cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Masquelet Reconstruction for Posttraumatic Segmental Bone Defects in the Forearm.

Purpose The Masquelet technique is a procedure increasingly utilized for addressing segmental bone defects. The technique involves staged procedures consisting of bone debridement and temporary spacer placement to induce membrane formation, followed by delayed bone grafting. This report summarizes our center’s experience with the Masquelet technique to reconstruct bone loss exclusively in the forearm. Methods We reviewed all cases in which the Masquelet technique was used to reconstruct segmental bone defects in the forearm resulting from acute trauma or nonunion, with or without infection, between 2014 and 2017 at a level-1 trauma center. Injury mechanism, prior surgeries, extent of bone defect, and demographic data were collected. Union was assessed along with treatment-related complications or reoperations. Results We identified 9 patients with segmental bony defects in the forearm treated with the Masquelet technique. Among this cohort, 5 patients had bone defects associated with acute open fractures and 4 patients presented with nonunion (1 atrophic and 3 infected nonunions). The median bony defect was 4.7 cm (range, 1.7–5.4 cm) at the time of grafting. Second stage grafting was performed with Reamer Irrigator Aspirator autograft from the femur in 8 patients and iliac crest bone cancellous graft in 1 patient. Union was achieved in all 9 patients. Six patients achieved union by 3-month follow-up, 2 patients by 6 months, and 1 patient by 12 months. One patient required a reoperation for plate fracture prior to union treated with revision internal fixation and grafting. Conclusions The Masquelet technique effectively reconstructed traumatic and posttraumatic segmental defects in the forearm with a low incidence of complication. Type of study/level of evidence Therapeutic V.
Characterization of Azirine and Its Structural Isomers.

The structures and spectroscopic properties of azirine (C2H3N), a nitrogen-containing three-membered cyclic molecule, and its isomers were studied with state-of-the-art ab initio quantum chemical m...
Siglec-1 Macrophages and the Contribution of IFN to the Development of Autoimmune Congenital Heart Block.

Given that diseases associated with anti-SSA/Ro autoantibodies, such as systemic lupus erythematosus and Sjogren syndrome, are linked with an upregulation of IFN and type I IFN–stimulated genes, including sialic acid–binding Ig-like lectin 1 (Siglec-1), a receptor on monocytes/macrophages, recent attention has focused on a potential role for IFN and IFN-stimulated genes in the pathogenesis of congenital heart block (CHB). Accordingly, three approaches were leveraged to address the association of IFN, IFN-stimulated genes, and the phenotype of macrophages in affected fetal cardiac tissue: 1) cultured healthy human macrophages transfected with hY3, an anti-SSA/Ro–associated ssRNA, 2) RNA isolated from freshly sorted human leukocytes/macrophages after Langendorff perfusion of three fetal hearts dying with CHB and three healthy gestational age-matched hearts, and 3) autopsy tissue from three additional human CHB hearts and one healthy heart. TLR ligation of macrophages with hY3 led to the upregulation of a panel of IFN transcripts, including SIGLEC1, a result corroborated using quantitative PCR. Using independent and agnostic bioinformatics approaches, CD45 + CD11c + and CD45 + CD11c − human leukocytes flow sorted from the CHB hearts highly expressed type I IFN response genes inclusive of SIGLEC1. Furthermore, Siglec-1 expression was identified in the septal region of several affected fetal hearts. These data now provide a link between IFN, IFN-stimulated genes, and the inflammatory and possibly fibrosing components of CHB, positioning Siglec-1–positive macrophages as integral to the process.
Competent or threatening? When looking like a “salesperson” is disadvantageous

Abstract It is unclear why customers perceive some salespeople to be helpful and others to be threatening. Salesperson stereotypes are often considered negative and threatening; however, salesperson stereotypes may also be positive and professional. Based on the concepts of stereotype threat and compound stereotyping, this research proposes that customers form opinions about the threat posed by specific salespeople based on: (1) the extent to which they feel threatened by stereotypical salespeople in an industry, (i.e., stereotype threat), and then (2) the degree to which the salesperson's appearance matches customer stereotypes about salespeople for that industry. Salesperson stereotypes are viewed negatively when they elicit a stereotype threat in customers and viewed positively when they do not. This research investigates an alterable appearance characteristic, salesperson attire, and a fixed demographic characteristic, salesperson gender, using three experimental studies and a field study. When salespeople belong to a demographic that is considered threatening to a particular customer, they can wear less formal attire to avoid stereotype threat. When salespeople are not considered threatening, they should conform to salesperson stereotypes of professionalism.
Racial differences in human papilloma virus types amongst United States women with HIV and cervical precancer

Objective:Recent studies reported a lower human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16) prevalence in cervical precancer among African American than Caucasian women in the general population. We assessed this relationship in women with HIV.Design:Women living with or at risk for HIV in the Women's Interagency HIV
Informing National Security Policy by Modeling Adversarial Inducement and Its Governance

