cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Safety and Efficacy of Using High-Dose Topical and Nebulized Anesthesia to Obtain Endobronchial Cultures

We evaluated the safety and efficacy of high-dose topical and nebulized airway anesthesia in normal volunteers and in patients undergoing diagnostic fiberoptic bronchoscopy. Lidocaine solution (4 percent) was used for gargling, for spraying the palate and oropharynx with an atomizer, and for nebulization with an air-powered nebulizer (mean total dose, 1,682 mg) and 2 percent lidocaine (Xylocaine) jelly for anesthetizing nasal passages. In six normal subjects and in eight patients, lidocaine blood levels were measured at baseline, after gargling, after spraying, after nebulization, and then at 5, 10, 15, 30, and 60 min; 19 normal subjects and ten patients underwent the same anesthesia protocol but had no blood drawn. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy was performed in 21 normal volunteers and in 18 patients and cultures obtained using the protected specimen brush. Additional endobronchial lidocaine (mean 256 mg) was given to the 18 patients after collecting the microbiology specimens. Peak lidocaine blood levels remained below 6 μg/ml in all cases. Cough and discomfort during bronchoscopic examination was absent or minimal in 17 of 21 normal subjects (80 percent) and in 14 of 18 patients (77 percent) and was severe in only one instance (5 percent). There were no related complications. Using only topical and nebulized anesthesia is safe and effective for performing fiberoptic bronchoscopy, especially when bacterial cultures are to be obtained and endobronchial instillation of lidocaine must be avoided. (Chest 1989; 95:299-303)
Assessing the equality of means of healthcare costs.

The main analytic problems for assessing the equality of means of healthcare costs are the skewed and heteroscedastic nature of the distribution of healthcare costs and the occurrence of persons with zero cost values. Without taking these special features into consideration, any statistical method may lead to the wrong conclusion. The available analytic methods that are appropriate for handling these features of healthcare costsare reviewed.
Effect of hormones on the trichloracetic acid extractable glycogen in skeletal muscles.

COLD 10% trichloroacetic acid (TCA) removes from homogenized liver and muscle tissue respectively, a relatively constant amount of glycogen, somewhat less than the total amount present as determined by the usual hot alkali method of extraction (Bloom et al., 1951). Whenever glycogenolytic agents (epinephrine, nerve stimulation) reduce the glycogen in muscle tissue, it is the TCA extractable fraction which decreases markedly (Bloom and Knowlton, 1953). These investigators attribute a “labile” quality to the TCA soluble fraction, in contrast to the more resistant “residual” glycogen fraction which is relatively unaffected after mild stimulation of these tissues by glycogenolytic agents. Since both cortisone and growth hormone vary in their ability to influence glycogen deposition in different muscles (Leonard, 1953) and in their ability to inhibit the glycogenolytic action of epinephrine (Wortman and Leonard, 1953; Leonard and Ringler, 1954), a possible explanation of these phenomena was sought in a study o...
Uplink Channel Assignment in Cognitive Radio WMNs Using Physical Layer Network Coding

In this paper, we introduce a low overhead scheme for the uplink channel allocation within a single cell of Cognitive Radio Wireless Mesh Network (CR-WMNs). The scheme does not rely on using a Common Control Channel (CCC). The mechanism is based on Physical layer Network Coding (PNC), in which two Secondary Users (SUs) are allowed to transmit synchronously over a randomly selected channel from a set of available channels, and without coordination for the purpose of requesting channels. The Mesh Router (MR) can detect up to 2 requests on the same channel due to the use of PNC, and replies back with a control packet which contains information about the assigned channel. We propose two PNC modulation schemes, PNC1 and PNC2, where initially SUs choose one of them to employ through the network operation. Decoding the received signals in PNC1 and PNC2 depend on their received energy and phases shifts, respectively. Simulation results show that the proposed mechanism significantly outperforms traditional schemes that rely on using one CCC, or do not use PNC in terms of channel allocation time.
FKBP51 and Cyp40 are Positive Regulators of Androgen-dependent Prostate Cancer Cell Growth and the Targets of FK506 and Cyclosporin A

