cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Use of expert judgment in exposure assessment: Part 2. Calibration of expert judgments about personal exposures to benzene

The recent movement of regulatory agencies toward probabilistic analyses of human health and environmental risks has focused greater attention on the quality of the estimates of variability and uncertainty that underlie them. Of particular concern is how uncertainty — a measure of what is not known — is characterized, as uncertainty can play an influential role in analyses of the need for regulatory controls or in estimates of the economic value of additional research. This paper reports the second phase of a study, conducted as an element of the National Human Exposure Assessment Survey (NHEXAS), to obtain and calibrate exposure assessment experts judgments about uncertainty in residential ambient, residential indoor, and personal air benzene concentrations experienced by the nonsmoking, nonoccupationally exposed population in U.S. EPA's Region V. Subjective judgments (i.e., the median, interquartile range, and 90% confidence interval) about the means and 90th percentiles of each of the benzene distributions were elicited from the seven experts participating in the study. The calibration or quality of the experts' judgments was assessed by comparing them to the actual measurements from the NHEXAS Region V study using graphical techniques, a quadratic scoring rule, and surprise and interquartile indices. The results from both quantitative scoring methods suggested that, considered collectively, the experts' judgments were relatively well calibrated although on balance, underconfident. The calibration of individual expert judgments appeared variable, highlighting potential pitfalls in reliance on individual experts. In a surprising finding, the experts' judgments about the 90th percentiles of the benzene distributions were better calibrated than their predictions about the means; the experts tended to be overconfident in their ability to predict the means. This paper is also one of the first calibration studies to demonstrate the importance of taking into account intraexpert correlation on the statistical significance of the findings. When the judgments were assumed to be independent, analysis of the surprise and interquartile indices found evidence of poor calibration (P<0.05). However, when the intraexpert correlation in the study was taken into account, these findings were no longer statistically significant. The analysis further found that the experts' judgments scored better than estimates of Region V benzene concentrations simply drawn from earlier studies of ambient, indoor and personal benzene levels in other U.S. cities. These results suggest the value of careful elicitation of expert judgments in characterizing exposures in probabilistic form. Additional calibration studies need to be undertaken to corroborate and extend these findings.
Clearance of microsphere-entrapped 5-fluorouracil and cytosine arabinoside from the vitreous of primates.

Experiments were conducted with biodegradable microspheres containing antimetabolites to assess the release of the drugs from the microspheres into the vitreous cavity of primates. Microspheres containing a mixture of radiolabeled and cold cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C) or 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) were prepared using a solvent evaporation process. The copolymers of poly (lactic) and poly (glycolic) acid (85∶15) and drug was dissolved in a mixture of chloroform and acetone. The solutions were then emulsified in an aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol and stirred for 24 hours to evaporate the organic solvent. A 0.1 mL aliquot of a suspension of the microspheres was then injected into one eye of eight African Green monkeys. Half received 250±10μg of Ara-C and the others 375±15μg of 5-FU. The concentration in the vitreous was then measured by removing a 0.1 mL sample of vitreous at 1, 2, 4 and 11 days after injection. Both drugs released from microspheres were still detectable in the eye 11 days after injection and the clearance kinetics were similar for both drugs. The results indicate that the microspheres appear promising as a slow drugdelivery system for future investigations in conjunction with these and other antimetabolites suitable for the treatment of PVR.
‘You can cry, mum’: The social and developmental implications of talk about internal states

The social processes implicated in the early development of children's talk about desires, feelings and mental states were studied by analysing the content and pragmatic context of naturally occurring conversations at home. Six second-born children were observed with their mothers and older siblings at two-month intervals from 24 to 36 months. In addition to increases in the frequency with which children referred to internal states, developmental changes were noted in the content and context of their talk. These included: more frequent references to others' inner states, increased use of inner state turns in reflective discussions and in efforts to manipulate the feelings and behaviour of others, and more frequent references to the causes and consequences of inner states. Parallel changes were noted in mothers' conversations about inner states; maternal references to the thoughts, feelings and desires of those other than the child increased, and their use of these terms in behaviour-controlling contexts decreased. Results highlight the role of social interaction in children's developing understanding of inner states.
A diffusion model with application to evolving medical technologies

Abstract This paper reports on a system dynamics simulation model which was developed to study the diffusion of medical technologies but which should be applicable to other sorts of technologies as well. The model addresses both the adoption and the changing extent of use of an evolving, product-based technology and also endogenously accounts for changes in actual and perceived performance. Two specific medical case studies provide background to the model and are used for testing the model's ability to reproduce various aspects of historical behavior. The model's relatively complex structure is presented in the form of influence diagrams showing major flows and relationships. The paper concludes with a discussion of contributions and possible future uses and modifications of the model.
Partly dissipative reaction diffusion systems: global attractors and determining modes

This is an outline of a paper that extend the results of Hale and Raugel [2003] on regularity and determining nodes for solutions of dissipative evolutionary equations to abstract partly dissipative systems. The results are applicable to partly dissipative reaction diffusion systems. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Set separation, approximating multicones, and the Lipschitz maximum principle

