients not amenable to exploration had a 3% 5-year and a 5.6% 2-year survival was 12.1%. The overall survival was 9% at 2 years and 6% at 5 years. The results in this series are compared with the most recent reports in the literature.
Magnetoacoustic Measurements of the Fermi Surface of Aluminum

The magnetoacoustic pulse-echo method has been applied to a study of the Fermi surface of aluminum, using 350-Mc/sec longitudinal sound waves. Single-crystal samples were studied with the sound propagation along the three principal crystallographic directions. A considerable variety of oscillation periods have been observed. The experimental results are presented and discussed with reference to several models. A redetermination of the low-temperature adiabatic elastic moduli of aluminum from ultrasonic pulse-echo velocity measurements has yielded values which, though differing from earlier published values, give a much better correlation of our data with the Fermi surface models. Some rough estimates are made of the electron relaxation times for the crystals used.