Prostate cancer (PCa) growth is dependent on androgens and on the androgen receptor (AR), which acts by modulating gene transcription. Tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) proteins (FKBP52, FKBP51 and Cyp40) interact with AR in PCa cells, suggesting roles in AR-mediated gene transcription and cell growth. We report here that FKBP51 and Cyp40, but not FKBP52, are significantly elevated in PCa tissues and in androgen-dependent (AD) and androgen-independent (AI) cell lines. Overexpression of FKBP51 in AD LNCaP cells increased AR transcriptional activity in the presence and absence of androgen, whereas siRNA knockdown of FKBP51 dramatically decreased AD gene transcription and proliferation. Knockdown of Cyp40 also inhibited androgen-mediated transcription and growth in LNCaP cells. However, disruption of FKBP51 and Cyp40 in AI C4-2 cells caused only a small reduction in proliferation, indicating that Cyp40 and FKBP51 predominantly regulate AD cell proliferation. Under knockdown conditions, the inhibitory effects of TPR ligands, cyclosporine A (CsA) and FK506, on AR activity were not observed, indicating that Cyp40 and FKBP51 are the targets of CsA and FK506, respectively. Our findings show that FKBP51 and Cyp40 are positive regulators of AR that can be selectively targeted by CsA and FK506 to achieve inhibition of androgen-induced cell proliferation. These proteins and their cognate ligands thus provide new strategies in the treatment of PCa.
Language Generation for Multimedia Healthcare Briefings

This paper identifies issues for language generation that arose in developing a multimedia interface to healthcare data that includes coordinated speech, text and graphics. In order to produce brief speech for time-pressured caregivers, the system both combines related information into a single sentence and uses abbreviated references in speech when an unambiguous textual reference is also used. Finally, due to the temporal nature of the speech, the language generation module needs to communicate information about the ordering and duration of references to other temporal media, such as graphics, in order to allow for coordination between media.
Tectonic implications of illite/smectite diagenesis, Barbados accretionary prism

The depth distribution of illite/smectite (I/S) compositions was investigated for a well drilled to a depth of 3462 m on Barbados Island, the only subaerial exposure of the Barbados accretionary complex. The classical pattern of increasing percentage of illite interlayers in the mixed-layer clay with increasing burial depth was not observed. Rather, the data describe an irregular, zig-zag trend with depth. This trend is probably the result of reverse faulting in the section. I/S data were also used to infer several kilometers of uplift and subsequent erosion of the section. This study shows that irregular patterns of clay diagenesis with depth can be anticipated for sequences that have undergone complicated tectonism and deformation. Combined with other geologic information, these patterns can help to determine the tectonic history of the sedimentary sequence.
Radiation Effects on Silicon Charge-Coupled Devices

The permanent ionizing and neutron radiation-induced degradation in silicon charge-coupled devices, (CCD's), along with transient upset effects, are reviewed. The operation of a threshold voltage insensitive CCD input technique in a total dose radiation environment is evaluated. CCD structural design rules for decreasing ionizing radiation sensitivity are presented. The increased total ionizing dose tolerance of CCD's fabricated with a radiation hard oxide is described. Liquid nitrogen temperature irradiation effects in CCD's are discussed.
Measurement of the scleral canal using optical coherence tomography in patients with optic nerve drusen.

Purpose The etiology of optic nerve drusen (OND) is unknown. A leading hypothesis is that eyes with OND have a small scleral canal. The small scleral canal presumably leads to optic nerve fiber compression, ganglion cell degeneration, extrusion of axonal mitochondria, and calcification of the extruded mitochondria. To determine if subjects with OND have scleral canals that are smaller than subjects without OND, we used optical coherence tomography (OCT) to measure the scleral canal in subjects with and without OND. Design Prospective, observational case control study. Methods The study was conducted with subjects recruited from the clinics of the John A. Moran Eye Center, University of Utah Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. The study population included 25 subjects with OND, 13 unaffected first-degree relatives of OND subjects, and 17 control subjects. All subjects underwent measurement of the scleral canal with OCT. The main outcome measure was the scleral canal area calculated by OCT. Results The average areas of the scleral canals were as follows: control eyes: 1.832 mm 2 , unaffected eyes of subjects with unilateral OND: 1.836 mm 2 , eyes of unaffected first-degree relatives: 2.067 mm 2 , and eyes with OND: 2.520 mm 2 . The scleral canal area of unaffected eyes of subjects with unilateral drusen was not significantly different from the control. The eyes of first-degree relatives and eyes with OND both had scleral canal areas significantly larger than the control. Conclusions Scleral canal size is probably not an etiologic factor in the pathogenesis of OND.
Prevalence of Antibody to Legionella pneumophila in Middle-Aged and Elderly Americans

An indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) test was used to establish the background prevalence of antibody to Legionella pneumophila in single serum specimens from 1,143 persons. The serum specimens had been obtained from volunteers 46 years of age and older who were not acutely ill and who resided in the areas of Atlanta, Georgia; Washington, D.C.; Houston, Texas; and Rochester, New York. The overall prevalence of seropositivity (reciprocal titer, greater than or equal to 64) was 1.7%. The prevalence of seropositivity did not vary with age, sex, or geographic location. Groups of persons in which the prevalence of reciprocal titers of greater than or equal to 64 is significantly higher than 1.7% may have unusually great exposure to L. pneumophila. In the population tested, a reciprocal IFA titer of greater than or equal to 64 would have a specificity of 98.3% in the diagnosis of an acute illness as Legonnnaires' disease.
Clinical performance of certain commercial high-copper-content amalgams.