Abstract We present a general necessary condition for separation of the reachable set of a Lipschitz control system from another given set of states, expressed in terms of an “approximating multicone” to the set in a sense that contains as special cases the Clarke and Mordukhovich cones. We then show how this separation result implies a strengthened form of the usual sufficient condition for local controllability along the reference curve and the necessary condition for optimality.
Reactivity of bituminous coal chars during the initial stage of pulverized-coal combustion

Abstract The reactivities of pyrolysed and partially burned char particles prepared in an entrained-flow reactor have been investigated. The results indicate that chars collected at the end of the active devolatilization stage are more reactive than those collected before or after this stage. Deactivation of the pyrolysed chars was accompanied by the development of micropores. The chars produced from a liptinite-rich fraction of an HVA bituminous coal showed higher reactivities than those generated from an inertinite-rich fraction. It is suggested that residual volatiles play a more important role in determining char reactivity than the microporosity and the optical anisotropy of the chars. A new expression for TGA reactivity is suggested for use in deriving char combustion kinetics. Relatively constant activation energies of ≈ 125 kJ mol −1 were obtained for chars prepared from a wide range of coal precursors. Calculated char combustion rates at high temperatures extrapolated from such reactivity parameters were in agreement with experimentally determined rates.
Dependable software: an oxymoron?

Summary form only given. Can software really be made dependable? And if it was, would we be able to recognize it? For the last two years, the author had been chairing a study of the National Academy of Sciences on dependable software, and have had the opportunity to hear - in a workshop held last year, and in open sessions of the committee - anecdotes and viewpoints that have often surprised him. The conclusions of the committee are not made public until the final report is out. In this talk, therefore, some of the things heard are shared, and draw some connections to requirements engineering.
Low temperature bonding to 304 stainless steel for high temperature electronic packages

In this study, silicon (Si) chips were bonded to 304 stainless steel (SS) substrates using silver-indium (Ag-In) binary system without any use of flux. 304SS substrates were also bonded to 304SS substrates to develop low temperature fluxless processes to bond and seal two 304SS parts together. In the bonding design, Ag and In were deposited separately in layered structure. Various processes and solutions were experimented to plate Ag on 304SS. We have not found the process that could plate Ag directly on 304SS without an intermediate layer. So far, the most successful intermediate layer is nickel (Ni). Thus, Ni was plated on 304 SS, followed by Ag. The resulting 304SS substrates were annealed to increase Ag grain size if grain growth is needed for successful bonding. Nearly perfect joints were produced on Si to 304SS bonding and 304SS to 304SS bonding. The resulting joints are composed of Ag, Ag-rich solid solution (Ag), Ag 3 In, and Ag 2 In. The joints were fabricated at only 190°C of bonding temperature. The melting temperature of the joints exceeds 650°C. This new bonding process should be valuable for packaging electron devices that need high operating temperature. It is also useful for bonding 340SS parts together at low temperature.
Gentian Violet Exhibits Activity against Biofilms Formed by Oral Candida Isolates Obtained from HIV-Infected Patients

The effect of gentian violet against Candida albicans and non-Candida albicans biofilms formed on polymethylmethacrylate strips was evaluated using a dry weight assay and confocal laser scanning microscopy. The ability of gentian violet to inhibit Candida albicans germination was also assessed. Gentian violet activity against Candida biofilms was demonstrated by a reduction in dry weight, disruption of biofilm architecture, and reduced biofilm thickness. Additionally, gentian violet inhibited Candida germination in a concentration-dependent manner.
EFFECTS OF GIZZARD SHAD ON PHYTOPLANKTON AND NUTRIENT DYNAMICS: ROLE OF SEDIMENT FEEDING AND FISH SIZE

We examined the role of the omnivorous fish, gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum), in transporting nutrients from sediments into the water column and their subsequent impacts on phytoplankton. We manipulated sediment access and fish size during two mesocosm experiments to determine how these factors could alter the effects of gizzard shad on phytoplankton. In the first experiment, gizzard shad stimulated phytoplankton only when they could feed directly on lake sediments and not when benthic feeding was prevented by a mesh netting. In the second experiment, small gizzard shad stimulated phytoplankton to a greater extent than did an equivalent biomass of large gizzard shad. In the absence of gizzard shad, zooplankton became more abundant, and phytoplankton were less P limited, compared to treatments with gizzard shad present. This suggests a shift from grazer limitation in the absence of gizzard shad to direct limitation by nutrients in the presence of gizzard shad. Gizzard shad stimulated total N and P, suggesting an important nutrient transport effect. Thus, gizzard shad impact phytoplankton through an interaction of top-down and bottom-up effects, which are facilitated by a large detrital subsidy to this system.
Balancing Government Necessity and Public Employee Privacy: Reconstructing the Fourth Amendment through the Special Needs Doctrine

