cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Patient safety from the perspective of quality management frameworks: a review

Patient safety is one of the overarching goals of patient care and quality management. Of the many quality management frameworks, Beauchamp and Childress’s four principles of biomedical ethics presents aspects of patient centeredness in clinical care. The Institute of Medicine’s six aims for improvement encapsulates elements of high-quality patient care. The Institute of Healthcare Improvement’s Triple Aim focuses on three aspects of care, cost, and health. Given the above frameworks, the present review was designed to emphasize the initiatives the system has taken to address various efforts of improving quality and patient safety. We, hereby, present a contemplative review of the concepts of informed consent, informed refusal, healthcare laws, policy programs, and regulations. The present review, furthermore, outlines measures and policies that management and administration implement and enforce, respectively, to ensure patient centered care. We, conclusively, explore prototype policies such as the Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment Program that imbues the elements of quality management frameworks, Hospital-Acquired Conditions Reduction Program that supports patient safety, and Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program that focuses on curbing readmissions.
The Influence of Timing of Reporting and Clinic Presentation on Concussion Recovery Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Identifying risk factors for prolonged recovery following concussion can assist clinicians with appropriate management strategies. It is thought that athletes who continue to participate following a hit to the head or body may take longer to recover following a concussion diagnosis. To systematically review the body of literature regarding the effect of delayed reporting and delayed presentation to medical providers on concussion recovery times. Systematic review with meta-analysis. PubMed, Ovid Medline, SPORTDiscus, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and hand searches of reference lists. All the searches were performed in April 2020. Studies included an investigation of immediate versus delayed reporting or early versus late presentation following a concussion, were published in the past ten years, and were level 4 evidence or higher. 12 studies were included. Patients who continued play or delayed reporting their concussion had significantly longer recovery times (standardized mean difference = 0.36 days (95%CI 0.066, 0.662) than those who immediately reported or were removed from play (p = 0.017). Expressed in raw scores, those who immediately reported recovered in 5.4 days (95% CI − 10.14, − 0.75) fewer than delayed reporters. Comparable results were found for post-concussion symptom scores (p = 0.034) with immediate reporters demonstrating lower symptom severity scores. Our qualitative synthesis found patients who presented earlier to a concussion specialist tended to recover faster than those who presented later. Patients who delayed reporting or continued play had longer recovery times compared to their immediately-reporting peers. Providers should ask concussion patients approximately how long they waited to report their injury, and also focus educational efforts on encouraging immediate reporting of concussion.
Modifying the Gut Microbiome Through Diet or Antibiotics Alters Bone Phenotypes in Older Mice

Objectives Gut microbiota have been shown to influence bone quality and quantity, both risk determinants for osteoporosis. Previous research in young mice showed oral antibiotic treatment during rapid bone gain impaired bone tissue quality. We sought to determine if modifying the gut microbiome of aged mice through diet or antibiotic treatment affects bone geometry and/or strength.
NPSV: A simulation-driven approach to genotyping structural variants in whole-genome sequencing data

Structural variants (SVs) play a causal role in numerous diseases but are difficult to detect and accurately genotype (determine zygosity) in whole-genome next-generation sequencing data. SV genotypers that assume that the aligned sequencing data uniformly reflect the underlying SV or use existing SV call sets as training data can only partially account for variant and sample-specific biases. We introduce NPSV, a machine learning-based approach for genotyping previously discovered SVs that uses next-generation sequencing simulation to model the combined effects of the genomic region, sequencer, and alignment pipeline on the observed SV evidence. We evaluate NPSV alongside existing SV genotypers on multiple benchmark call sets. We show that NPSV consistently achieves or exceeds state-of-the-art genotyping accuracy across SV call sets, samples, and variant types. NPSV can specifically identify putative de novo SVs in a trio context and is robust to offset SV breakpoints. Growing SV databases and the increasing availability of SV calls from long-read sequencing make stand-alone genotyping of previously identified SVs an increasingly important component of genome analyses. By treating potential biases as a "black box" that can be simulated, NPSV provides a framework for accurately genotyping a broad range of SVs in both targeted and genome-scale applications.
Prediction of Prostate Cancer Recurrence Using Quantitative Phase Imaging

The risk of biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer among individuals who undergo radical prostatectomy for treatment is around 25%. Current clinical methods often fail at successfully predicting recurrence among patients at intermediate risk for recurrence. We used a label-free method, spatial light interference microscopy, to perform localized measurements of light scattering in prostatectomy tissue microarrays. We show, for the first time to our knowledge, that anisotropy of light scattering in the stroma immediately adjoining cancerous glands can be used to identify patients at higher risk for recurrence. The data show that lower value of anisotropy corresponds to a higher risk for recurrence, meaning that the stroma adjoining the glands of recurrent patients is more fractionated than in non-recurrent patients. Our method outperformed the widely accepted clinical tool CAPRA-S in the cases we interrogated irrespective of Gleason grade, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels and pathological tumor-node-metastasis (pTNM) stage. These results suggest that QPI shows promise in assisting pathologists to improve prediction of prostate cancer recurrence.
Managing the Nuclear Legacies