The types of alloys and the integrity at the margins of nine commercially available high-copper-content amalgams and a traditional amalgam were clinically assessed for two years. Interpretation of the results indicated that the alloys fell into two distinct groups.
Asian donor support for gender equality and women's empowerment Comparative experience, challenges, and opportunities

Since the 1990s, gender mainstreaming has been a widely accepted strategy for promoting gender equality within governments, multilateral agencies, and development NGOs, although critics continue to question its premises and results. This paper reviews how the development agencies of Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea, as well as the Asian Development Bank, have sought to promote gender equality through their activities, and considers lessons that can be drawn from their experience. The paper also considers the Philippines’ harmonized guidelines on gender and development, and the experience of these development agencies in implementing the guidelines.
Semiconductor alloy lasers--1962

Following the report of high-efficiency generation and transmission of recombination radiation from Zn-diffused GaAs p-n junctions at the 1962 IRE Solid State Device Research Conference (July, Durham, NH), a many-laboratory race began to construct a semiconductor laser. Although it is widely believed that only GaAs was involved in the research that led to a semiconductor laser, the visible-spectrum alloy GaAs 1-x P x was in the middle of this activity and was (fall of 1962), with GaAs, a first semiconductor laser, not to mention the first laser in a semiconductor alloy or crystal that could be "tuned" in energy gap (and wavelength) from direct-gap to indirect-gap. The ternary GaAs 1-x P x was the forerunner of all present-day III-V alloys used in heterojunction devices. The sequence of events leading to the GaAs 1-x P x laser, as well as its introduction in modified form as the first practical LED, are described.
Guidelines for Guidelines: Measuring Trustworthiness

AstheUnitedStatesfinallybecomesseriousaboutcontrolling the costs of health care, the public needs practice standards that fairly reflect the best evidence about what works best for which patients. Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) should fill this need. They are important not only because they affect outcomes for individual patients but also because they increasingly shape a large proportion of patient care—that which is straightforward and subject to standardization—through standards of practice, practice quality measures, and insurance coverage decisions. Althoughpracticerecommendationsshouldfaithfullyreflectthe best evidence, we lack a proven measure of quality or trustworthiness to help us choose between guidelines with conflicting recommendations. The National Guideline Clearinghouse currently lists prostate cancerscreeningguidelinesfromeightUnitedStates‐basedorganizations. 1 None are exactly alike, and the recommendations range from “never screen” to “screen everyone.” How can we tell which clinical practice guideline to trust? Judging the quality of CPGs is a terra incognita that we are just starting to explore. One study of guideline quality,publishedinthearticlethataccompaniesthiseditorial, 2 builds on recently published standards for trustworthy guidelines by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). 3,4 Its findings illustrate the challenges facing our profession as we explore this new area. TheefforttocreateatrustworthyprocessfordevelopingCPGs
Approximate Analysis of a Hierarchical Queuing Network

A hierarchical queuing network is a layered network of queues in which all arrivals receive initial service from a primary server, and some customers receive additional service jointly from a primary and a secondary server. This paper considers the simplest such network, involving two levels and a single secondary server who functions as a consultant to several primary servers and always works in conjunction with the primary server who refers the customer to him. An approximate analysis of this hierarchical queuing network is carried out for three operating disciplines governing the consultation process. The analytical results compare favorably with the results of computer simulations and are therefore used to explore several important issues in the design of such networks. Hierarchical queues are common in public-service systems, including new medical-care systems known as "telemedicine."
Eating attitudes and behaviors in pregnancy and postpartum: Global stability versus specific transitions

Global changes in eating attitudes were examined prospectively across pregnancy and 4 months postpartum in a sample of 90 women. In addition, specific changes in dieting behavior and weight/shape satisfaction were assessed at 4 months postpartum for concurrent and retrospective time points. Measures included the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) and weight/shape satisfaction in pregnancy and at 4 months postpartum, as well as prepregnancy, pregnancy, and postpartum weight loss efforts. While global EAT scores were stable across time, dieting scores (Factor I) increased between pregnancy and postpartum. Weight/shape satisfaction was higher in pregnancy, and satisfaction was related to EAT scores at 4 months postpartum but not during pregnancy. Prepregnancy dieters and nondieters were best discriminated by higher weights, elevated pregnancy dieting scores, and lower postpartum weight/shape satisfaction. Results emphasize the importance of looking beyond changes in global eating attitudes and behaviors to more specific eating concerns or behaviors. Lastly, the results have implications for identifying women at risk for eating- and weight-related concerns during this period of rapid physical change.
Testing Sign Indices to Monitor Voles in Grasslands and Agriculture