Abstract The distinction between peace and conflict in contemporary international relations is no longer well-defined. Leveraging modern technology, hostile action below the threshold of war has become increasingly effective. The objective of such aggression is often the influence of opinions, emotions, and, ultimately, the decisions of a nation's citizenry. This work presents two new game theoretic frameworks, denoted as prospect games and regulated prospect games, to inform defensive policy against these threats. These frameworks respectively model (a) the interactions of competing entities influencing a populace and (b) the preemptive actions of a regulating agent to alter such a framework. Prospect games and regulated prospect games are designed to be adaptable, depending on the assumed nature of persuaders' interactions and their rationality. The contributions herein are a modeling framework for competitive influence operations under a common set of assumptions, model variants that respectively correspond to scenario-specific modifications of selected assumptions, the illustration of practical solution methods for the suite of models, and a demonstration on a representative scenario with the ultimate goal of providing a quantifiable, tractable, and rigorous framework upon which national policies defending against competitive influence can be identified.
What Attachment Styles and Love Styles Add to the Understanding of Relationship Commitment and Stability

In this chapter, I plan to show that the classic model of how commitment contributes to relationship stability can be enhanced by a systematic consideration of individual differences that are theoretically relevant to relationship processes and outcomes. The goal will be not only to show empirical connections but also to sketch a theoretical basis for incorporating these individual-difference parameters within a model of relationship interdependence or investment of the sort developed by Kelley, Berscheid, and their colleagues in Close Relationships (1979) and by Rusbult (1983).
A new reality: Fan perceptions of augmented reality readiness in sport marketing

Abstract Sport marketers have begun to adopt augmented reality (AR) in an effort to enhance the fan experience. Hence, there is a need to investigate fan perspectives of this new marketing tool. The current study investigated fans' perceptions AR activations within a sport setting. Findings indicated the visual appeal of AR is very influential on fans' intention to use an activation or provide positive word of mouth. While previous research in sport indicated the perceived ease of use of a technology to significantly influence consumers’ attitudes toward a technology (Kim and Chiu, 2019), the current study utilized smartphones as the vehicle to provide the AR and ease of use was not found to be significant. Hence, marketers should note that smartphone based AR activations will likely be deemed relatively easy to use as most people are intimately familiar with their phone and there should be a significant focus on ensuring the AR is visually appealing.
Abstract 136: Role of Periodontal Disease on Intracranial Atherosclerosis

Introduction: Periodontal disease (PD) is a chronic inflammatory process that affects gum and teeth. Due to the role of inflammation on atherosclerosis, we assessed the hypothesis that PD is associ...
Physician Well-Being

Burnout is a work-related condition. Although stress may be a part of emergency medicine, excessive levels of chronic stress can lead to maladaptive behaviors and burnout. Burnout can lead to decreased physician longevity and performance and poorer patient outcomes. The first step is recognizing burnout in providers. Efforts can then be made to identify modifiable or unnecessary sources of stress to help reduce chronic stress and burnout. Solutions should be found to eliminate or ameliorate individual-level and system-level sources of stress.
Chapter 61 – Short-Term Compumetric Forecast of Crude Oil Prices

Publisher Summary This chapter compares three forecasts of short-term oil prices using two compumetric methods and naive random walk. Forecasting oil prices remains an important empirical issue. Compumetric methods use model specifications generated by computers with limited human intervention. Users are responsible only for selecting the appropriate set of explanatory variables. The compumetric methods employed here are genetic programming and artificial neural networks. The variable to forecast is monthly US imports FOB oil prices. The resulting equations identified those variables most responsible for price changes. In the one-step-ahead model GP produced, variables, such as world crude production, the exchange rate, US crude production, OECD consumption, production and oil stocks, as well as OPEC production play a significant role along with lagged price changes. In the three-step-ahead model, similar variables including WP and US crude production, changes in OECD, and lagged prices rather than changes in prices play a significant role in determining future prices of crude. Each method is used to forecast one and three months ahead. The results suggest that neural networks deliver better predictions.
Cost-effectiveness of polatuzumab vedotin in relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

A recent phase II trial showed that use of polatuzumab vedotin in combination with bendamustine plus rituximab (Pola-BR) in transplant-ineligible patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) resulted in longer progression-free survival and overall survival compared to bendamustine plus rituximab (BR) alone. In this study, we constructed a Markov model to assess the cost-effectiveness of Pola-BR versus BR in transplant-ineligible R/R DLBCL. We calculated the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of each treatment strategy from a US payer perspective, using a lifetime horizon and a willingness-to-pay threshold of $100,000 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). Use of Pola-BR was associated with an incremental cost of $92,641 compared to BR alone ($200,905 vs $108,265, respectively), an incremental effectiveness of 1.76 QALYs (2.35 vs 0.59 QALYs, respectively), and an ICER of $52,519/QALY. These data suggest that use of Pola-BR for R/R DLBCL is likely to be cost-effective compared to BR alone.
A 3-D-Integrated Silicon Photonic Microring-Based 112-Gb/s PAM-4 Transmitter With Nonlinear Equalization and Thermal Control