The USA has accumulated a great deal of nuclear and chemical wastes as a result of the production of nuclear weapons and nuclear power. An unambiguous path to managing these legacy wastes, which continue to increase, has been blocked by science and engineering uncertainties, nuclear proliferation concerns, high costs, and compounded by the absence of a comprehensive national government policy framework and a clear public consensus about the issues. The public hears inconsistent and often contradictory messages from advocacy groups and the media, as well as from senior government elected officials and staff who have the responsibility to manage the wastes. In order to understand public preferences and perceptions about new nuclear missions at existing major DOE sites and public preferences for alternative electric energy fuel sources, CRESP surveyed US residents, disproportionately near six major DOE sites, in 2005, 2008, 2009, and 2010. In 2011, after the Fukushima events, another survey was conducted to determine the impacts of the Japanese events on the preferences and perceptions observed in the four earlier surveys.
A Diffusion Approximation for a Markovian Queue with Reneging

Consider a single-server queue with a Poisson arrival process and exponential processing times in which each customer independently reneges after an exponentially distributed amount of time. We establish that this system can be approximated by either a reflected Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process or a reflected affine diffusion when the arrival rate exceeds or is close to the processing rate and the reneging rate is close to 0. We further compare the quality of the steady-state distribution approximations suggested by each diffusion.
A synthesized definition of computer ethics

Computing ethics is a complex area of study that is of significant importance to the computing community and global society. However, research and education in computing ethics are difficult due to the diverse meanings of ethics. This paper presents details of a content analysis study that analyzed definitions of computer ethics. The purpose of this study was to educe and present the meaning of computing ethics, resulting in a thematic definition of computing ethics for use in education and research. This paper presents definition themes that emerged: interdisciplinary, collaboration, scholars and professionals, methodically study, practically affect, contributions and costs, computing artifacts, and global society. The results of this study can assist computing ethicists with research, aid computing educators with curriculum development, and provide a theoretical frame for relating ethics to computing. This exploration demonstrates that groups within the computing community can find common ground, even on such a difficult and complex matter as ethics.
Freshwater mussel assemblage structure in a regulated river in the Lower Mississippi river Alluvial Basin, USA

1.This paper documents a diverse, reproducing freshwater mussel community (20 species) in Lower Lake — an impounded, regulated portion of the Little Tallahatchie River below Sardis Dam in Panola Co., Mississippi, USA. 2.Despite being regulated and impounded, the lake has a heterogeneous array of habitats that differ markedly in mussel community attributes. Four distinct habitat types were identified based on current velocity and substrate characteristics, representing a gradient from habitats having lotic characteristics to lentic habitats. All four habitat types supported mussels, but habitats most resembling unimpounded, lotic situations (relatively higher current velocity and coarser substrate) had the highest mussel abundance and species density (10.1 mussels m−2, 1.8 species m−2, respectively). Lentic habitats (no flow, fine substrate) were characterized by lower abundance and species density (2.0 mussels m−2, 0.8 species m−2, respectively), but supported mussel assemblages distinctive from lotic habitats. 3.Evidence of strong recent recruitment was observed for most species in the lake and was observed in all four habitat types. 4.Although impounded and regulated, Lower Lake represents one of the few areas of stable large-stream habitat in the region. The presence of a diverse, healthy mussel community in this highly modified habitat suggests that a large component of the regional mussel fauna is relatively resilient and adaptable and is limited primarily by the absence of stable river reaches. Management actions that increase stream stability are likely to result in expansion of the mussel fauna and restoration of a valuable component of ecosystem function in this region. Published in 2006 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Alteration of liver glutamic dehydrogenase by chlorpromazine.

Abstract The effects of chlorpromazine on purified bovine liver glutamic dehydrogenase were studied. The amine at 5 × 10 −5 M. inhibited the reductive amination of a-keto-glutarate and the oxidation of glutamate, and stimulated the reductive amination of pyruvate catalyzed by the enzyme. These results are comparable to the effects of other modifiers of the enzyme described by other workers and apparently are due to an allosteric effect. The greatest change occurred around pH 8.5. With a- ketoglutarate as substrate the apparent K m for NADH was decreased, whereas with pyruvate it was increased by chlorpromazine. The K m for a- ketoglutarate was not affected by the amine. Chlorpromazine also appeared to inhibit the glutamate dehydrogenase activity of isolated rat liver mitochondria at levels that caused some uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation.
Densification by plastic deformation around spherical inclusions