Abstract I evaluated the use of sign indices as indicators of relative vole population abundances in grasslands and agricultural systems in western Oregon grasslands. The development of a reliable index based on vole sign that does not rely on the repeated use of traps would greatly aid rapid assessment of relative population densities, and allow greater flexibility in both research and management. I tested the presence and number of burrows, runways, droppings, and damaged vegetation along transects and in quadrats to evaluate each metric's correlation to estimated population size. Vole population size was estimated with mark-recapture techniques. None of the indices performed well, particularly in situations where plots were mowed. The number of animals captured on the first trapping occasion was most correlated with estimated population size. Indices for vole abundance should be tested in the system and with the species of interest prior to their use in research or management.
Voices of women in commuter marriages A site of discursive struggle

The goal of the present study was to examine the sites of discursive struggle in the talk of commuter wives and how the interpenetration of discourses construct meaning for those in the commuter marriage. Fifty individual interviews were analyzed using contrapuntal analysis to examine competing discourses. From our analysis, two sites of discursive struggle emerged from the talk of commuter wives about their marital relationships: (a) discursive struggles of integration and (b) discursive struggles of conventionality. The voices of these participants responded to and anticipated both distal (cultural) and proximal (relational) discourses along the utterance chain constructing meaning around what it meant to be in a commuter marriage. Additionally, these data provided theoretical expansion in highlighting the understudied aspects of the distal not-yet-spoken in meaning construction surrounding relationships.
Changing how people view changes on the web

The Web is a dynamic information environment. Web content changes regularly and people revisit Web pages frequently. But the tools used to access the Web, including browsers and search engines, do little to explicitly support these dynamics. In this paper we present DiffIE, a browser plug-in that makes content change explicit in a simple and lightweight manner. DiffIE caches the pages a person visits and highlights how those pages have changed when the person returns to them. We describe how we built a stable, reliable, and usable system, including how we created compact, privacy-preserving page representations to support fast difference detection. Via a longitudinal user study, we explore how DiffIE changed the way people dealt with changing content. We find that much of its benefit came not from exposing expected change, but rather from drawing attention to unexpected change and helping people build a richer understanding of the Web content they frequent.
Optical interactions in plasmonic nanostructures

We present a review of plasmonic nanostructures in which the constituent materials are coupled together by optical interactions. The review first provides a comprehensive coverage of theoretical framework where the optical interactions are described by the multiple scattering among the nanostructures. We then discuss the two limiting cases of weak and strong interactions. The weak interaction regime is described well by the effective medium theory while the strong interaction regime requires theoretical tools that can describe the new eigenmodes delocalized over the entire system. Weakly interacting plasmonic nanostructures have been studied extensively in the metamaterials research, which has been a major research thrust in photonics during the past decade. This review covers some of the latest examples exhibiting perfect absorption and invisibility. Strongly coupled systems started to receive attention recently. As a representative example, plasmonic molecules exhibiting Fano resonance are discussed in detail. Plasmonic nanostructures offer an excellent platform to engineer nanoscale optical fields. With the recent progress in nanofabrication technologies, plasmonic nanostructures offer a highly promising pathway to discovering new phenomena and developing novel optical devices.
Design and VLSI implementation of an adaptive delta-sigma modulator

The quality and stability of noise shaping is a concern in the design of higher-order delta-sigma modulators for high-resolution, high-speed oversampled analog-to-digital conversion. We reformulate noise-shaping modulation alternatively as a nonlinear optimal control problem, where the objective is to find the binary modulation sequence that minimizes signal swing in a cascade of integrators operating on the difference between the input signal and the modulation sequence. We use reinforcement learning to adaptively optimize a nonlinear neural classifier which outputs modulation bits from the values of the input signal and integration state variables. Analogous to the classical pole balancing control problem, a punishment signal triggers learning whenever any of the integrators saturate. We train a simple classifier consisting of locally tuned, binary address encoded neurons to produce stable noise shaping modulation, and present experimental results obtained from analog VLSI modulators of orders one and two. The integrated classifier contains an array of 64 neurons trained on-chip with a simplified variant on reinforcement learning.
A family of spectral target signature transforms: relationship to the past, new transforms, and sensitivity tests