Microring modulators (MRMs) with CMOS electronics enable compact low power transmitter solutions for 400G Ethernet and co-packaged optical transceivers. In this article, we present a 3-D-integrated 112-Gb/s pulse amplitude modulation (PAM)-4 optical transmitter (OTX) using silicon photonic MRM, on-chip laser, and co-packaged 28-nm CMOS driver. The 3- $V_{\mathrm {pp}}$ driver includes a lookup table (LUT)-based PAM-4 nonlinear equalizer to address static and dynamic MRM nonlinearities. An integrated thermal control method that is insensitive to input power fluctuations is proposed to compensate for the temperature sensitivity of MRMs. PAM-4 measurement results of our OTX at 112 Gb/s show that transmitter dispersion eye closure quaternary (TDECQ) < 1.5 dB is achieved from 28 °C to 55 °C with 7.4-pJ/bit energy efficiency including on-chip laser.
Pre-operative Hypoalbuminemia is Associated with Complications following Proximal Humerus Fracture Surgery: An Analysis of 919 Patients:

BackgroundProximal humerus fractures are among the most common presenting fractures to orthopedic surgeons in the USA. Hypoalbuminemia is accepted as a nutrition marker associated with post-operati...
Introduction to Safety and Security in Hotels and Home Sharing

This chapter provides an overview of hotels and home sharing, describing their contributions to the world’s economy. It also defines the terms used in this work, including “safety” and “security,” the key concepts that this brief examines. The central thesis of this work is set forth, which is that responsibility for safety and security in hotels is radically different from in home-sharing settings. Specifically, the responsibility that is largely placed on the corporate hotel shifts to the home-sharing hosts and guests, while counterintuitively the home-sharing company that sets up the transaction has no responsibility at all. Finally, this chapter sets forth the six primary questions that are answered in each of the chapters of this work: (1) What is home sharing in relation to the hospitality industry? (2) What do we learn from the safety and crime data on home shares? (3) Who has legal responsibility for safety and security in hotels versus home sharing? (4) What are contemporary safety and security practices used in hotels and home shares? (5) What does criminological theory suggest about sleeping away from home? And (6) what issues about home sharing has the advent of COVID-19 exposed?
The Future of Virtual Sports Ultrasound Education and Collaboration.

ABSTRACT: Sports ultrasound (US) is a rapidly advancing and expanding field, where "hands-on" education and real-time instructor feedback are paramount in developing this skill. In light of a global pandemic and limited access to instructors and educational conferences, sports US education must adapt to continue to teach future ultrasonographers. Virtual US education, conducted using various virtual meeting platforms not only allows for continued didactic education but also can virtually recreate the "hands-on" training sessions with live, immediate instructor feedback that is necessary for acquiring competence. Additionally, using these methods, sports US conferences can continue in a virtual manner, sports US education can expand remote areas, and collaboration among distant experts may increase, all without the cost of travel and extended time away from work. While immediately relevant because of the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual US methods may continue to be beneficial as sports US education and collaboration continue to expand.
Downstream entry revisited: Economic effects of entry in vertically-related markets

Abstract The earlier studies on the effects of entry in a downstream market where vertically-related and symmetric retailers resell a product purchased from an upstream manufacturer propose that if the downstream market is monopolized by the incumbent retailer and/or the (inverse) consumer demand function is linear, then the equilibrium wholesale price charged by the upstream manufacturer is invariant to the entry of his new downstream retailers. Consequently, in accordance with the conventional economic wisdom, entry raises the downstream-market quantity, lowers the consumer price therein and reduces the incumbent retailer’s profits. We disclose that all those effects of downstream entry under restrictive market conditions are reversed with the presence of a vertically-related retailer who serves a separate (and asymmetric) market in the distribution channel. Contingent on the degree of asymmetry on demand potential between two markets and the extent of product substitutability, downstream entry may: (1) have a positive/negative spillover effect on the upstream manufacturer’s equilibrium wholesale price; (2) raise both the downstream-market quantity and consumer price; and/or (3) increase the incumbent retailer’s profit. All those and other effects of entry in downstream markets adduced in extant literature vary with demand- and competition-related factors across downstream markets in a distribution channel.
The effect of water availability on the carbon and nitrogen isotope composition of a C4 plant (pearl millet, Pennisetum glaucum)

Abstract To evaluate the potential utility of isotope ratios in plant materials as an archaeological proxy for past crop water status, relationships between water availability and stable isotope ratios in C4 species must be established. This study quantified the isotopic values (δ13C and δ15N) of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) seeds and leaves in response to varying degrees of water stress. Under greenhouse conditions, we exposed five strains of pearl millet to three different watering treatments. Pearl millet seed δ13C values (mean and SD = -13.9 ± 0.5‰, n = 48) and leaf δ13C values (mean and SD = -14.8 ± 0.7‰, n = 75) were positively correlated with water availability across 75 plants from five strains. The magnitude of the relationship for seeds (0.24 ± 0.04‰ per 0.1 m3 m−3 increase in soil moisture) and leaves (0.24 ± 0.06‰) was similar. The five strains showed differences in bulk carbon isotope ratios but had indistinguishable responses to water availability. Water availability had no discernible effect on δ15N in any of these strains. These results suggest that, while in some cases sensitive to water availability, the differences in the isotope ratios of pearl millet seeds and leaves across treatments were not of sufficient magnitude for reconstructing past crop water status without additional information.
Multivariate Analysis in Pediatric Brain Tumor Research