Abstract The densification of a metal powder compact containing hard spherical inclusions is modeled. The inclusions are rigid and isolated, while the surrounding matrix material deforms according to a homogeneous non-hardening compressible plasticity description. Solutions are obtained for the limiting cases of small and large inclusion volume fractions and approximate solutions are derived for intermediate inclusion concentrations. These analytic results are shown to be in good agreement with complete finite difference solutions. The presence of inclusions increases the work required to densify the matrix by less than 15%, however the density is shown to asymptotically approach a non-uniform distribution.
Pharmacological Management of First-Episode Schizophrenia and Related Nonaffective Psychoses

Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness characterised by abnormalities of thought and perception that affects 1-2% of the population. Patients who experience a first episode of schizophrenia should be treated early and optimally with antipsychotic agents to lessen the morbidity of the initial episode and possibly improve the course of the illness. Positive psychotic symptoms remit in the majority of patients who are treated with adequate trials of antipsychotic medications, but most relapse within 1 year. Non-adherence is strongly related to the likelihood of recurrence of symptoms. Innovative programmes that integrate early intervention, psychosocial treatments and atypical antipsychotic pharmacotherapy show promise in improving outcomes. The available research supports the use of antipsychotic medications early in the first-episode of schizophrenia and for at least 1 year after remission of positive symptoms. Antidepressants, benzodiazepines and mood stabilisers have roles in the acute and maintenance phases of treatment for some patients. Atypical antipsychotics represent a great advance in the treatment of first-episode schizophrenia with strong evidence for greater tolerability with equal or better therapeutic efficacy. Future research will further define their roles in treatment and hopefully identify targets for prevention of first-episode schizophrenia.
A note on the optimum layout of electronic circuits to minimize the radiated electromagnetic field strength

An optimum layout for minimizing the radiation from a printed circuit board (PCB) is sought. A pair of tracks on a PCB is modeled as a transmission line. The manner in which the characteristic impedance (Z/sub 0/) of this transmission line affects the vector potentials of the radiation fields is discussed. Numerical simulation results are presented. A guideline for choosing an optimum layout spacing is provided. >
Developing measures of motivational orientation to read and write: A longitudinal study

Abstract The goals of the current study were to develop domain-specific measures of reading and writing achievement motivation that could be used with students at different grade levels in both intervention studies and developmental research. We framed motivation to read and write in terms of goals and definitions of success to address limitations of current measures by focusing on children's reasons or motives for learning or improving reading and writing skills. We used achievement goal theory to develop and test scales measuring achievement motivation (orientations) in reading and writing with a longitudinal sample of students in grades 2, 4, and 5 (Cohort 1) and 4, 6, and 7 (Cohort 2). Multiple-group confirmatory factor analyses provided evidence of congeneric grade invariance for reading scales including two dimensions of task orientation (mastery and interest), reading ego orientation and reading avoidance/alienation. More complex results supported congeneric grade invariance of writing scales for two dimensions of task orientation (social communication, creative self-expression), writing ego orientation, writing avoidance/alienation, and either ego-avoidance (4th & 5th grades) or writing mastery orientation (6th & 7th grades). Concurrent and discriminant validity were demonstrated through positive correlations between task orientation factors and measures of reading and writing attitude, and negative correlations between reading and writing avoidance and performance on the WIAT II. Reading and writing motivation scales were correlated in ways consistent with previous cross-domain research using achievement goal theory. Implications for developmental and intervention research in reading and writing are discussed.
Crystal structure of human quinone reductase type 2, a metalloflavoprotein.

In mammals, two separate but homologous cytosolic quinone reductases have been identified: NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase type 1 (QR1) (EC 1.6.99.2) and quinone reductase type 2 (QR2). Although QR1 and QR2 are nearly 50% identical in protein sequence, they display markedly different catalytic properties and substrate specificities. We report here two crystal structures of QR2: in its native form and bound to menadione (vitamin K3), a physiological substrate. Phases were obtained by molecular replacement, using our previously determined rat QR1 structure as the search model. QR2 shares the overall fold of the major catalytic domain of QR1, but lacks the smaller C-terminal domain. The FAD binding sites of QR1 and QR2 are very similar, but their hydride donor binding sites are considerably different. Unexpectedly, we found that QR2 contains a specific metal binding site, which is not present in QR1. Two histidine nitrogens, one cysteine thiol, and a main chain carbonyl group are involved in metal coordinat...
TPCK for Impact: Classroom Teaching Practices That Promote Social Justice and Narrow the Digital Divide in an Urban Middle School