In the mid 1980s the Rehnquist court introduced a new constitutional doctrine making the Fourth Amendment's warrant and probably cause requirements dispensable when the government establishes a legitimate "special need." The new doctrine has been employed to allow, among other "special needs, " large-scale public employee drug testing programs that courts, applying traditional constitutional analysis, had previously struck down. Analysis of judicial implementation of the new doctrine suggests the Supreme Court's broad characterization of government's special needs may be poorly reasoned and ultimately may be constitutionally flawed An assessment of the doctrine suggests that it is predicated on traditionalist perceptions of management roles, and that it reinforces those roles.
Small-Scale Yielding Analysis of Mixed Mode Plane-Strain Crack Problems

The small-scale yielding analysis of an elastic-plastic body with a line crack under plane-strain conditions subject to combinations of Mode I and II loadings is examined. The analysis of the near-tip field follows the works of Hutchinson and Rice and Rosengren. Dominant singularity solutions governing the asymptotic behavior of the stresses and strains at the crack tip are obtained for the complete range of loadings between Mode I and II. The results of an accurate finite element technique, which imbeds the dominant singularity solutions, directly relates the near-tip behavior to the elastic stress intensity factors K(I) and K(II). Implications of this study to mixed mode fracture mechanics is also discussed, particularly with respect to the direction of crack initiation and the relation of fracture toughness under mixed modes to that in Mode I. Details of the mixed mode plastic zone sizes and shapes are also given.
Determining when 3D reconstruction methods are required in volume PET imaging

An attempt is made to determine at which point a 3-D reconstruction algorithm is needed for a volume imaging scanner as the axial extent is increased. From simulations of an existing volume PET (positron emission tomography) scanner with a maximum axial acceptance angle ( phi ) of 9 deg, it is shown that a two-dimensional image reconstruction with alpha =9 deg is a compromise between sensitivity, speed, and accuracy compared to a two-dimensional reconstruction with a software limit of alpha =1 deg and a three-dimensional reconstruction with alpha =9 deg. It is also shown that a proposed scanner with alpha =27 deg requires three-dimensional reconstruction in order to achieve maximum sensitivity without unacceptable losses in accuracy. >
Hierarchical relationships between landscape structure and temperature in a managed forest landscape

Management may influence abiotic environments differently across time and spatial scale, greatly influencing perceptions of fragmentation of the landscape. It is vital to consider a priori the spatial scales that are most relevant to an investigation, and to reflect on the influence that scale may have on conclusions. While the importance of scale in understanding ecological patterns and processes has been widely recognized, few researchers have investigated how the relationships between pattern and process change across spatial and temporal scales. We used wavelet analysis to examine the multiscale structure of surface and soil temperature, measured every 5 m across a 3820 m transect within a national forest in northern Wisconsin. Temperature functioned as an indicator – or end product – of processes associated with energy budget dynamics, such as radiative inputs, evapotranspiration and convective losses across the landscape. We hoped to determine whether functional relationships between landscape structure and temperature could be generalized, by examining patterns and relationships at multiple spatial scales and time periods during the day. The pattern of temperature varied between surface and soil temperature and among daily time periods. Wavelet variances indicated that no single scale dominated the pattern in temperature at any time, though values were highest at finest scales and at midday. Using general linear models, we explained 38% to 60% of the variation in temperature along the transect. Broad categorical variables describing the vegetation patch in which a point was located and the closest vegetation patch of a different type (landscape context) were important in models of both surface and soil temperature across time periods. Variables associated with slope and microtopography were more commonly incorporated into models explaining variation in soil temperature, whereas variables associated with vegetation or ground cover explained more variation in surface temperature. We examined correlations between wavelet transforms of temperature and vegetation (i.e., structural) pattern to determine whether these associations occurred at predictable scales or were consistent across time. Correlations between transforms characteristically had two peaks; one at finer scales of 100 to 150 m and one at broader scales of >300 m. These scales differed among times of day and between surface and soil temperatures. Our results indicate that temperature structure is distinct from vegetation structure and is spatially and temporally dynamic. There did not appear to be any single scale at which it was more relevant to study temperature or this pattern-process relationship, although the strongest relationships between vegetation structure and temperature occurred within a predictable range of scales. Forest managers and conservation biologists must recognize the dynamic relationship between temperature and structure across landscapes and incorporate the landscape elements created by temperature-structure interactions into management decisions.
Microbial life in martian ice: A biotic origin of methane on Mars?

