cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Electroencephalographic Correlates of Nerve Agent Poisoning

Convulsions and seizure activity are major signs of central nervous system (CNS) toxicity induced by organophosphorus (OP) anticholinesterases. Descriptions of the electroencephalographic (EEG) phenomena that accompany anticholinesterase (antiChE) poisoning can be traced back to the early 1940fs. Using the then relatively new technique for recording brain activity by electroencephalography, Miller et al. (1940) described the effect of direct application of several cholinergic drugs to cerebral cortex in anesthetized cats and rabbits. Although the EEG techniques utilized might be considered crude by contemporary standards, results from this early EEG study are consistent with our current understanding of the effects of antiChE drugs on the CNS. Three basic classes of EEG waves were described in this study: slow (1.3–10 Hz), fast (11–40 Hz) and “dot” waves (50–100 Hz). The so-called “dot” waves were named because of their appearance as slight discontinuities in the oscilloscope sweeps; apparently the electronic equipment of the time was too slow to accurately follow 50–100 Hz activity. The antiChE agent eserine sulfate (1% solution) produced three major effects on the EEG when applied directly to the cortex: 1) a decrease in amplitude of the slow waves, 2) a decrease in high amplitude fast waves, and 3) an apparent increase in smaller amplitude fast and “dot” wave activities. The description of these effects is generally consistent with the modern-day definition of EEG desynchronization or arousal.
Taxi Drivers: A Target Population for the Prevention of Transmissible Disease?

We set out to assess the feasibility and uptake of an on-site influenza vaccination campaign targeting taxi drivers in airport taxicab lots in Chicago, Illinois. Influenza vaccine was provided by the Chicago Department of Public Health as this event aligned with ongoing efforts to provide influenza vaccinations throughout the city. Clinicians and clinic support staff were volunteers recruited from the University of Chicago Medicine and incorporated nursing staff, physicians, physician residents, and administrative support. Together, this allowed for a cost-effective approach to provide free influenza vaccines to the primarily uninsured taxi driver population. During these events, 545 taxi drivers received influenza vaccine in 2012 while 354 drivers were immunized in 2013. Nearly all drivers reported uninsured or under-insured status. The ability to use volunteers and healthcare organization’s desires to meet the needs of the community, in collaboration with often under-staffed but highly dedicated local health departments have the potential to offer valuable public health services to underserved members of the community. Educational initiatives targeting vaccine hesitancy and misinformation may be necessary to improve immunization coverage among this population.
Interspecific Differences in Hearing Capabilities for Select Teleost Species

Recent anatomical studies have demonstrated considerable interspecific variability in both gross and ultrastructural features of the auditory system in fish (Piatt and Popper, Chapter 1) and electrophysiological investigations have pointed to interspecific differences in the relative pressure and motion sensitivity of the fish ear (see Fay and Popper 1980 for review). It is reasonable to expect that the auditory capabilities of different fish species may reflect some of these anatomical and neurophysiological differences.
Delay discounting in schizophrenia

Background. It is well known that individuals with schizophrenia have dopaminergic abnormalities as well as memory-related difficulties, both of which are associated with impulsive decision making. We used a delay discounting measure to test the degree to which patients make future-oriented decisions. Methods. 42 patients with schizophrenia and 29 healthy participants completed a delay discounting measure along with tests of cognitive function and, in patients, symptom ratings. Results. Patients discounted more steeply than did comparison participants. Discounting among patients related to memory capacity and tended to relate inversely to negative symptoms. Conclusions. The impulsive decision making evidenced by patients suggests that they may be prone to choosing immediate over long-term rewards, even when their interests are better served by choosing the latter. Improving cognitive function may enhance their ability to make future-oriented decisions.
Nutritional interpretation of folic acid interventions.

Folate is an essential micronutrient, and its nutritional inadequacy is widespread; hence, programs to increase its intake are necessary. However, many concerns about possible adverse effects due to excesses have been raised. Serum folate levels are directly correlated with intake and, when low, are associated with neural tube defects (NTD), high blood homocysteine levels, and megaloblastic anemia. Serum folate cutoff points have been identified for each abnormality, and all can be associated with intakes related to the current recommended dietary parameters. Likewise, high intakes that overwhelm the physiological capacity to process folic acid into biologically active folate derivatives are near the recommended tolerable upper intake level. Although we do not know with certainty the minimum efficacious dose that prevents all folate-dependent NTD, it may actually be much lower than the current recommendation, especially when provided through food fortification; supplemental intakes around 100 mg/day appear to be appropriate. © 2009 International Life Sciences Institute
Effect of crop growth and canopy filtration on the dynamics of plant disease epidemics spread by aerially dispersed spores.