U.S. schools have long struggled with what has been identified as the “achievement gap.” While the debate ensues in regard to an explicit definition for this phenomenon, research overwhelmingly demonstrates that students of marginalized populations remain on the lower end of most measures of school success. Accordingly, advocates of social justice point to the disparities of resources, including quality teachers, for students in poverty. As a part of this movement, access to appropriate technological resources in schools has become an issue, commonly labeled the “digital divide.” This study reviews evidence of teaching for social justice and impacting the digital divide through the analysis of classroom observations in one year at an urban middle school participating in school reform efforts.
Insulin-like growth factor axis abnormalities in prostatic stromal cells from patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a common proliferative disorder of unknown etiology. To assess whether patients with BPH have alterations in their prostatic IGF axis, we measured the expression (by Northern blotting) and the production (by Western ligand blotting and RIA) of insulin-like growth factor-II (IGF-II) and IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) in prostatic epithelial and stromal cell strains grown from normal (n = 7), hyperplastic (n = 7), and malignant (n = 5) surgical specimens. Levels of IGF-II messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA; normalized for actin expression) were 10-fold higher in BPH stromal cell strains compared to those in normal stromal cell strains (P < 0.0001). Western ligand blotting of conditioned medium (CM) from normal stromal cells demonstrated the presence of IGFBP-2, -3, and -4. In the CM of BPH stromal cells, IGFBP-2 levels were dramatically reduced to less than 20% of normal (P < 0.001). Additionally, IGFBP-5, which was not observed in significant amounts in normal stromal cel...
Close/positive margins after breast-conserving therapy: Additional resection or no resection?

The primary goal of breast conserving surgery or mastectomy is the prevention of recurrent breast cancer. The distinguishing goal of breast conserving surgery is preservation of a breast as normal in appearance as possible. If the margins of the excised breast cancer extend to the border of the excised specimen one cannot determine the amount of gross tumor that was not excised. Retrospective analyses of surgical series show a 2-3 fold increase in local recurrence of the breast tumor if the margin is positive under the microscope, even when the surgeon believed it to be clear on gross examination. This fact has led to a variety of techniques attempting to ensure that the margins of the excised specimen are free of obvious tumor including pre-operative and specimen imaging and mapping, neo-adjuvant therapy to shrink the primary tumor, touch-prep and frozen section of the specimen margins during the procedure, shaving additional margins about the specimen at the closest aspects grossly or on all six surfaces, and examinations of the in situ walls of the remaining breast with new instrumentation. An obvious approach to diminishing the likelihood of positive specimen margins is taking a wider margin of normal tissue. As the volume of resected breast increases by the cube of the radius of excised tissue, this tracks all too well with diminishing cosmetic results and patient approval of the conserved breast. The question posed regards the finding of a positive or close margin after the surgical procedure. The finding of a positive margin can be parsed to a microscopic focus of tumor at the margin vs. the margin inking on a tumor surface. The latter demands re-excision despite the morbidity involved barring an extraordinary contra-indication or patient refusal. It represents the very real possibility of sufficient residual gross tumor in the breast that even with systemic therapy and breast irradiation the tumor will be un-controlled. A microscopic focus separated from the bulk of the primary tumor and adjacent to a margin has not been shown to carry such risk. The margin of normal tissue beyond the primary tumor that significantly reduces the risk of local recurrence remains undefined. Sufficient data are available to say that in the era of systemic therapy, excellent radiation therapy techniques, and boost doses when indicated, no margin of normal breast tissue beyond the tumor has been shown to be clearly superior to a layer of cells between the ink and the tumor. The larger the tumor and the more aggressive its biology is judged to be the lower the confidence that a single layer of cells at the point of histologic study accurately represents a clear margin. As in all medical decisions wise judgment must integrate all of the known factors to reach the best recommendation. There are few circumstances that would warrant a second surgical procedure for a close but clear margin today.
Geologic influences on fluvial hydrology and bedload transport in small mountainous watersheds, Northern New Mexico, U.S.A.

Discharge characteristics in six adjacent mountainous watersheds in northern New Mexico, U.S.A., vary substantially between basins underlain by different lithologies. Relatively resistant gneisses and granites underlie two basins (drainage areas: 43 and 94 km2) that have high unit discharge (0·010 to 0·14 m3s−1 km−2), high bankfull discharge, and sustained high discharge. Less resistant sandstones and shales underlie four basins (drainage areas: 96 to 215 km2) that have relatively low unit discharge (0·001 to 0·005 m3s−1 km−2), relatively low bankfull discharge, and peak discharges that are not sustained as long as those in the crystalline terrane. Analysis of snowmelt-runoff water budgets suggests that three factors control hydrologic conditions in the basins. First, area-elevation distributions appear to control the timing and amounts of water input. These distributions probably reflect the erosional resistance of the different lithologies. Second, lithology appears to control runoff production in areas having minor amounts of storage. Third, glacial deposits in headwater regions control discharge duration and timing via storage and return flow releases. The amount of return flow released by glacial deposits, however, is probably controlled by the permeability of underlying bedrock. Therefore it appears that the duration, timing, and magnitude of discharge events in the study area are controlled both directly and indirectly by lithology. Stream power and shear stress estimates derived from bankfull discharge and bed-material size data suggest that higher bedload transport rates and larger bedload particle sizes exist in streams draining crystalline rocks than in streams draining sedimentary terrane. It appears that source-area lithology, by controlling discharge production, also influences stream power, bedload transport capabilities, and therefore total amounts of bedload transport.
Unusual Presentations of Primary and Secondary Esophageal Malignancies