Children's brain tumours are life-threatening, and more research is needed to improve patient care. Multivariate analysis has been more popular in recent years for tumour categorization (segmentation) and survival (outcome) assessment in children with brain tumours. This paper reviewed studies that applied multivariate analysis to pediatric brain tumor research in order to provide an overview of the field. In tumour classification investigations, large variability in tumour categorization outcomes were discovered. In addition, there was moderate error rate in the multivariate survival analysis model, which could lead to inaccurate survival estimates and misidentification of prognostic factors. To address these issues, this paper examined the data processing chains in these multivariate analyses in depth, suggesting that optimising and standardising these data processing chains could improve tumour classification and survival analysis, as well as reduce variations and errors in classification and survival estimates. In the Big Data era of the twenty-first century, as multivariate analytic approaches, data processing technologies, and imaging techniques advance, it is expected that the challenges in complex imaging data processing in tumour classification will be overcome, and complex data processing will be revolutionised. This will allow for accurate automatic tumour classification/segmentation, which will aid in the early detection and treatment of cancers, as well as the planning of therapy and monitoring of tumour progression and treatment effects. Further, with the advances of survival assessment to guide life-saving rescue and recovery planning, multivariate analytic methods and technologies will help revolutionize patient care, and truly benefit children with brain tumors.
Nonprofit External Communications: General Management, Public Relations, or Fundraising Tool?

In the nonprofit sector, effective communication with stakeholders is pivotal for promoting a good reputation, gaining financial resources and, eventually, pursuing an organization’s mission. Although nonprofits increasingly use and diversify their communication channels, such as social media platforms, existing research falls short of explaining how nonprofits institutionalize their different communication strategies. Drawing on institutional theory, this study attempts to bridge this research gap by exploring how nonprofits invest in their communication channels, both non-social media and social media communications, using a sample of U.S. nonprofit museums. The results of the study provide empirical evidence that nonprofits do not treat their non-social media and social media communication channels in the same way. In particular, a significant positive association between advertising expenses and social media channels indicates that nonprofit museums institutionalize their social media communication as the main function of public relations. Further theoretical and practical implications of the results are also discussed.
Adverse Childhood Experiences: Perceptions, Practices, and Possibilities.

BACKGROUND Adverse childhood experiences are negative life events occurring in childhood that can have long-term health effects. Many health professionals do not receive formal education surrounding childhood trauma, and few providers screen for adverse childhood experiences. OBJECTIVE This scoping review examines how current literature describes the perceptions, attitudes, and practices of health professionals and trainees regarding childhood trauma, identifies educational opportunities aiming to increase awareness for child trauma, and discusses screening for adverse childhood experiences. METHODS PubMed, PsycInfo, and Google Scholar were used to find articles. Key search terms included "adverse childhood experiences" or "ACEs," combined with terms such as "screening implementation," "Education, Professional" (Medical Subject Headings [MeSH]), "Education, Medical, Graduate" (MeSH), "Curriculum" (MeSH), "Health Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices" (MeSH), and "Attitude" (MeSH). RESULTS A large proportion of providers and trainees are unaware of the effects of adverse childhood experiences. Training opportunities can increase knowledge about adverse childhood experiences and promote trauma-informed care practices. However, the long-term effects of these trainings remain largely unexplored. Barriers such as a lack of time, resources, comfort, or consensus regarding how to ethically screen impede broader efforts to implement systematic screenings for adverse childhood experiences. CONCLUSIONS Adverse childhood experiences are a public health concern. However, health professionals and trainees are undereducated about their pervasive effects. Further research is needed on how to better educate health professionals about adverse childhood experiences and trauma-informed care. Adverse childhood experiences screenings could promote the early identification of childhood trauma, yet the ethics and effectiveness of screening must be further studied.
Wesley and Beyond: Integrating the Wesleyan Quadrilateral and 'Praxis Cycle' to support tertiary student theological engagement

AbstractChristian students often struggle with the challenge of integrating the faith of their upbringing and traditions with the critical perspectives and the plurality of viewpoints required in tertiary education. This article argues that a useful framework for integrating this diversity of viewpoints and their faith traditions is provided by combining the notion of a quadrilateral of four sources of knowledge that Christians most value, namely tradition, bible, reason and experience, combined with a theological reflection model, such as Thomas Groome’s praxis cycle, which promotes reflection on the application of these sources to life and mission. This enlarged epistemological framework is shown to be useful for promoting intellectual development and faith maturation, through a process of experiential learning such as described in the writings of David Kolb (1983). It is argued that this framework for learning and reflection is more closely aligned with holistic approaches of the ancient Hebrews and Sc...
Data Fusion of Acoustics, Infrared, and Marine Radar for Avian Study