Ferrandino, F. J. 2008. Effect of crop growth and canopy filtration on the dynamics of plant disease epidemics spread by aerially dispersed spores. Phytopathology 98:492-503. Most mathematical models of plant disease epidemics ignore the growth and phenology of the host crop. Unfortunately, reports of disease development are often not accompanied by a simultaneous and commensurate evaluation of crop development. However, the time scale for increases in the leaf area of field crops is comparable to the time scale of epidemics. This simultaneous development of host and pathogen has many ramifications on the resulting plant disease epidemic. First, there is a simple dilution effect resulting from the introduction of new healthy leaf area with time. Often, measurements of disease levels are made pro rata (per unit of host leaf area or total root length or mass). Thus, host growth will reduce the apparent infection rate. A second, related effect, has to do with the so-called “correction factor,” which accounts for inoculum falling on already infected tissue. This factor accounts for multiple infection and is given by the fraction of the host tissue that is susceptible to disease. As an epidemic develops, less and less tissue is open to infection and the initial exponential growth slows. Crop growth delays the impact of this limiting effect and, therefore, tends to increase the rate of disease progress. A third and often neglected effect arises when an increase in the density of susceptible host tissue results in a corresponding increase in the basic reproduction ratio, R0, defined as the ratio of the total number of daughter lesions produced to the number of original mother lesions. This occurs when the transport efficiency of inoculum from infected to susceptible host is strongly dependent on the spatial density of plant tissue. Thus, crop growth may have a major impact on the development of plant disease epidemics occurring during the vegetative phase of crop growth. The effects that these crop growth-related factors have on plant disease epidemics spread by airborne spores are evaluated using mathematical models and their importance is discussed. In particular, plant disease epidemics initiated by the introduction of inoculum during this stage of development are shown to be relatively insensitive to the time at which inoculum is introduced.
Suicide: bad act or good intervention.

This article develops a different perspective on the ethics of suicide, based on theoretical and clinical grounds. In terms of value theory, applying "good" or "bad" to the suicide act makes no sense. We need to shift our focus from a search for an ethical statement about suicide (e.g., "rational suicide") to the ethical justification for intervention based on the needs and interests of an affirming therapeutic profession. We choose to intervene because of values we hold about well-functioning, existence, potential for human life; and because as emphatic, social beings, we feel for others and are motivated by that feeling. This justification leads us to suggest a situational case-centered ethics for suicide intervention.
Increasing Women’s Political Participation in Lebanon: Reflections on Hurdles, Opportunities and Hope

Lebanon stands out in the Middle East for its relative political openness, religious freedom, and the academic and professional achievements of Lebanese women. Yet, paradoxically, it has one of the lowest rates of women’s political participation in the region. This paper is the result of an initiative undertaken by the Lebanese government in July 2012 to increase women’s political participation. Through this initiative, sex-segregated workshops on women’s political empowerment were held for male and female representatives of Lebanon’s political parties. The goal was to start a productive conversation that would ultimately lead to progress from the 2012 status quo of women constituting only three percent of the National Parliament of Lebanon. In this paper, we will describe the process and content explored during the women’s political empowerment workshops. Opportunities to affect change of the current level of women’s participation will be highlighted and conclusions will be drawn to aid similar initiatives.
Selective Factors Associated with the Origin of Fur and Feathers1

Abstract Conventional wisdom notwithstanding, fur and feathers are unlikely to have arisen in direct association with elevated metabolic rates in early mammals, birds, or their ancestors. A complete insulative fur coat probably appeared first in the earliest mammals long after mammalian ancestors (therapsids) had attained mammalian, or near-mammalian, metabolic rates. The evolution of feathers was unlinked to the evolution of modern avian metabolic rates since early, fully flighted birds (i.e., Archaeopteryx) retained an ectothermic metabolic status. Recent claims of “feathered dinosaurs” should be regarded with caution.
Digitonin permeabilization procedures for the study of endosome acidification and function.