Abstract Six patients treated recently at The Johns Hopkins Hospital illustrate diverse ways in which primary or secondary esophageal neoplasms can masquerade as other conditions, such as lower esophageal spasm, tracheoesophageal fistula, suspected aortic aneurysm, and stricture above a hiatal hernia. The first reported patient with plasmacytoma of the esophagus is presented. The diverse preoperative findings in these patients demonstrate varied and unusual guises of esophageal malignancies and stress the importance of thorough evaluation, tissue diagnosis, and operative exploration if necessary in patients with esophageal disorders. The value of palliative operative intervention for complications of secondary esophageal malignancies is emphasized.
Hyperphosphorylated neurofilament NF-H, S100β and NSE as indicators of severity of brain injury in children.

The aim of the study was to determine whether serum levels of biomarkers - hyperphosphorylated neurofilament NF-H, S100β protein and NSE - correlate with severity of brain injury and outcome in children with traumatic brain injury (TBI).
On bimodal differentiation by solidification front instability in basaltic magmas, part 1: basic mechanics

Extensive, coarse-grained silicic lenses are common in the upper portions of large diabase sills, lava lakes, and gabbroic intrusions. These lenses, which often contain up to 10 wt% more silica than their host rocks, record a clear process of bimodal differentiation that may play a fundamental role in generating significant quantities of silicic magma in predominantly basaltic systems. The spatial, compositional, textural, and contact relations suggest that these silicic segregations form by infilling of tears formed during gravitational instability of the upper solidification front. This process is investigated in some detail by exploring the thermal and mechanical conditions leading to internal failure of the front and segregation formation. As the upper solidification front grows inward and thickens, the local strength of the developing crystalline network must increase upward through the front sufficiently fast to offset the increasing weight of the front itself. This necessary local variation in strength dictates how crystallinity must vary to prevent failure. But the actual variation in crystallinity is determined by phase equilibria, which in general varies in a fashion that is noncovariant with that required for mechanical stability. It is this mismatch that apparently leads to failure and formation of silicic segregations. The rate of filling of the tears by porous flow of interstitial melt from below regulates the rate of tear opening, and the overall size of the tears is regulated by the local rate of advance of the solidification front. Segregations therefore thicken downward as the growth of the front slows and then die out altogether with approach of the lower solidification front. This process irreversibly introduces siliceous noise into basaltic systems. The silicic signal can be enhanced through subsequent reprocessing of the host rock to form volumetrically important masses of silicic magma. This process may be fundamental to achieving the strong compositional diversity of the igneous rocks, to yielding continental masses, and to the differentiation of Earth itself.
Scapular Sequestrum in a Horse A Case Report

A 15-year-old Morgan mare presented with a draining tract associated with osteomyelitis and sequestration of the medullary cancellous bone of the right scapula. Moderate lameness and muscle atrophy were present. Partial resection of the lateral cortex allowed exploration and debridement of the medullary cavity of the scapula. The mare returned to soundness, the muscle mass returned, but a small discharging sinus persisted.
Rethinking repetition in therapy: Repeated engagement as the social ground of learning

Background: Clinical aphasiologists have long attended to repetition in aphasia classification and used it in treatment. Within traditional approaches, repetition has been conceptualised narrowly as the ability to produce relatively immediate, verbatim reproductions of target behaviours; treatment protocols have relied heavily on drill, eliciting client repetition of targets. In sharp contrast, sociocultural theories conceptualise repetition as a fundamental, pervasive feature operating at every level of language use. Repetition thus includes partial and paraphrased as well as verbatim repetitions, across time as well as immediate. These theories also stress the communicative functions of repetition. With respect to learning, sociocultural theories emphasise the way such loosely structured, diverse patterns of repetition emerge in, and are prompted by, repeated engagement in meaningful activities. Aims: This study (1) presents a sociocultural approach to repetition in conversation; (2) illustrates that ap...
Bias produced by fast guessing in distribution-based tests of race models.

A comparison involving cumulative probability distributions of reaction time (RT) has been used to test race models of the redundancy gain observed in certain divided-attention paradigms. It has beenpointed out, however, that the presence of fast guesses wouldinterfera with this test, biasing it to accept race models. The present paper reports simulations carried out to determine the size of the bias introduced by fast guesses. In absolute terms, this bias can be quite large— exceeding 175 msec in some conditions. Simulations indicate that the bias increases with the percentage of fast guesses and with the latency difference between the lower tails of guess and nonguess RT distributions. Discarding and rerunning errors reduces bias somewhat, but a more elaborate “kill-the-twin” procedure reduces it much more.
Supersonic molecular beam and static gas phase spectroscopy of intermolecular hot bands associated with ν1 16O12C---1H19F