A multisensor data fusion approach via acoustics, infrared camera, and marine radar is proposed and described in the application of avian monitoring. The ultimate scope of avian monitoring is to preserve the population of birds and bats, especially those listed in the endangered list, by observing their activity and behavior over the migration period. With the significant attention toward the construction of off-shore/on-shore wind farms in recent decades, the wind turbines are more threatening the avian life with increasing the risk of birds/bats collision with turbine blades. In order to address this problem, this paper proposes a fuzzy Bayesian-based multisensory data fusion approach to provide the activity information regarding the targets in the application of avian monitoring. The developed technique is used to process the Spring and Fall 2011 migration period.
Abstract 288: Rnd3/RhoE Regulates Cardiac Ryanodine Receptor Type 2 Stability

Rationale: Rnd3, a small Rho GTPase, is involved in the regulation of cell actin cytoskeleton dynamics, cell migration and proliferation. The biological function of Rnd3 in the heart remains unexplored. Objective: To define the functional role of the Rnd3 gene in the animal heart and investigate the associated molecular mechanism. Methods and Results: By loss-of-function approaches, we discovered a new role in which Rnd3 stabilizes the ryanodine receptor type 2 (RyR2) Ca2+ release channel. Genetic deletion of Rnd3 in mice resulted in embryonic lethality with heart failure and arrhythmia. Both Rnd3-/- embryonic and Rnd3+/- adult cardiomyocytes showed severe Ca2+ leakage. Single channel assessment showed the destabilized RyR2 channel, and this irregular spontaneous Ca2+ release was curtailed by protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor treatment. Further studies found that RyR2 protein was hyperphosphorylated by PKA in the mutant heart. Remarkable increases in the PKA activity along with elevated cyclic adenosine monophosphate levels were detected in vivo in Rnd3-null embryos and in vitro in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes and non-cardiac cell lines with Rnd3 knockdown. Moreover, we found increasing β2-adrenergic receptor (β2AR) protein levels, but no correlated mRNA changes in both the Rnd3-null heart and non-cardiac cells with Rnd3 knockdown. Immunoprecipitation analysis demonstrated that Rnd3 and β2AR physically interacted. Multiple post-translational modification analyses of β2AR revealed that downregulation of Rnd3 attenuated β2AR protein lysosomal targeting and ubiquitination, which in turn resulted in the elevation of β2AR protein levels contributing to the activation of PKA signaling. Rnd3 deficiency had no effects on the hydroxylation- and sumoylation-mediated β2AR protein degradation. Conclusion: Rnd3 is a unique stabilizer of RyR2 that impacts intracellular Ca2+ handling in the heart.
Gaussian perceptron; learning algorithms

The authors present a neural network structure whose nodes reflect a Gaussian-type activation function. Three learning algorithms are introduced and compared: the Gaussian perceptron learning (GPL) algorithm, which is based on the conventional perceptron convergence procedure; the least-squares error (LSE) algorithm, which follows the classical steepest descent approach; and the least-log squares error (LLSE) algorithm, which is a gradient method on a log objective function. In particular, the convergence of the GPL algorithm is proved. The performance of each algorithm is demonstrated through benchmark problems. >
TranSqueak - making the world a smaller place: on-the-fly translation of Etoy projects and instant messaging

This work presents an extension to the existing multilingualization work (ml7n) which allows people to collaborate on Squeak Etoy projects across different natural languages. Squeak etoys support several languages, both ISO-Latin based ones (erg., English, German, French), and nonISO languages (e.g., Japanese). Switching between languages for the Etoy tiles is fairly easy to support as the tiles provide a predefined set of words and phrases, which only need to be translated once. There are two areas where we need to go beyond the predefined and pretranslated set of phrases: user supplied names and communication between collaborators. This work presents an approach based on online translation services. We demonstrate a working prototype and a first analysis of the feasibility of this approach.
Dietary influences on tissue concentrations of phytanic acid and AMACR expression in the benign human prostate