Publisher Summary This chapter describes a method for the study of endosome acidification using a digitonin-permeabilized cell assay. Digitonin can be used to permeabilize the plasma membrane of rabbit alveolar macrophages selectively without affecting intracellular membrane integrity. Endosomes remain functionally intact after digitonin permeabilization. This technique has proved to be an easy and rapid procedure to gain access to the cytoplasmic side of endosomes. Because other cell types are also amenable to selective digitonin permeabilization, this technique for plasma membrane permeabilization should be generally applicable. This technique can be applied to the study of other endosomal functions. Studies of anion and cation fluxes across the endosomal membrane should be possible. Specifically, the transport of Ca 2+ could be addressed by this method because the mannose receptor exhibits Ca 2+ - dependent ligand binding.
Prompt-Neutron Lifetime in Critical Enriched-Uranium Metal Cylinders and Annuli

Prompt-neutron lifetimes have been determined for unreflected and unmoderated critical assemblies of enriched-uranium metal (93.15% U235) in cylindrical geometry. Five solid cylinders ranging in di...
“Wow, I get to choose now!” Bilingualism and biliteracy development from childhood to young adulthood

ABSTRACTMuch research has focused on the reasons and mechanisms for immigrant language loss. However, there is a scarcity of research about influences on language maintenance over time, and much of this work employs survey data. With the current study, we aim to contribute to this body of research with a qualitative study of a bilingual individual, Esperanza Sada (a self-selected pseudonym), and her language and literacy development, beginning in late elementary school and concluding with a follow-up at age 22. We employed a language ideologies framework to interpret Esperanza’s language and literacy practices, as well as the social, political, and educational contexts in which they developed. This long-term examination allowed us to understand more about the mechanisms and processes of Esperanza’s language and literacy development and use over time. It also illuminated her deliberate choice to continue with bilingualism and biliteracy, even as some of her friends and acquaintances made the opposite decision.
Visual Profiling as Biopolitics Or, Notes on Policing in Post-Racial #AmeriKKKa

This essay examines the crisis of American policing through a close reading and critique of the visual rhetoric that circulated in the aftermath of Michael Brown’s untimely death in Ferguson, Misso...
A Note on the Nerlove-Arrow Model Under Uncertainty

This note examines the stability of an optimal control problem based on a particular stochastic extension of the Nerlove-Arrow advertising model. It is shown that depending on the parameters of the problem and the initial conditions, the optimal solution may converge monotonically or sinusoidally, or not converge at all to the optimal stationary equlibrium. Some errors in this note are corrected in Erratum, Operations Research, Vol. 28, No. 4 (Jul. - Aug., 1980), pp. 1026-1027.
Average Physical Enhancement by Nanomaterials under X-ray Irradiation

We for the first time used highly water-soluble silica-covered gold nanoparticles (AuNP@SiO2) in water to successfully isolate average physical enhancement from other enhancements such as nanoscale physical enhancement, chemical enhancement, and antienhancement and obtained the highest enhancement slope of 1.03 per weight percent (wp–1) and the highest experimental enhancement factor of 4.5-fold (eexpt = 4.5 and eexpt= 0 for no enhancement) at 7.5 wp of gold in water. The slope and eexpt agree with the theoretically predicted values obtained from simulation of enhancement of X-rays by gold nanoparticles in water, and the experimental enhancement coefficient (γ = eexpt/etheo, 0 ≤ γ ≤ 1) is approximately 0.90. The enhancement dependency on X-ray energy, silica layer thickness, and sample thickness were studied experimentally and theoretically. The results presented here elucidate the mechanism of the average physical enhancement by nanomaterials under X-ray irradiation.
A population genetic analysis of chloroplast DNA in Phacelia

Hierarchical sampling from populations, incipient and recognized varieties within Phacelia dubia and P. maculata has revealed high levels of intraspecific polymorphism in chloroplast DNA. Much of the variation is partitioned between populations as evidenced by population-specific variants at fixation in all three populations of P. dubia var. interior and in both populations of P. maculata. Nine of 16 populations were polymorphic for cpDNA haplotypes. A total of 16 haplotypes was found in a sample of 106 individuals; the most common occurred in eight of the 16 populations and in 31 per cent of the individuals in the entire sample. A phylogenetic analysis revealed four basic plastome types. The two major groups of plastomes were separated by four independent base-pair mutations which suggests an ancient split in the evolution of plastid genomes. Representatives from each major plastome division were found in each of five populations spanning two allopatric varieties of P. dubia. The geographical distribution of haplotypes and lack of evidence for recent admixture argue against migration as a source of the polymorphism. It is more likely that the current taxonomic varieties are descendants of a polymorphic common ancestor.
Markets and Monitors: The Impact of Competition and Experience on Attorneys' Fees in Securities Class Actions