Previous studies introduced, examined, and tested a variety of registration-free transformations, specifically the diagonal, whitening/dewhitening, and target CV (covariance) transformations, that temporally evolve spectral signatures under varying conditions. Target spectral signatures were transformed using imagery of spatially overlapping regions from datasets collected at different times. This letter shows that these previously studied registration-free transformations can be described using a single general equation and form a subset of a family of valid transforms. Further, this letter finds only a small reduction in target detection results from using nonoverlapping but similar regions to transform target signatures in matched filter searches. The diagonal, whitening/dewhitening, and target CV transformations appear in this formulation as having integral exponent parameter n (n = 0, 1, 2, respectively). These transformed target signatures, used in matched filter searches, were tested on images taken from two very different data collects using different sensors, targets, and backgrounds. In one dataset, the transform was applied to multispectral images taken from an airborne longwave infrared sensor binned to 30 bands. The other dataset used images of a variety of targets that were collected using broad-band, bore-sighted, staring array sensors sensitive to visible, shortwave infrared, midwave infrared, and longwave infrared wavelengths. Transformation performance was tested using target-to-clutter ratio (TCR) and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve. Transforms with exponents between 0 and 2 yielded the largest TCR and remained relatively constant. Optimal exponents for the transformation were target dependent for both datasets. Further, only minimal reduction in TCR was observed for transforms (O < n < 2) that had no shared overlapping regions, although the areas used to transform the spectral signatures shared similar content (trees, roads, etc.).
Connecting cell fate decision networks in hematopoeisis from the outside in.

Mol Syst Biol. 6: 418 In a developing tissue, a number of cell fate decisions take place: stem cells self‐renew, progenitor cells are born and proliferate or differentiate. We often consider in isolation two sets of factors regulating these cell fate decisions: extracellular influences such as ligands secreted by other cells, and cell‐autonomous, intracellular factors. Cell‐autonomous factors can include specific marker expression levels, or particular gene regulatory programs. Increasingly, these intracellular factors are treated as networks—signal transduction networks and gene regulatory networks. The ligands regulating tissue development also form a network (Frankenstein et al , 2006), connecting cells that secrete them and cells that they target. How these two types of networks, intracellular and extracellular, interact is still mostly unknown. In a pioneering study just published in Molecular Systems Biology, Kirouac et al (2010) connect the dots, identifying specific cytokines as well as some of the crucial intracellular network nodes involved in in vitro hematopoetic stem cell maintenance, expansion, and differentiation. The hematopoietic ‘tissue’ is composed of stem cells (hematopoietic stem cells, HSCs), progenitor cells, and mature cells differentiated into megakaryocytes, monocytes, and erythrocytes. As long as the environment is favorable to their proliferation, stem cells self‐renew and give rise to progenitor cells allowing maintenance or expansion of the tissue. To successfully expand bone marrow or umbilical cord blood in vitro to produce blood cells for clinical applications, the regenerative potential of blood stem cells—their ability to self‐renew—must be maintained in a culture inevitably formed of multiple blood cell …
No-Fault Divorce Law Impact on Judge and Client

The impact of no-fault divorce laws was investigated through direct observation of divorce hearings, with emphasis on how divorce is experienced by contesting and uncontesting clients, and by the judge. Client expectations were identified and found to be largely unmet. The judge was found to have a general antipathy toward divorce cases; four factors that contribute to this antipathy are identified. Finally, it is suggested that, despite the no-fault divorce laws, divorce hearings are generally unsatisfactory for all parties due at least in part to the traditional adversarial nature of the legal procedure.
Obtaining shear relaxation modulus and creep compliance of linear viscoelastic materials from instrumented indentation using axisymmetric indenters of power-law profiles

Using Laplace transform, we solve the inverse problem of obtaining the shear relaxation modulus and creep compliance of linear viscoelastic solids from indentation by axisymmetric indenters of power-law profiles. We identify several simple, though nontrivial, loading paths for carrying out indentation measurements such that the inverse problem has analytical solutions. We show that the shear relaxation modulus and creep compliance may be readily obtained using the newly derived analytical expressions together with proposed indentation loading paths.
Blurred lines: Scientific and legislative issues surrounding hybrids and conservation

Hybrids are the result of interbreeding between recognized taxonomic groups such as populations, species or subspecies. This special column focuses particularly on interspecific hybridization. The blurring of lines between neatly defined species causes both academic and practical problems, especially for those still attached to the long-outdated view of species as static, rather than dynamic, entities. Species designations become blurred when previously distinct species come into secondary contact, as well as when incipient species remain connected by gene flow. Botanists are generally credited with understanding the importance of hybridization as an evolutionary process that promotes adaptation and produces novel lineages, while zoologists have been characterized as holding to more eugenic views of hybridization polluting species integrity. Conservation policy regarding hybrids has been the subject of much debate, but resolution remains elusive. In the United States, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 did not mention hybrids, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) developed a de facto policy of denying protection to organisms with hybrid ancestry (O’Brien and Mayr, 1991). By 1996 the USFWS, together with the National Marine Fisheries Service, proposed an intercross policy for protecting hybrids under the ESA, though it has yet to be approved (USFWS and NOAA, 1996; Allendorf et al., 2013). Beyond the U.S., endangered species legislation in other countries (with the sole exception of South Africa) also fails to consider hybrids (Haig and Allendorf, 2006). Reluctance to enact explicit policies is probably a result of the complex and idiosyncratic mix of threats and benefits posed by each case of hybridization.
18 - A Large Outsider's View of the EMS