Abstract Gas phase rovibrational analysis of the ν1 (H stretching vibration) and its associated hot bands ν1+ν3−ν3, ν1 + ν51−ν51 and ν1 + 2ν5, −2ν5 are investigated using a broadband tunable color center laser spectrometer. Rotational and distortion constants associated with the low frequency intermolecular stretching (ν3) and bending (ν51) states are determined to be for ν3:B=0.100786(28) cm−1, DitJ=3.36(30)×10−7 cm−1; and for ν51: B=0.1029736(93) cm−1, DJ=3.598(41)×10−7 cm−1q=0.000235(15) cm−1. The precisely evaluated band origin frequencies permit determination of two anharmonic cross terms associated with the hydrogen bond hypersurface x13 = 8.634(20) and x15 = 5.4099(6) cm−1.
The influence of surface features on bacterial colonization and subsequent substratum chemical changes of 316L stainless steel

Abstract Biofilm-forming bacteria were found to selectively colonize specific surface features of unpolished 316L stainless steel exposed to flowing aqueous media. Depending on the types of bacteria present, selective colonization resulted in significant depletion of Cr and Fe relative to Ni in the surface film at these features. No such depletion was observed on uncolonized surfaces exposed to sterile flowing aqueous medium. The results demonstrate that non-random, initial colonization of 316L stainless steel surfaces by these bacteria leads to changes in alloy elemental composition in the surface film that are enhanced with time. These chemical changes may be a critical step that weakens the oxide film at specific locations, allowing halides such as Cl− ions greater access to the underlying bulk alloy, and thereby facilitates localized attack and pit formation and propagation.
THE IODOPROTEINS IN THE IODOTYROSYL COUPLING DEFECT.

A euthyroid child with a large goiter demonstrated the diagnostic criteria for the iodotyrosyl coupling defect. In spite of the presence of small amounts of thyroxine and T3 in the peripheral and thyroid vein serum, neither was found in thyroid gland hydrolysate. DIT and MIT were present in the gland in normal proportions. Almost all the 131I accumulated by the gland was incorporated into a protein molecule which migrated as albumin by starch-gel and paper electrophoresis. Salting out with ammonium sulfate likewise indicated the presence of a labeled protein with solubility greater than normal thyroglobulin. Rabbits immunized with saline extracts from the patient's thyroid produced circulating antibodies to both human thyroglobulin and serum albumin. It is suggested that the iodotyrosyl coupling defect may represent a heterogeneous group of disorders including defects in specific enzyme systems, subtle changes in the steric configuration of the thyroglobulin molecule, or synthesis of “thyroalbumin” in pla...
Beyond God-Talk: Understanding the Christian Right From the Ground Up

Contemporary debates over religious political discourse focus on the role that religion ought to play in the democratic forum. By emphasizing the normative dimensions of religious politics, however, these discussions overlook the structural conditions that shape the political actions of religious groups. To explore this more empirical side of religious discourse, this essay examines the political practices of James Dobson's Focus on the Family, a group that has steadily become the predominant voice in the conservative Christian movement. This case study shows that public discourse theorists underestimate the deep structural pressures that democratic institutions place upon the practices of religious groups. In particular, they overlook the two-fold effect of democracy: while the democratic process moderates Focus on the Family's use of religion in public debates, it also radicalizes their internal practices.
ISSUE FRAMING AND SECTOR CHARACTER AS CRITICAL PARAMETERS FOR GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING-OUT IN THE UK

This article shows that variations in how two UK governments justified contracting-out (issue framing), combined with shifting sector-derived incentives for union activism (sector character), can help explain the extent of contracting-out. Janitorial service, an activity of the UK government that should have been ‘low hanging fruit' for its prolific reformers, proved difficult to contract-out for Thatcher's New Right Conservatives, but easier to contract-out for Blair's New Labour. The New Right government framed contracting-out narrowly, as merely an improvement in operational efficiency, and its reform faced unions that stood to lose a great deal from movement of janitorial jobs to private firms. In contrast, the New Labour government framed contracting-out broadly, as a means to efficient social justice, and faced unions with low stakes in government janitors. As a consequence, UK government units could expect lower benefit and higher cost from contracting-out janitors under Thatcher than they would under Blair.
Postoperative intussusception in children

Intussusception in the postoperative period is an unusual yet potentially fatal surgical complication. We present 3 illustrative cases and contrast postoperative intussusception with the more common classic childhood intussusception. Physician awareness of this condition is critical for early recognition and treatment.
Motivation and development of ultrafast laser-based accelerator techniques for chemical physics research

Abstract The products of radiation induced chemical reactions are determined by rapid primary processes such as energy transfer, thermalization and solvation. Ultrafast photoionization experiments on liquid water demonstrate that these initial events occur on time scales
Results from the Magsat mission