Setting compensation for plaintiffs' attorneys in securities class actions is a perennial problem traditionally addressed through ex post judicial monitoring. This paper examines empirically two aspects of this problem. The first involves attempts to introduce market mechanisms into fee setting, either through auctioning the lead counsel position or through competition to represent institutional lead plaintiffs under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. The second is the adequacy of existing monitoring mechanisms, particularly whether the participation of repeat players is correlated with attorneys' fee awards. The paper finds that lead counsel auctions and the participation of public pension funds as lead plaintiffs are correlated with lower fee requests and awards. There is, however, no significant correlation for another type of frequent institutional plaintiff, union pension funds. There is also some evidence that judicial experience with securities class actions and institutional objections to attorneys' fee requests are negatively correlated with fee awards.
Brainwash: A data system for feature engineering

A new generation of data processing systems, including web search, Google’s Knowledge Graph, IBM’s Watson, and several different recommendation systems, combine rich databases with software driven by machine learning. The spectacular successes of these trained systems have been among the most notable in all of computing and have generated excitement in health care, finance, energy, and general business. But building them can be challenging, even for computer scientists with PhD-level training. If these systems are to have a truly broad impact, building them must become easier. We explore one crucial pain point in the construction of trained systems: feature engineering. Given the sheer size of modern datasets, feature developers must (1) write code with few effective clues about how their code will interact with the data and (2) repeatedly endure long system waits even though their code typically changes little from run to run. We propose brainwash, a vision for a feature engineering data system that could dramatically ease the ExploreExtract-Evaluate interaction loop that characterizes many trained system projects.
The theory of the transposition flap and its practical application in the hand.

Planning the design of local transposition flaps involves careful attention to skin availability, pivot point, selection of the flap, lengthening of the critical line to make the flap wider or longer, and avoidance of undue tension. A procedure for raising and transposing the flap once the design is complete is outlined; six options are open to surgeons when no reasonable amount of traction will carry the flap over the defect.
Cloning and Characterization of a Nodulation Locus From RhizobiumParasponium

A clone bank of DNA from a slow growing, broad host range strain of Rhizobium parasponium (Rp501) has been constructed in the mobilizable vector pLAFRl. This clone bank was mated en masse into R. meliloti Hac − Nod − strains 1027 and 1126, Exconjugants of the mating were used to inoculate alfalfa seedlings. After five weeks, symbiotic phenotypes were scored.
High visibility time-energy entangled photons from a silicon microdisk resonator

We report the highest raw quantum interference visibility for time-energy entangled photon pairs from a micron scale source, to date. Bi-photons from a silicon microdisk resonator were observed to have a raw coincidence visibility of (96.6 ± 1.1)%.
Josep Luís Sert: Harvard University campus planning and buildings, 1956-1968

Leadership roles in the Harvard University Planning Office and the Cambridge City Planning Commission prompted Josep Lluis Sert to adapt the utopian proclivities he formulated as President of the Congres Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne (CIAM) to American social and cultural realities. The Harvard planning report of 1960 in turn provided a theoretical basis for Sert’s architectural designs for the university, particularly his firm’s Center for the Study of World Religions (1959–61), Holyoke Center (1958–67), and Peabody Terrace (1962–62). All were developed with landscape architects Sasaki, Walter and Associates and built in the campus periphery 1. Although acclaimed in the architectural media, the latter two examples provoked considerable controversy locally, as this account elaborates.
The association of psychiatric comorbidity with treatment completion among clients admitted to substance use treatment programs in a U.S. national sample.