BACKGROUND Alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase (AMACR) is an enzyme involved in fatty acid metabolism that is markedly over-expressed in virtually all prostate cancers (PCa), relative to benign tissue. One of AMACR's primary substrates, phytanic acid, is derived predominately from red meat and dairy product consumption. Epidemiological evidence suggests links between dairy/red meat intake, as well as phytanic acid levels, and elevated PCa risk. This study investigates the relationships among dietary intake, serum and tissue concentrations of phytanic acid, and AMACR expression (mRNA and protein) in the histologically benign human prostate. METHODS Men undergoing radical prostatectomy for the treatment of localized disease provided a food frequency questionnaire (n = 68), fasting blood (n = 35), benign fresh frozen prostate tissue (n = 26), and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) sections (n = 67). Serum and tissue phytanic acid concentrations were obtained by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. We extracted RNA from epithelial cells using laser capture microdissection and quantified mRNA expression of AMACR and other genes involved in the peroxisomal phytanic acid metabolism pathway via qRT-PCR. Immunohistochemistry for AMACR was performed on FFPE sections and subsequently quantified via digital image analysis. Associations between diet, serum, and tissue phytanic acid levels, as well as AMACR and other gene expression levels were assessed by partial Spearman correlation coefficients. RESULTS High-fat dairy intake was the strongest predictor of circulating phytanic acid concentrations (r = 0.35, P = 0.04). Tissue phytanic acid concentrations were not associated with any dietary sources and were only weakly correlated with serum levels (r = 0.29, P = 0.15). AMACR gene expression was not associated with serum phytanic acid (r = 0.13, P = 0.47), prostatic phytanic acid concentrations (r = 0.03, P = 0.88), or AMACR protein expression (r = −0.16, P = 0.20). CONCLUSIONS Our data underscore the complexity of the relationship between AMACR and its substrates and do not support the unifying hypothesis that excess levels of dietary phytanic acid are responsible for both the overexpression of AMACR in prostate cancer and the potential association between PCa risk and intake of dairy foods and red meat. Prostate 75:200–210, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Ignatius of Loyola On Medical Education. or: Should Todays Jesuits Continue To Run Health Sciences Schools?

There are present 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States, which together offer more than 50 health sciences degree programs. But as the Society's membership is shrinking and the financial risks involved in sponsoring health sciences education are rising, the question arises whether the Society should continue to sponsor health sciences degree programs. In fact, at least eight Jesuit health sciences schools have already closed their doors. This paper attempts to contribute to the resolution of this urgent question by reexamining Ignatius own views on health sciences education and, more specifically, his prohibition of the Society's sponsoring medical education. It concludes on the basis of an historical analysis of Ignatius' views that there is insufficient support for today's Jesuits to maintain their engagement in medical and health care education.
Diagnosing and managing cutaneous pigmented lesions: Primary care physicians versus dermatologists

BACKGROUND: Primary care physicians (PCPs) are often expected to screen for melanomas and refer patients with suspicious pigmented lesions to dermatologists.
Axial Dimension of the Human Cataractous Lens

Objective: To determine the axial thickness of the human cataractous lens and analyze the effect of age and axial length on its thickness. Method: The axial thickness of the human lens was measured ultrasonically with immersion technique A-scan at 1641 m/s in 600 cataractous eyes immediately before cataract surgery for visual rehabilitation. The axial length was similarly measured but at 1555 m/s. Results: The mean (±SD) thickness for all eyes in patients aged from 19 to 97 years was 4.63 (±0.68) mm, with a mean age of 69 (±12) years and a mean axial length of 23.65 (±1.28) mm. The thickness of the cataractous lens was directly proportional to age, with a mean of 3.78 (±0.21) mm in the third decade and a mean of 5.03 (±0.46) mm in the 10th decade. Using one-way analysis of variance, the differences were statistically significant ( P =.0002). The thickness of the lens was inversely proportional to the axial length of the eye ( P P Conclusions: The data confirm the fact that the lens thickens with age, at least in cataractous eyes. Axial length was shown to have an emmetropizing effect on lens thickness, being more optically powerful (thicker) in hyperopic eyes. These values are useful in determining average sound velocities for use with ultrasound A-scan instruments for measuring the axial length of the eye. Patients with axial myopia are more likely to develop cataracts at an earlier age than those with shorter axial lengths.
Uptake of Metronidazole and Its Effect on Viability in Trichomonads and Entamoeba invadens Under Anaerobic and Aerobic Conditions

[(14)C]metronidazole used at the chemotherapeutic concentration of 10 mug/ml is taken up rapidly by the anaerobic protozoa Tritrichomonas foetus, Trichomonas vaginalis, and Entamoeba invadens kept under anaerobic conditions. It can be calculated that within 30 to 60 min the intracellular concentration of the label is 50 to 100 times higher than in the medium. The presence of air markedly suppresses the uptake in the trichomonads and abolishes it in E. invadens. The suppression disappears after anaerobic conditions are established. The rate of uptake in T. foetus is dependent on the concentration of the drug in the range studied (1 to 200 mug/ml). Analysis of double reciprocal plots suggests that the drug enters the cells predominantly or exclusively by diffusion. The major factor driving the uptake is most likely the intracellular biotransformation of the compound. If less than 3 mug of drug per mg of protein is taken up by T. foetus no decrease in viability is observed. Above this level the cytotoxic activity corresponds roughly to the amount accumulated in the cell, irrespective of whether the conditions are anaerobic or aerobic.
Annealing effects on structural and electrical properties of fluorinated amorphous carbon films deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Abstract The annealing effects on the structural and electrical properties of fluorinated amorphous carbon (a-C:F) thin films prepared from C 6 F 6 and Ar plasma are investigated in a N 2 environment at 200 mTorr. The a-C:F films deposited at room temperature are thermally stable up to 250 °C, but as the annealing temperature is increased beyond 300 °C, the fluorine incorporation in the film is reduced, and the degree of crosslinking and graphitization in the film appears to be enhanced. At the annealing temperature of 250 °C, the chemical bond structures of the film are unchanged noticeably, but the interface trapped charges between the film and the silicon substrate are reduced significantly. The increased annealing temperature contributes the decrease of both the interface charges and the effective charge density in the a-C:F film. Higher self-bias voltage is shown to reduce the charge density in the film.
Molecular origin of the free energy dependence on the monomer sequence in random copolymer systems