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a few ideas and views of the EMS. The analysis of trade and monetary integration has traditionally focused on the implications for member countries, while paying relatively scant attention to its effects on outsiders. A European Community with a centralized monetary system is likely to have a larger effect on world monetary, exchange rate, and macro conditions than one composed of many decentralized monetary policy regimes. Increased global monetary influence is, moreover, compatible with a considerable range of specific monetary regimes—including greater policy harmonization in a modified EMS, various types of permanently fixed exchange rate systems, and currency union. There is some evidence that such a trade-off may have been in effect during the first 10 years of the present EMS system. In EMS-type exchange rate regimes, convergence of inflation is a key collective policy objective. Both the completion of the internal European market and further integration in the monetary sphere have the potential of enhancing or diminishing world-wide monetary and macroeconomic stability.
Due Process in Statutory Damages

Although the unconstitutionality of excessive punitive damages awards is still a very young and uncertain legal doctrine, commentators and courts have begun asking what role the jurisprudence should play in the context of statutory damages. Although there are significant structural differences between the two contexts, the same concerns with excess awards are present. Statutory provisions providing only a range within which damages can be awarded are no different from a punitive damages award subject to a statutory cap, something the Court has held not to abrogate due process review. Provisions which aggregate a fixed amount on a per-violation basis replace unguided juries with a mechanical multiplier, which may have far worse effects. This Note argues for review in these cases that although accords deference to the legislature, accords it only to the extent that the statute reflects a legislative determination of optimal deterrence or appropriate punishment. To the extent that a statutory damage provision does not reflect this determination, damages awards granted under it may be constitutionally invalid.
A General Assessment of the Physiochemical Factors That Influence Leachables Accumulation in Pharmaceutical Drug Products and Related Solutions

The accumulation of organic compounds associated with plastic materials into pharmaceutical products and their associated solutions has important suitability for use consequences for those pharmaceutical solutions, most notably in terms of safety and efficacy. The interaction between the pharmaceutical solution and the plastic material is driven and controlled by the same thermodynamic and kinetic factors that regulate the interaction between the constituents of any comparable two-phased system. These physiochemical factors are delineated in this article, and their application to pharmaceutical products is demonstrated. LAY ABSTRACT: When drug products are packaged in plastic container systems, substances may leach from the container and accumulate in the product. The magnitude of this leaching, and thus the effect that leachables have on the drug product, is controlled by certain thermodynamic and kinetic processes. These factors are described and detailed in this article.
Induced immunological unresponsiveness to staphylococcus toxoid in rabbits.

Summary1. Rabbits exposed to staphylococcal toxoid early in life have a reduced capacity to respond to the same toxoid in later life as evidenced by development of low anti-hemolysin titers. 2. Resistance to dermonecrotic effects of staphylococcal toxin is also reduced by early exposure of rabbits to the toxoid. 3. The Arthus response does not play a role in development of lesions under conditions of these experiments. 4. The possible role of acquired tolerance and similar phenomena in infectious diseases is also discussed.
Assessing the Predictive Accuracy of Two Utility-Based Theories in a Marketing Channel Negotiation Context:

The results of the study show the robustness of two utility-based negotiation theories—group decision theory and Nash's bargaining solution—in accurately predicting outcomes of a marketing channel ...
Cardiovascular Effects of Continuous Dexmedetomidine Infusion Without a Loading Dose in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Background:Use of dexmedetomidine in pediatric critical care is common, despite lack of prospective studies on its hemodynamic effects.Objective:To describe cardiovascular effects in critically ill children treated with a constant continuous infusion of dexmedetomidine without a loading dose at highest Food and Drug Administration-approved adult dose.Methods:Prospective, pilot study of 17 patients with dexmedetomidine infused at a rate of 0.7 μg/kg/h for 6 to 24 hours. Heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) values over time were analyzed by a random effects mixed model.Results:Patients with median age of 1.6 years (1 month to 17 years) and median weight of 11.8 kg (2.8-84 kg) received an infusion for a mean of 16 ± 7.2 hours. There were no cardiac conduction abnormalities. One patient required discontinuation of infusion for predetermined low HR termination criteria at hour 13 of infusion; there was no clinical compromise and it coincided with planned extubation. Decreased HR of 20% from baseline was fou...
Automated Spacing Support Tools for Interval Management Operations during Continuous Descent Approaches