The results of analyses of the data gathered by Magsat on the geomagnetic field, crustal magnetic anomalies, fields arising from external current systems, and in investigations of the earth's core, mantle, and core-mantle boundary are presented. A least squares potential function showed that the geomagnetic field was 30,000-50,000 nanoteslas at the Magsat altitude, while fields from external sources were 0-1000 nanoteslas and those from crustal sources 0-50 nanoteslas. Long-wavelength magnetic anomalies were correlated with tectonic features, sometimes reflecting undulations in the Curie isotherm at other times changes in the structure of the lower crust. Detailed anomaly maps from regional data analyses are provided, and possible future spacecraft missions for improving the resolution of contours and strengths of the anomalies are described.
Aspirin Prevents the Disruption of the Blood–Aqueous Barrier in the Rabbit Eye

THE acutely traumatized mammalian eye shows an irritative response, characterized by hyperaemia of the conjunctiva and iris, miosis, disruption of the blood–aqueous barrier, and a transient increase in intraocular pressure followed by relative hypotony. One sign of the disruption of the barrier is a positive aqueous flare, with increased concentrations of blood proteins in the aqueous humour. Stimuli that elicit all or part of this response in the rabbit eye include nitrogen mustard instillation in the conjunctival sac1, subcutaneous injection of melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH)2, stroking the iris3,4 or cornea5, infrared irradiation of the iris6, mechanical stimulation of the trigeminal nerve7, and anterior chamber paracentesis8.
Bone resorption in parathyroid carcinoma

A man in his 30s with a history of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and metastatic parathyroid carcinoma presented to the hospital with severe shortness of breath, hypercalcaemia and diffuse bone pain. Chest radiograph (figure 1A) demonstrated profound demineralisation, and the distal phalanges appeared abnormal (figure 1B) due to bony resorption characteristic of severe hyperparathyroidism. Parathyroid …
Gas-phase coupling of reactive surfaces by oscillating reactant clouds

Abstract The collective, global behavior of a heterogeneous catalytic system depends on the effective communication of local reactivity variations to distant points in the system. One particularly efficient mode of communication occurs via partial pressure fluctuations in the gas-phase above the reactive surface. Although gas-phase communication has been implicated in a number of heterogeneous systems, the details of this coupling mechanism are lacking due to experimental difficulties in addressing local variations in surface and gas-phase activity simultaneously. Here, we take advantage of a spatially distributed system of isolated chemical oscillators to investigate the details of gas-phase communication in the 10 −3 mbar range. Characterization of local gas-phase oscillations, in parallel with kinetic oscillations on the surface, provides a novel description of the surface/gas-phase interaction under reaction conditions. This analysis further allows for a quantitative estimate of the effective gas-phase coupling length scale observed in surface imaging experiments.
Untersuchungen des magnetischen Zirkulardichroismus, XXIV1) Kinetische Untersuchungen der Tryptophanoxidation in Proteinen

Die Oxidation von Tryptophan mit Wasserstoffperoxid wurde an Hand des Intensitatsabfalls des positiven B-Terms des magnetischen Zirkulardichroismus bei 290–292 nm kinetisch verfolgt. In erster Naherung ist die Reaktion erster Ordnung in Bezug auf Tryptophan. – Wahrend der Reaktion werden mehrere Produkte gebildet; das Hauptprodukt entsteht durch oxidative Spaltung der 2,3-Doppelbindung des Indolrings. Die Reaktionskonstanten fur die Oxidation von Lysozym und Chymotrypsinogen A sind wesentlich kleiner als die der Oxidation von freiem Tryptophan. Nur am Beispiel des Lysozyms war es moglich, Tryptophanreste mit verschiedener Reaktivitat zu unterscheiden: Ein Tryptophanrest reagiert wesentlich schneller als die restlichen funf. Mit Hilfe des naturlichen Zirkulardichroismus wurde gefunden, das nach 90proz. Oxidation des Tryptophans im Lysozym der α-Helixanteil um 40% Vermindert ist. Dies deutet darauf hin, das die Tertiarstruktur des Proteins teilweise zerstort wurde. Magnetic Circular Dichroism Studies, XXIV1). – Kinetic Studies of the Oxidation of Tryptophan in Proteins. The oxidation of tryptophan with hydrogen peroxide was followed kinetically by recording the intensity decrease of the positive magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) B-term at 290–292 nm. To a first approximation the reaction is of first order with respect to tryptophan. – Several products are formed in the course of the reaction, but the main component results from the oxidative cleavage of the 2,3 double bond of the indole ring. The reaction rate is considerably smaller for lysozyme and chymotrypsinogen A than for free tryptophan. Only in the case of lysozyme could tryptophan residues with different reactivities be distinguished, one residue reacting faster than the other five. From the circular dichroism spectrum of lysozyme after 90% oxidation a 40% decrease of α-helix content is evident, indicating that the tertiary structure of the protein is partly destroyed.
Inhaled drugs of abuse enhance serotonin-3 receptor function