The lattice cluster theory (LCT) is used to describe the monomer sequence dependence of the averaged free energy for an A-co-B random copolymer melt. This description is possible because the LCT considers local correlations (i.e., nonrandom mixing) and allows chemically different monomers to have different sizes and shapes as well as different interaction energies. In contrast to earlier theoretical approaches, the LCT treatment requires no ad hoc assumptions concerning the particular form of the sequence-dependent interaction parameters and employs no new adjustable parameters beyond those already appearing in the LCT for A/B homopolymer blends and for A-b-B diblock copolymer melts. The sequence-dependent contributions are extracted by comparing individual LCT diagrams for the free energy of random and diblock copolymer melts. Terms that differ for these two systems are identified as monomer sequence dependent. The sequence-dependent contributions are separated into enthalpic and entropic components. A d...
Geographical and temporal characteristics of inter-POP flows: View from a single POP

In this paper, we study traffic demands in an IP bacbkone, identify the routes used by these demands, and evaluate traffic granularity levels that are attractive for improving the poor load balancing that our study reveals. The data used in this study was collected at a major POP in a commercial Tier-1 IP backbone. In the first part of this paper we ask two questions. What is the traffic demand between a pair of POPs in the backbone? How stable is this demand? We develop a methodology that combines packet-level traces from access links in the POP and BGP routing information to build components of POP-to-POP traffic matrices. Our analysis shows that the geographic spread of traffic across egress POPs is far from uniform. In addition, we find that the time of day behaviors for different POPs and different access links also exhibit a high degree of heterogeneity. In the second part of this work, we examine commercial routing practices to assess how these demands are routed through the backbone. We find that traffic between a pair of POPs is engineered to be restricted to a few paths and that this contributes to widely varying link utilization levels. The natural question that follows from these findings is whether or not there is a better way to spread the traffic across backbone paths. We identify traffic aggregates based on destination address prefixes and find that this set of criteria isolates a few aggregates that account for an overwhelmingly large portion of inter-POP traffic. We demonstrate that these aggregates exhibit stability throughout the day on per-hour time scales, and thus form a natural basis for splitting traffic over multiple paths to improve load balancing.
Synthesis and structural characterization of the bitopic ferrocene-based tris(pyrazolyl)methane ligand Fe[C5H4CH2OCH2C(pz)3]2 (pz = pyrazolyl ring)

The structure of Fe[C5H4CH2OCH2C(pz)3]2 (pz = pyrazolyl ring) contains 1.5 independent molecules in the asymmetric unit. One molecule has no imposed symmetry with the iron atom located on a general position while in the other the iron atom is located on an inversion center. The two independent molecules are arranged into a three-dimensional supramolecular structure by a series of C—H ⋅s N and C—H ⋅s O weak hydrogen bonding interactions and C—H ⋅s π interactions. The crystals are triclinic, space group, P \(\bar{1}\), with a = 8.1202(4) A, b = 16.7209(9) A, c = 18.6540(10) A α = 85.8270(10)∘, β = 85.4740(10)∘, γ = 81.5910(10)∘, and Z = 3
Requirement of endogenous iron for cytotoxicity caused by hydrogen peroxide in Euglena gracilis

Abstract It is widely thought that redox-active metals in cells such as iron or copper catalyze the reduction of hydrogen peroxide to toxic hydroxyl radicals or their equivalent. However, this has not been directly demonstrated in vivo . To probe this requirement, the freshwater microorganism Euglena gracilis was used. Its intracellular iron content can be modulated by the concentration of iron in the defined growth medium without effect on the proliferation rate of the cells. E. gracilis contains two large storage pools of cytosolic iron which can be monitored to assess cellular iron status. The toxicity of H 2 O 2 in E. gracilis was inversely related to the amount of iron in the extracellular medium. At high levels of external iron, the metal carried out the Fenton reaction with H 2 O 2 outside the cell, producing hydroxyl radicals as detected by electron-spin resonance spin-trapping experiments. This reaction reduced the amount of H 2 O 2 that could diffuse into cells to cause toxicity. When cells with different intracellular iron content were placed in iron-deficient media, the the toxicity of H 2 O 2 , measured by inhibition of proliferation, was directly related to the concentration of internal iron. Using cells deficient in iron, this oxidant did not inhibit proliferation at low concentration but was somewhat effective at higher concentrations. Although the iron chelating agents, 1,10-phenanthroline and desferrioxamine, also depressed cytosolic iron, they were cytotoxic to E. gracilis and so could not be used unambiguously to examine the role of intracellular iron in the toxic effects of hydrogen peroxide.
An evaluation of surface-mine spoils area restoration in wyoming using rainfall simulation