In this study, pilots were asked to achieve a specific time in trail while flying an arrival into Louisville International airport. Weather shortly before the start of the descent added variability to the initial intervals. A spacing tool calculated airspeeds intended to achieve the desired time in trail at the final approach fix. Pilots were exposed to four experimental conditions which varied how strictly the pilots were told to follow these speeds and whether speeds had to be entered into the autopilot manually. Giving the pilots more discretion had little effect on the final spacing interval. However, pilots required to enter speeds into the autopilot manually did not effectively manage their airplane's energy resulting in less accurate performance. While these results may not always generalize to alternative spacing implementations, one should not assume pilots manually closing the loop on automated commands can perform as well as a fully automated system.
The Cosmology of Arthur F. Bentley

“Realism” in systematic political science in this country began to emerge, in a reaction against the inadequacies of legal and institutional description, early in this century. David Easton, remarking the change, cites in evidence Arthur F. Bentley's attempt “to fashion a tool.” By midcentury, it may be said, Bentleyism is tooling the fashion. A recent commentator, deploring the current emphasis on methods and measurements, declares the new orthodoxy has left its mark on the profession no less than on the world and is partially responsible for our failure to identify and solve social problems. Yet, for all the talk about Bentley's influence, and despite the social significance of his ideas, there has been too little study of his theory of politics. I propose to examine his writings as those of a “realist” and to show how his search for both “realism” and a “science of politics” may lead to a surreptitious sanctification of the actual. In short, in this paper I shall argue that the implications of Bentley's cosmology are conservative.Bentley's political work had an ulterior end; it was not pure curiosity. “My interest in politics,” he said, “is not primary, but derived from my interest in the economic life, and … I hope from this point of approach ultimately to gain a better understanding of the economic life than I have succeeded in gaining hitherto.” The terms of his solution, expressed first in The Process of Government, reflected his understanding of the early twentieth-century midwestern social and economic structure. Influenced by social Darwinism and sociological realism, and rejecting legal and judicial formalism, Bentley advanced what could be called a “functional” theory, based upon what he later called the “transactional approach.”
Analysis of monitoring results of lead and cadmium in edible fungi in Gansu province in 2013

Objective To understand the contamination status of lead and cadmium in edible fungi in Gansu province and to provide reliable basis for formulating the monitoring program of food safety. Methods The contents of lead and cadmium were detected in edible fungi samples by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry( GFAAS),the first method of the GB / T5009. Results Among the total 182 edible fungi samples,the pass rate of lead was 100. 0%,and that of cadmium was 93. 4%. Conclusion The qualified rate of edible fungi was higher on the whole in Gansu province,but cadmium pollution in mushrooms and increasing cadmium pollution in mini shiitale mushroom should not be overlooked. Therefore,the monitoring of the entire mushroom production process should be strengthened to ensure the cadmium content in mushroom in accordance with the national hygiene standard,and the related departments should also strengthen the monitoring and inspection of edible fungi to ensure the food safety.
Understanding Treatment Effect Terminology in Pain and Symptom Management Research

Within health services and medical research, there is a wide variety of terminology related to treatment effects. Understanding differences in types of treatment effects is especially important in pain and symptom management research where nonexperimental and quasiexperimental observational data analysis is common. We use the example of a palliative care consultation team leader considering implementation of a medication reconciliation program and a care-coordination intervention reported in the literature to illustrate population-level and conditional treatment effects and to highlight the sensitivity of values of treatment effects to sample selection and treatment assignment. Our goal is to facilitate appropriate reporting and interpretation of study results and to help investigators understand what information a decision maker needs when deciding whether to implement a treatment. Greater awareness of the reasons why treatment effects may differ across studies of the same patients in the same treatment settings can help policy makers and clinicians understand to whom a study's results may be generalized.
Structure and Dynamics of Complexes of Interleukin-8 and its Receptor CXCR1 in Phospholipid Bilayers by Solid-State NMR

CXCR1, a G protein-coupled receptor for chemokine interleukin-8 (IL-8) is a key mediator of immune and inflammatory responses and is involved in various diseases, including cancer. Here we describe proton-detected fast MAS solid-state NMR studies of IL-8 and CXCR1 complexes in phospholipid bilayers. More than half of the IL-8 backbone residues were immobilized by the receptor and their chemical shifts significantly perturbed, suggesting that both dynamics and conformation of IL-8 are affected by interactions with CXCR1. Comparison of IL-8 spectra interacting with N-terminal domain and first transmembrane domain (1TM1-72), N-terminal truncated (NT39-350), and wild-type (WT1-350) CXCR1 constructs enabled mapping of IL-8 residues involved in interactions with N-terminal and extracellular regions of CXCR1, providing valuable insight into understanding the first step of the CXCR1 mediated signaling cascade. Long-range distance restraints obtained from intermolecular paramagnetic relaxation enhancement of unnatural amino acid HQA-incorporated CXCR1 constructs serve as crucial input for structure determination of IL-8-CXCR1 complex. Progress toward the determination of the CXCR1 structure bound to Gαi protein and the comparison of the structure of CXCR1 and CXCR2 will be presented.
Early versus delayed autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) in patients receiving induction therapy with lenalidomide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone (RVD) for newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM).