Abstract Despite the fact that microbial cells are unlikely to be found in the Martian soil in the near future, this paper is written on the assumption that some of the seasonally varying concentration of Martian methane is due to ongoing methanogenesis. It is first pointed out that life might have arisen on Mars first and been transported to Earth later. A case is made that an icy origin of life is more likely than a hot origin, especially if biomolecules take advantage of the high encounter rates and stability against hydrolysis, and that microorganisms feed on the ions that comprise eutectic solutions in ice. Although certain difficulties are avoided if RNA and DNA grow while adsorbed on clay grains, double strand-breaks of microbial DNA due to alpha radioactivity are a far greater threat to microbial survival on clay or other rock types than in ice. Developing a relation between the rate of microbial metabolism in ice and the experimentally determined rate of production of trapped gases of microbial origin, one can estimate the concentration of methanogens that could account for the methane production rate as a function of temperature of their habitat. The result, of order 1 cell cm −3 in the Martian subsurface, seems an attainable goal provided samples are taken from at least 1 or 2 m below the hostile surface of Mars. Instruments on NASA’s 2011 Mars Science Lab will measure stable isotopes for methane, water, and carbon dioxide, which on Earth served to distinguish abiotic, thermogenic, and microbial origins. Future measurements of chirality of biomolecules might also provide evidence for Martian life.
Effect of sample size on solvent extraction for detecting cocontinuity in polymer blends

The effect of sample size on the results of solvent extraction measurements for detecting cocontinuity in polymer blends was investigated. Poly(ethylene oxide)/polystyrene (PEO/PS) blend samples of several thicknesses were analyzed by removing the PEO phase using water extraction. The experimental degree of continuity was shown to have a linear dependence on the reciprocal of sample thickness. A model is proposed to explain this dependence and to allow the bulk or true degree of continuity to be determined. Measurement of the bulk degree of continuity is useful for understanding properties of cocontinuous polymer blends such as electrical conductivity, impact strength, or tensile strength.
S Elements: A Family of Tc1-like Transposons in the Genome of Drosophila Melanogaster

The S elements form a diverse family of long-inverted-repeat transposons within the genome of Drosophila melanogaster. These elements vary in size and sequence, the longest consisting of 1736 bp with 234-bp inverted terminal repeats. The longest open reading frame in an intact S element could encode a 345-amino acid polypeptide. This polypeptide is homologous to the transposases of the mariner-Tc1 superfamily of transposable elements. S elements are ubiquitous in D. melanogaster populations and also appear to be present in the genomes of two sibling species; however, they seem to be absent from 17 other Drosophila species that were examined. Within D. melanogaster strains, there are, on average, 37.4 cytologically detectable S elements per diploid genome. These elements are scattered throughout the chromosomes, but several sites in both the euchromatin and beta heterochromatin are consistently occupied. The discovery of an S-element-insertion mutation and a reversion of this mutation indicates that S elements are at least occasionally mobile in the D. melanogaster genome. These elements seem to insert at an AT dinucleotide within a short palindrome and apparently duplicate that dinucleotide upon insertion.
Technology and Training Requirements

Stress echocardiography is relatively simple and widely available [1]. However, skill in interpretation cannot be acquired in a few days or weeks. With a handheld echocardiographic machine and an inexpensive drug or an ergometer, any sonographer can become a stress echocardiographer [2]. Ordering patterns might be distorted by financial incentives because the test can be performed in a physician’s office. In the absence of a strict system of credentialing and quality control, any lab may soon experience a backlash of distrust regarding the technique [2]. Interpretation of stress echocardiography requires extensive experience in echocardiography and should be performed only by physicians with specific training in the technique [3, 4].
Platelets and Response to Injury

Our understanding of the participatory role of platelets in biologic processes other than hemostasis and coagulation is rapidly evolving. Platelets are implicated in the maintenance of capillary integrity and wound healing. Platelets may also contribute to the acceleration of atherogenesis, as the activation of these cells promotes vascular injury and platelets promote cholesterol accumulation within smooth muscle cells and macrophages. This chapter addresses the structure, function, and modes of activation of platelets as they relate to the potential role of these cells in certain immunologically mediated and inflammatory diseases in which alterations of blood vessel function and integrity occur.
Aggregating Functionality, Use History, and Popularity of APIs to Recommend Mashup Creation

Creating mashups from existing Web APIs has provided an effective means to boost software reuse and approach the full potential of online programming resources. One of the key hindrance faced by mashup creation is to discover relevant APIs, especially due to the recent fast growth of Web APIs and the brief, unstructured API descriptions. In this paper, we propose a novel approach that recommends APIs to create a mashup given a free-form text description. We incorporate three heterogeneous but complimentary factors into the recommendation process: the functionality of an API, the usage history of the API by existing mashups, and the popularity of the API. We leverage probabilistic topic models to learn an API’s functionality from its textual description and compute relevance between the API and the given mashup description. As most APIs lack a rich textual description, we extend the API discovery process by exploiting collaborative filtering to estimate the probability of an API being used by existing similar mashups. These two sources of information are then integrated through Bayes’ theorem, which allows us to discover a set of functionally relevant APIs. The popularity of these APIs is then factored in to perform quality based ranking so that the best APIs can be recommended first. A comprehensive experimental study has been conducted on a real-world dataset to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed method. The result indicates that our method is efficient and provides better recommendation than other competitive methods.
The relationship between mock jurors’ religious characteristics and their verdicts and sentencing decisions.