Despite the prevalence of their use, little is currently known of the molecular mechanisms of action of inhaled drugs of abuse. Recent studies have shown effects on NMDA, GABA(A) and glycine receptors in vitro, suggesting that inhalants may exert at least some of their pharmacological effects on ligand-gated ion channels. Enhancement of serotonin-3 receptor function has been shown to play a role in the reinforcing properties of drugs of abuse. We tested the hypothesis that the commonly abused inhaled agents 1,1,1-trichloroethane, trichloroethylene, and toluene enhance serotonin-3 receptor function. All three inhalants significantly and reversibly potentiated, in a dose-dependent manner, serotonin-activated currents mediated by mouse serotonin-3A receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Our findings add the serotonin-3 receptor to the growing list of molecular targets commonly affected by both inhalants and classic CNS depressants such as ethanol and the volatile anesthetics.
Hierarchical robotic crane system for post grid array environments

A robotic system of crane systems is proposed and simulated for a vanilla pollination application. The system could be used for other applications where a grid of posts is serviced in an area suitable for overhead cranes. Existing crane systems could work together with new crane equipment in a hierarchical manner. A docking crane system with two or more six degrees of freedom cranes services the area around posts upon which it docks. Vision is used for subject recognition and control feedback.
Use of human acellular dermal matrix for hernia repair: Friend or foe?

Background Surgeons continue to search for the ideal prosthetic material to repair complex abdominal wall hernias. Recently, a new biologic material was introduced into the surgeon's arsenal. The purpose of this study is to review a single institution's experience with the use of human acellular dermal matrix (HADM [AlloDerm]) for repair of hernias. Methods This was a retrospective review of all patients who received HADM for repair of an abdominal wall hernia. Patient demographics, comorbidities, wound contamination, operative technique, complications, and hernia recurrence were analyzed. Results Between May 2004 and October 2007, HADM was implanted in a total of 46 patients undergoing repair of a ventral hernia. The average age was 54 years (range, 26–77), with an average American Society of Anesthesiologists classification of 2.5 (range, 1–4). Indications for use of HADM included complex ventral hernia repair ( n = 34), mesh infection/enterocutaneous fistula ( n = 10), and peritonitis ( n = 2). The incidences of comorbidities were hypertension in 47%, diabetes mellitus in 16%, and coronary artery disease in 11%. The majority (87%; n = 40) of the procedures were performed on an elective basis. Seventeen procedures were performed in contaminated wounds. The HADM was placed as reinforcement to the hernia repair in 26 patients and as a “bridge” between the fascial edges in 20 patients. The average follow-up was 12.1 months. Wound complications were frequent at 54%. There were 6 recurrent hernias and 8 patients with eventration of the bioprosthesis so that the recurrent hernia rate was 30%. None of the recurrences were associated with a postoperative wound infection. The majority (88%) of patients who developed eventration of the HADM had a repair using the bioprosthesis to “bridge” an abdominal wall defect. Hernia recurrence and eventration were not associated with use of HADM in a contaminated/infected wound. Conclusions HADM is a suitable prosthesis for repair of complex and routine abdominal wall defects. This bioprosthesis can incorporate into contaminated tissue without becoming infected. Eventration occurs when HADM is utilized as a fascial replacement rather than as a reinforcement.
EFFECT OF MATERNAL HYPOXIA ON FETAL RAT BRAINS

Cerebral metabolic and neuropathologic changes in fetal rats were examined during and following maternal hypoxia. Term pregnant rats were tracheostomized or intubated, paralyzed, and artificially ventilated with 40%, 15% or 10% O2-balance N2O. Maternal acid-base and cardiovascular status was monitored. Dams then were subjected to C-section or allowed to recover and deliver spontaneously.
The effects of extracellular K+ and angiotensin II on cytosolic Ca++ and steroidogenesis in adrenal glomerulosa cells.

We evaluated changes in cytosolic calcium concentration (Ca++) and steroidogenesis in rat adrenal glomerulosa cells (GC) stimulated with potassium (K+) or angiotensin II (AII). Cytosolic Ca++ concentration was determined using the Ca++-sensitive, fluorescent dye QUIN 2. Raising extracellular K+ increased cytosolic Ca++ from 267±23 nM at 3.7 mM K+ to a maximum of 377±40 nM at 8.7 mM K+ (p<0.01, N=23). AII also increased cytosolic Ca++ from 238±20 nM to a maximum of 427±42 nM at 10−7M (p<0.01, N=16). In parallel studies, K+ and AII stimulated aldosterone secretion from QUIN 2-loaded GC at concentrations similar to those which raised cytosolic Ca++. QUIN 2-loaded cells were as responsive steroidogenically as unloaded cells and showed trypan blue exclusion of 98% suggesting that QUIN 2 did not compromise cellular viability. These results provide direct support for a role of cytosolic Ca++ as a second messenger during stimulation of aldosterone secretion by both K+ and AII.