8540 Background: Lenalidomide, bortezomib and dexamethasone (RVD) is an active, tolerable induction regimen with superior response rates (≥VGPR rates of 80%) in newly diagnosed MM pts. However, the...
The effect of prazosin on outcome in feline urethral obstruction.

Objective To determine whether prazosin administration following urethral obstruction (UO) reduces the risk for recurrent urethral obstruction (rUO) or lower urinary tract signs, and to document adverse effects associated with prazosin use in cats. Design Double-blinded, prospective, interventional study. Setting University teaching hospital. Animals A population of 47 consecutive male cats with UO not associated with urinary tract calculi >2 mm in diameter. Interventions Cats were randomized to receive either prazosin (0.25 mg/cat PO q 12 h, n = 27) or placebo (n = 20) for 1 month following UO. Measurements and Main Results Cats were monitored for rUO, severity of lower urinary tract signs, and medication adverse effects during hospitalization and through weekly conversations with the owner during the 1- month study period and once more at 6 months following discharge. There was no difference in the rUO rate among cats that received prazosin or placebo prior to hospital discharge (2/26 (7%) versus 1/19 (5%), P = 1.00), during the 1- month medication period (4/26 (15%) versus 3/18 (17%), P = 0.776), or at 6 months following treatment for UO (7/19 (37%) versus 4/13 (31%), P = 0.811). There was no difference in the severity of lower urinary tract signs reported by the owners at the 1-, 2-, 3-, or 4-week follow-up periods among the cats in either group (P = 0.62, 0.68, 0.33, 1.00, respectively). Reported adverse effects from prazosin administration included lethargy, ptyalism, diarrhea, anorexia, and malodorous stool. Conclusions Although our study results failed to find a difference in the incidence of rUO and severity of lower urinary tract signs among cats receiving prazosin and those receiving placebo, these study results should be interpreted cautiously as our study was underpowered to identify such differences. Larger placebo-controlled, prospective studies are needed to determine the clinical utility of prazosin in prevention of rUO.
Inflammatory Arthritis of the Hand

Inflammatory arthritis is a group of diseases which can lead to a variety of characteristic orthopedic conditions, including deformity, tendon rupture, and joint destruction. Although the use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) has significantly decreased the need for surgery among patients with inflammatory arthritis, there is still a role for the orthopedic surgeon in management of these diseases. Surgical treatment includes a variety of procedures to reduce pain and improve function and appearance.
Molecular crowding defines a common origin for the Warburg effect in proliferating cells and the lactate threshold in muscle physiology

Aerobic glycolysis is a seemingly wasteful mode of ATP production that is seen both in rapidly proliferating mammalian cells and highly active contracting muscles, but whether there is a common origin for its presence in these widely different systems is unknown. To study this issue, here we develop a model of human central metabolism that incorporates a solvent capacity constraint of metabolic enzymes and mitochondria, accounting for their occupied volume densities, while assuming glucose and/or fatty acid utilization. The model demonstrates that activation of aerobic glycolysis is favored above a threshold metabolic rate in both rapidly proliferating cells and heavily contracting muscles, because it provides higher ATP yield per volume density than mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. In the case of muscle physiology, the model also predicts that before the lactate switch, fatty acid oxidation increases, reaches a maximum, and then decreases to zero with concomitant increase in glucose utilization, in agreement with the empirical evidence. These results are further corroborated by a larger scale model, including biosynthesis of major cell biomass components. The larger scale model also predicts that in proliferating cells the lactate switch is accompanied by activation of glutaminolysis, another distinctive feature of the Warburg effect. In conclusion, intracellular molecular crowding is a fundamental constraint for cell metabolism in both rapidly proliferating- and non-proliferating cells with high metabolic demand. Addition of this constraint to metabolic flux balance models can explain several observations of mammalian cell metabolism under steady state conditions.
Photodynamic Inactivation of Multidrug-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Using Hybrid Photosensitizers Based on Amphiphilic Block Copolymer-Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles

Multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has become one of the major causes of various infections, leading to morbidity in both healthy and immune-compromised populations worldwide. Herein, we report a novel type of hybrid photosensitizer based on amphiphilic block copolymer-functionalized gold nanoparticles. The design of the nanoparticles provides a facile means to incorporate hydrophobic photosensitizing molecules for use in aqueous media. The hybrid photosensitizers display greatly enhanced singlet oxygen generation and outstanding photodynamic inactivation (PDI) efficacy against MRSA under light illumination. These hybrid photosensitizers greatly improve the effectiveness of PDI against MRSA while not involving antibiotics.