Two mock jury studies investigated whether jurors’ religious characteristics relate to verdicts and sentencing decisions. In Study 1, adding religious characteristics to a model with only demographics and authoritarianism increased the model’s explanatory power. Scoring high on devotionalism was significantly related to not guilty verdicts; scoring high on fundamentalism was significantly related to guilty verdicts. In both studies, being on a religious quest was significantly related to prodefendant legal decisions. Lawyers can use this information in jury selection. Further, authoritarianism was a mediator of the relationship between some religious variables and legal decisions, helping explain the underlying reasons for such relationships.
A Reconstructed Discontinuous Galerkin Method Based on a Hierarchical WENO Reconstruction for Computing Shock Waves on Hybrid Grids

A reconstructed discontinuous Galerkin (RDG) method based on a Hierarchical WENO reconstruction, termed HWENO(P1P2) in this paper, is developed for computing shock waves on 3D hybrid grids. The HWENO(P1P2) method is designed not only to enhance the accuracy of the discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method but also to ensure the nonlinear stability of the RDG method. In the HWENO(P1P2) method, a quadratic polynomial solution (P2) is first reconstructed using a WENO reconstruction from the underlying linear polynomial (P1) discontinuous Galerkin solution to ensure the linear stability of the RDG method and to improve the efficiency of the underlying DG method. By taking advantage of handily available and yet invaluable information, namely the derivatives in the DG formulation, the stencils used in the reconstruction involve only von Neumann neighborhood (adjacent face-neighboring cells) and thus are compact. The first derivatives of the quadratic polynomial solution are then reconstructed using a WENO reconstruction in order to eliminate spurious oscillations in the vicinity of strong discontinuities and thus ensure the nonlinear stability of the RDG method. The developed HWENO(P1P2) method is used to compute a variety of shock wave problems on 3D hybrid meshes to demonstrate its accuracy, robustness, versatility, and essentially non-oscillatory property. The numerical experiments indicate that the HWENO(P1P2) method is able to provide sharp resolution of discontinuities essentially without any spurious oscillations, and achieve the designed third-order of accuracy for smooth flows.
Abstract 200: Novel Interaction of Spinophilin with Alpha1a-Adrenergic Receptor and its Genetic Variant in Cardiovascular Cells

Activation of α1-Adrenergic Receptors (α1ARs), members of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily, in response to stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system by catecholamines plays a major role in regulating cardiovascular (CV) function. Among three α1AR subtypes (α1a,α1b,α1d), α1aARs predominate in human resistant vessels and in heart. Recently, we discovered that naturally occurring human α1aAR-G247R (247R) genetic variant, identified in the 3rd intracellular loop (3iL) of the receptor in highly hypertensive patient, triggers constitutive hyperproliferation in CV cells (cardiomyoblasts, smooth muscle cells (SMC) and fibroblasts), which may lead to myocardial fibrosis and remodeling. In fibroblasts and cardiomyoblasts 247R triggered hyperproliferation is due to constitutive active coupling to Gq-independent βarrestin1/MMP/EGFR/ERK dependent pathway, while in SMC it is Gq- and MMP/EGFR/ERK-dependent. Here we report that α1aAR-WT (WT) and 247R differentially interact with ubiquitous multi-doma...
Direct growth by arc discharge and computational study of zinc sulfide nanotubes

In this work, we report the first evidence of the direct growth of zinc sulfide nanotubes in an electric arc discharge. The synthesized material was characterized using transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. In addition to the experimental effort, the morphology of the capped nanotube was studied computationally at the PW91/DZ level of theory and compared to that of the material obtained experimentally.
Non-Activist Monetary Policy from a Conflict Perspective

Since Friedman’s (1959) influential arguments in favor of governing monetary policy by rules rather than discretion, the ‘New Classical’ school has added a significant twist to this debate. Indeed, application of the rational expectations hypothesis to a classical, frictionless model (as exemplified by Sargent and Wallace (1975)) provides an extreme case in which economic agents’ optimizing adjustments render systematic monetary stabilization policies ineffective, not only in the long run (Friedman, 1968) but also in the short run. According to Barro (1976), the New Classical analysis implies that only where the policymaker has some informational advantage over the private sector is there any role for stabilization policy under rational expectations. Otherwise, ‘the conclusions for monetary policy are in accord with the philosophy behind Friedman’s proposal for a constant growth rate rule’ (ibid, p.26).
Le discours des évêques italiens sur la famille et les questions éthiques : une ou plusieurs voix ?