A recently developed rainfall simulator was used to apply ‘rainstorms’ on restored spoils areas at two coal mining sites in Wyoming. Runoff and sediment yield were considerably greater from the reworked areas compared to similar measurements on nearby undisturbed areas. This may possibly be attributed to the fact that in the disturbed areas mean slopes were generally greater, there was more clay at the surface, and concentration of roots was not as great as in the undisturbed areas. The rainfall simulator appears to be a valuable tool in determining baseline data for later comparison with data form areas under rehabilitation.
Conflict and cooperation in American‐Soviet relations: What have we learned from quantitative research?

This paper reviews quantitative (primarily events data) research on the interaction between the United States and the Soviet Union. Cooperative actions appear to be primarily a reaction to the rival's behavior while conflic‐tual actions appear to be primarily a continuation of each nation's own past behavior. The principle of reciprocity appears to generally govern interactions but there are significant deviations from reciprocity. Each superpower appeared most likely to take conflictful actions and least likely to reciprocate cooperation when it was distrustful of its rival's aims, confident of its ability to win advantage in competition, and relatively unconcerned about the costs of competition. Patterns of interaction differ in significant ways from simple reciprocity, including reactions to deviations in, rather than the absolute magnitude of, the other's behavior and reactions to the difference between the rival's and one's own prior behavior.
Digitizing IKS: Epistemic complexity, datadiversity & cognitive justice

In contemporary African societies where multiple systems of knowledge coexist, and the use of informatics is becoming increasingly widespread, conventional perspectives drawn from cultural anthropology, environmentalism, development studies and intellectual property rights are insufficient guides to thinking about the digitization of indigenous knowledge. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, three moments in South African knowledge dynamics are used to probe some of the ontological, epistemological, and performative implications of science/IKS interaction in the design and construction of archives and databases of local plants. Twenty-first century databases of indigenous African medico-botanical knowledge need to assure that it is recontextualized historically and socially; that its multiplicity, visuality, and orality are retained; and that “articulation work” is done to make sure that design choices and use are cognitively just.
Necrotizing enterocolitis: role of platelet activating factor, endotoxin, and tumor necrosis factor.

Although many risk factors for necrotizing enterocolitis have been described, the pathophysiology remains poorly understood. We developed a model of ischemic bowel necrosis in the rat, similar to human neonatal NEC, by injecting platelet activating factor into the splanchnic circulation. In this review, we describe the role of PAF in shock and bowel injury, discuss some other mediators that may interact with PAF and contribute to the intestinal abnormality, and present evidence associating PAF and human NEC.
Performance of Multifilamentary Superconducting Wire in Solenoids and Prototype Synchrotron Magnets

This paper contains experimental results on the stability of pulsable solenoids and dipoles made from modern multifilamentary superconducting wires braided into a fully transposed ribbon conductor. Magnets made from composite wires containing very high ratios (1:1) of superconductor to matrix metal are very sensitive to conductor motion and exhibited considerable degradation and training. This behavior was less apparent in wires containing less superconductor even for an equivalent over-all current density. The use of "metallic" insulation to bond the individual wires into a solid ribbon greatly improves the performance of the 1:1 superconductors but introduces sufficient coupling between the wires in the braid to limit its use to dc or low repetition rate applications, at least with the bonding materials tested to date.
Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry Image Resolution and TBS Precision.

An ideal measurement should possess several critical characteristics. It should reflect an important condition. It should predict meaningful outcomes. It should scale in a predictable and consistent way. It should be reproducible, yielding consistent results on repeat measurement of the same subject. Bone mineral density (BMD) as measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) fulfills these desiderata, and the International Society for Clinical Densitometry has championed rigor in BMD measurement. Among the International Society for Clinical Densitometry’s most important and widely used tools is its precision calculator, which facilitates calculation of precision, and which is readily adapted to ‘‘any’’ measurement, not just BMD. The bone densitometry community has led other medical providers in recognizing the importance of precision and incorporating uncertainty about the significance of changes in repeated measurements. This nuanced view of precision is reflected in the concept of least significant change, which is a necessary component of DXA reporting (1). As new tests become available, defining their performance is an important task, and the various aspects of performance are addressed in a hierarchical fashion. Trabecular bone score (TBS) follows this expected pattern. The first wave of TBS research sought to establish its utility and achieved this goal by demonstrating its ability to predict fracture independently of established fracture risk factors (2). This work has established TBS’s potential utility and shifted the knowledge gap to understanding TBS’s performance in the context of the usual practice setting. Krueger et al. (3) is in the vanguard of what I will term the second wave of TBS-related publications. The authors exploit their existing data (4,5) obtained for the purpose of comparing