Le present article etudie l’enseignement des eveques italiens sur la famille et quelques questions ethiques, sur une periode de dix ans (2001-2011). Pour les catholiques italiens et les Italiens en general, il n’est pas facile de faire la distinction entre le Vatican et la Conference episcopale italienne et, par consequent, on donne de l’importance aux discours d’un eveque en fonction de son rapport a la position « officielle » du pape. Dans ce contexte, on examinera les discours de quatre eveques qui ont une resonance publique, c’est-a-dire des interventions dans lesquelles ces eveques sont conscients de s’adresser non seulement aux catholiques mais aux Italiens. Il en resultera un panorama diversifie, qui montre differentes approches des problemes de l’homme d’aujourd’hui.
In Vitro Characterization of Platelet Dysfunction In Common Hematological Disorders Using the Verify Now® Assay

Abstract 1436 Objectives: Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), immune thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP) and myeloproliferative disorders (MPD) are frequent diagnoses in a community hematology practice. Qualitative platelet defects are common features of these disorders but are difficult to characterize in daily practice as specialized technology is not readily available. The Verify Now® (VN) is a rapid, point-of service assay to measure platelet aggregation. VN assesses the degree of inhibition of GPIIb/IIIa mediated aggregation and uses minimal sample preparation. Its main application currently, is to determine the adequacy of anti-platelet therapy with aspirin (ASA), thienopyridines, such as clopidogrel (CPL), and GPIIb/IIIa inhibitors in patients with cardiovascular disease. (Verify Now for IIb/IIIa, aspirin, and P2Y12, Instructions for Use, Accumetrics) We used VN to detect platelet aggregation defects in patients with ITP, MDS and MPD and compared the to a platelet function analyzer PFA -100. (Francis JL; In Michelson AD, ed. Platelets, 2nded. San Diego: Elsevier/Academic Press, 2007:535-544) Methods: Subjects with MDS, ITP, and MPD were identified from our Hematology practice. Informed consent was obtained from all patients. Patients taking aspirin and /or clopidogrel were not excluded. Platelet function was determined concurrently using VN and PFA-100 using standard reference ranges. (Verify Now for IIb/IIIa, aspirin, and P2Y12, Instructions for Use, Accumetrics), (Mammen EF et al; Semin Throm Hemost. 1998; 24 (2):195-205). Results: Thirty three patients are enrolled in the study, 21 with ITP, 6 with MDS and 6 with MPD. Assay results are available for 30 patients. Platelet counts for all patients ranged from 2 to 1206 ×103/cmm, mean platelet count being 184 ×103/cmm (SD ± 215) and median count was 120 ×103/cmm. ITP: In 15 patients with ITP and platelet count ≥ 100 ×103/cmm, 11 were not on ASA/CPL. PFA-100 and VN each detected abnormalities in 4 patients but results were non-concordant in 2 patients. In 4 patients on ASA, VN detected ASA effect in all 4 whereas the PFA-100 detected 2. In 2 patients with platelet count MDS: Two patients had counts ≥ 100 ×103/cmm. One was on ASA and both assays detected ASA effect. Neither assay detected an abnormality in the patient not on ASA. In 4 patients with counts MPD: In 4 patients with counts 2 patients had count ≥400,000. In 1 patient taking CPL, VN detected CPL effect but PFA did not. In 1 patient on ASA, PFA detected abnormality but VN did not. (Table 3) Conclusion: In patients with MDS, ITP, and MPD, abnormal platelet function is common. These results show that VN may be as sensitive for detecting platelet dysfunction as PFA-100. Results were especially concordant in MDS patients. We plan to include 150 patients to confirm these results. We hope to define qualitative platelet defects in this population so that appropriate intervention can be recommended prior to invasive procedures. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
The equivalence of several basic theorems for subdifferentials

Several different basic tools are used for studying subdifferentials. They are a nonlocal fuzzy sum rule in (Borwein et al., 1996; Zhu, 1996), a multidirectional mean value theorem in (Clarke and Ledyaev, 1994; Clarke et al., 1998), local fuzzy sum rules in (Ioffe, 1984, 1990) and an extremal principle in (Kruger and Mordukhovich, 1980; Mordukhovich, 1976, 1980, 1994). We show that all these basic results are equivalent and discuss some interesting consequences of this equivalence.
What are the, Combined Effects of Temperature and Very High Pressure on Metals?

The inception of high-pressure, high-temperature operations has opened many new avenues of investigation. The author discusses the possible effects of both on electrical resistance, ductility, hardening, and other mechanical and structural properties of metals.
Model-independent quantification of soft tissue viscoelasticity with dynamic optical coherence elastography

Mechanical properties of cells and tissues play an important role in governing both normal and diseased biological processes. Recent findings in mechanobiology have demonstrated that viscosity, independent of elasticity, of extracellular matrix (ECM) can alter cellular behaviors. To obtain a comprehensive understanding of the mechanical properties of viscoelastic biological tissues for biomedical applications and mechanobiology research, both the elasticity and the viscosity must be characterized. Although optical coherence elastography (OCE) has emerged as a promising tool for probing the mechanical properties of biological tissues, quantitative OCE methods have mostly been limited to elasticity reconstruction or relied on the use of a presumed mechanical model, which may or may not adequately describe the response of a given tissue type. We present the first experimental demonstration of a mechanical model-independent reconstruction of complex shear modulus from direct measurement of surface wave propagation in viscoelastic media with dynamic acoustic radiation force (ARF)-OCE. Our results suggest that elasticity imaging based on shear wave speed alone could overlook potentially significant variations in the viscoelastic properties of biological tissues.
Characteristics of Isolated Ventricular Septal Defects Less Likely to Close In Utero.

OBJECTIVES To determine the characteristics of fetal ventricular septal defects (VSDs) that will be less likely to close prenatally. METHODS In this 4-year retrospective cohort study, 148 fetuses had a diagnosis of a VSD during a comprehensive fetal anatomy survey. The VSD diagnosis was confirmed by color and pulsed wave Doppler studies. These fetuses were followed monthly until their birth. They had postnatal echocardiography performed within 1 month of age to assess the persistence of a VSD. Fisher exact, Wilcoxon rank sum, and log rank tests and bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to examine the association of each individual variable with prenatal VSD closure. RESULTS One hundred twenty-five of 148 fetuses (84%) had prenatal VSD closure at a mean gestational age ± SD of 26.9 ± 4.5 weeks. Fetuses with a persistent VSD more frequently had other cardiac defects than the closed VSD group (12 of 23 versus 5 of 125; P < .001). Fetuses having a persistent VSD more frequently had an abnormal karyotype (9 of 23 versus 5 of 125; P < .001). The persistent VSDs were larger in their initial size (5.9 ± 8.4 mm versus 2.7 ± 0.8 mm; P = .002) and in their maximal prenatal size (6.0 ± 9.1 mm versus 2.9 ± 0.9 mm; P < .001). The presence of associated cardiac defects (adjusted odds ratio = 0.071; P = .031) and an abnormal karyotype (adjusted odds ratio = 0.058; P = .021) were significantly associated with a lower likelihood of prenatal VSD closure. All VSDs with a maximal size of 2 mm or less closed prenatally. CONCLUSIONS Fetuses with a complex cardiac defect or an abnormal karyotype were less likely to have prenatal VSD closure.
Hypoxia-Mediated Chronic Normal Tissue Injury

The tolerance of normal tissues to irradiation remains the major limitation to the use of ionizing radiation in the treatment of many malignancies. Recent progress in understanding the mechanisms underlying the development of late injury following cancer treatment points toward chronic hypoxia and oxidative stress as an important contributor to this problem. In this chapter, the authors review the evidence to support this new paradigm of late normal tissue injury and discuss potential approaches to the prevention and treatment of this condition.
Risk-Taking in Self-Defense

As an alternative to immediately taking flight in response to the presence of a predator, many species have evolved specialized behaviors that appear to increase the performer’s risk of predation. This article examines such apparently risky behaviors and finds that they are either less risky than they seem or the performer receives a benefit that exceeds the cost to survivorship. Examples are focused on vertebrates and are discussed in the order of the attack sequence (i.e., from pre-encounter behaviors through counterattacks by prey) and typically fall into two broad functions: warning conspecifics about the presence of danger and deterring further pursuit by the predator.
Post-Tetanic Potentiation (PTP)

The dynamic features of chemical synapses include short-lasting (1 s to 10 min) changes in strength of transmission that are dependent on prior activity and that shape the information processing characteristics of the connections. This article describes the physiological mechanisms responsible for short-term synaptic enhancement (synaptic facilitation, augmentation, and posttetanic potentiation). Hypotheses involving residual calcium following prior activity acting at the secretory trigger or at other molecular targets are considered, as well as the processes regulating the persistence of residual calcium.
Variability of fluid administration during exploratory laparotomy for abdominal trauma.

Background Approximately 8% of traumatically injured patients require transfusion with packed red blood cells (pRBC) and only 1% to 2% require massive transfusion. Intraoperative massive transfusion was defined as requiring greater than 5 units (u) of pRBC in 4 hours. Despite the majority of patients not requiring transfusion, the appropriate amount and type of crystalloid administered during the era of damage control resuscitation have not been analyzed. We sought to determine the types of crystalloid used during trauma laparotomies and the potential effects on resuscitation. Methods Patients who underwent laparotomy after abdominal trauma from January 2014 to December 2016 at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center were identified. Patients were grouped based on requiring 0u, 1u to 4u, and ≥5u pRBC during intraoperative resuscitation. Demographic, physiologic, pharmacologic, operative, and postoperative data were collected. Statistical analysis was performed with Kruskal-Wallis test and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results Lactated Ringer’s (LR) solution was the most used crystalloid type received in the 0u and 1u to 4u pRBC cohorts, whereas normal saline (NS) was the most common in the ≥5u pRBC cohort. Most patients received two types of crystalloid intraoperatively. NS and LR were most frequently the first crystalloids administered, with Normosol infusion occurring later. The amount of crystalloid received correlated with operative length, but did not correlate with the estimated blood loss. Neither the type of crystalloid administered nor the anesthesia provider type was associated with changes in postoperative resuscitation parameters or electrolyte concentrations. Discussion There is a wide variation in the amount and types of crystalloids administered during exploratory laparotomy for trauma. Interestingly, the amount or type of crystalloid given did not affect resuscitation parameters regardless of blood product requirement. Level of evidence Level IV.
The unsuspected threat of three opioid-like substitutes

The opioid epidemic has left its toll on the United States with millions suffering from an opioid use disorder and tens of thousands dying from overdoses each year. With intentions to combat the crisis, health providers have been prescribing less opioids, which resulted in an unintentional increase in the abuse of other opioid-like substances. Three emerging drugs of abuse have been noted in the literature as having increased abuse potential in light of recent trends. Kratom, an herbal supplement, gabapentin, a prescription nerve pain and anticonvulsant medication, and loperamide, an over-the-counter antidiarrheal medication. These have all displayed opioid-like properties at high doses and used to alleviate opioid withdrawal. Healthcare clinicians and patients might not be aware of the potential risks involved with misusing or abusing these opioid substitutes. This article discusses the increased usage of kratom, gabapentin, and loperamide, the abuse potential, adverse effects and withdrawal symptoms of each drug, and nursing implications that impact inpatient safety and management.
Creating “Belize”: The Mapping and Naming History of a Liminal Locale

The origins of the settlement in southwest Yucatan that subsequently became the British colony and then nation of Belize, along with the etymology of the toponym Belize, are poorly understood and c...
Current perspectives on location of monitoring and length of stay following PPCI for ST elevation myocardial infarction

Importance:There is marked variability in location of care and hospital length of stay after primary percutaneous coronary intervention for ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).Observations:W...
The Ulster Renaissance: Poetry in Belfast 1962-1972

1. Beginnings 2. The Belfast Group 3. Renaissance 4. 'Genuine Accents' 5. 'MacSimmittoon' 6. Separate Selves
Deep-Learning-Based Neural Tissue Segmentation of MRI in Multiple Sclerosis: Effect of Training Set Size.

BACKGROUND The dependence of deep-learning (DL)-based segmentation accuracy of brain MRI on the training size is not known. PURPOSE To determine the required training size for a desired accuracy in brain MRI segmentation in multiple sclerosis (MS) using DL. STUDY TYPE Retrospective analysis of MRI data acquired as part of a multicenter clinical trial. STUDY POPULATION In all, 1008 patients with clinically definite MS. FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE MRIs were acquired at 1.5T and 3T scanners manufactured by GE, Philips, and Siemens with dual turbo spin echo, FLAIR, and T1 -weighted turbo spin echo sequences. ASSESSMENT Segmentation results using an automated analysis pipeline and validated by two neuroimaging experts served as the ground truth. A DL model, based on a fully convolutional neural network, was trained separately using 16 different training sizes. The segmentation accuracy as a function of the training size was determined. These data were fitted to the learning curve for estimating the required training size for desired accuracy. STATISTICAL TESTS The performance of the network was evaluated by calculating the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), and lesion true-positive and false-positive rates. RESULTS The DSC for lesions showed much stronger dependency on the sample size than gray matter (GM), white matter (WM), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). When the training size was increased from 10 to 800 the DSC values varied from 0.00 to 0.86 ± 0.016 for T2 lesions, 0.87 ± 009 to 0.94 ± 0.004 for GM, 0.86 ± 0.08 to 0.94 ± 0.005 for WM, and 0.91 ± 0.009 to 0.96 ± 0.003 for CSF. DATA CONCLUSION Excellent segmentation was achieved with a training size as small as 10 image volumes for GM, WM, and CSF. In contrast, a training size of at least 50 image volumes was necessary for adequate lesion segmentation. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 1 Technical Efficacy Stage: 1 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2020;51:1487-1496.
Retinal Toxicity in a Patient on Pentosan Polysulfate Sodium

Pentosan Polysulfate Sodium (PPS) is commonly used in the treatment of interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome. Recently there have been reported cases of retinal toxicity associated with long-term PPS use. We present a case of a 42-year-old female taking PPS for the last 10 years who was found to have signs of retinal toxicity, but was completely asymptomatic. PPS was discontinued after these retinal findings were discovered.
Technology-Assisted Computing-In-Memory Design for Matrix Multiplication Workloads

Recent advances in emerging technologies such as monolithic 3D Integration (M3D-IC) and emerging non-volatile memory (eNVM) have enabled to embed logic operations in memory. This alleviates the "memory wall" challenges stemming from the time and power expended on migrating data in conventional Von Neumann computing paradigms. We propose a M3D SRAM dot-product engine for compute in-SRAM support used in applications such as matrix multiplication and artificial neural networks. In addition, we propose a novel computing in RRAM-based memory architecture to efficiently solve the computation intensity of sparse dot products. Specifically, the index assessment of sparse matrix-vector multiplication used in support vector machines (SVM). At maximum throughput, our proposed RRAM architecture achieves 11.3× speed up when compared against a near-memory accelerator.