Abstract Background Psychiatric disorders are highly comorbid with substance use disorders and play an important role in their course and recovery. However, the impact of comorbidity on treatment outcomes has not been examined in a U.S. national sample. This study explores the impact of psychiatric comorbidity on treatment completion among individuals admitted to publicly funded substance use treatment facilities across the United States. Methods Using data on first-time treatment episodes in the U.S. from the Treatment Episode Dataset-Discharges (TEDS-D) for the years 2009–2011, logistic regression was used to assess the association between psychiatric comorbidity and treatment non-completion, and Cox proportional hazards regression was used to assess the association between comorbidity and rate of attrition. Analyses were performed for all substances together and then stratified by primary substance of abuse (alcohol, cannabis, stimulants, or opioids). Results Of 856,385 client treatment episodes included in our analysis, 28% had a psychiatric comorbidity and 38% did not complete treatment. After adjusting for socio-demographic and treatment characteristics, clients with psychiatric comorbidity had higher odds of not completing treatment relative to those without comorbidity [OR = 1.28 (1.27–1.29)], and had an earlier time to attrition [HR = 1.14 (1.13–1.15)]. Psychiatric comorbidity was most strongly associated with treatment non-completion and rate of attrition in those admitted primarily for alcohol [OR = 1.37 (1.34–1.39); HR = 1.19 (1.17–1.21), respectively]. Conclusions Individuals with psychiatric comorbidities receiving treatment for substance use disorders face unique challenges that impact their ability to complete treatment. The findings call for further efforts to integrate treatment for psychiatric comorbidities in substance use treatment settings.
Phenethyl isothiocyanate, a constituent of processed cruciferous vegetables, inhibits growth of PC-3 human prostate cancer xenografts in vivo in association with induction of Bax and Bid.

5601 Epidemiological studies continue to support the premise that dietary intake of cruciferous vegetables may be protective against the risk of various types of malignancies including cancer of the prostate. Anti-carcinogenic effect of cruciferous vegetables is attributed to organic isothiocyanates (ITCs), such as phenethyl-ITC (PEITC), that are highly effective in affording protection against chemically induced cancers in animal models. More recent studies have indicated that PEITC can cause G2/M phase cell cycle arrest and/or apoptosis induction to suppress proliferation of cancer cells in culture, but the mechanism of PEITC-induced cell death is not fully defined. The present study was undertaken to determine the role of Bcl-xL in regulation of apoptosis induction by PEITC using PC-3 human prostate cancer cells as a model, and to determine the effect of oral administration of PEITC on PC-3 xenograft growth in athymic mice. The viability of PC-3 cells was reduced significantly in the presence of PEITC in a concentration-dependent manner as revealed by sulforhodamine B assay. Structure-activity analysis indicated a marked effect of alkyl chain length on activity of PEITC against proliferation of PC-3 cells. Ectopic expression of Bcl-xL, whose protein level is reduced markedly on treatment of PC-3 cells with PEITC, conferred partial yet statistically significant protection against PEITC-induced apoptosis in PC-3 cells at higher drug concentrations (10 and 20 μM) as revealed by analysis of cytoplasmic histone associated DNA fragmentation, sub-diploid cells, and cleavage of caspase-3 and poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase. Oral administration of 12 μmol PEITC/day (Monday through Friday) significantly inhibited PC-3 xenograft growth in athymic mice. For instance, 31 days after initiation of the therapy, the average tumor volume in control mice was approximately 1.9-fold higher (P
Remote, Late-Stage Oxidation of Aliphatic C–H Bonds in Amide-Containing Molecules

Amide-containing molecules are ubiquitous in natural products, pharmaceuticals, and materials science. Due to their intermediate electron-richness, they are not amenable to any of the previously developed N-protection strategies known to enable remote aliphatic C–H oxidations. Using information gleaned from a systematic study of the main features that makes remote oxidations of amides in peptide settings possible, we developed an imidate salt protecting strategy that employs methyl trifluoromethanesulfonate as a reversible alkylating agent. The imidate salt strategy enables, for the first time, remote, nondirected, site-selective C(sp3)–H oxidation with Fe(PDP) and Fe(CF3PDP) catalysis in the presence of a broad scope of tertiary amides, anilide, 2-pyridone, and carbamate functionality. Secondary and primary amides can be masked as N-Ns amides to undergo remote oxidation. This novel imidate strategy facilitates late-stage oxidations in a broader scope of medicinally important molecules and may find use in...
A poro-viscoplastic constitutive model for cold compacted powders at finite strains

Abstract A novel finite strain poro-viscoplastic phenomenological model for cold compacted materials is proposed. The model relies on the three-stage density evolution paradigm and describes the material evolution from loose to solid state. This model accounts for rate dependence, elasto-plastic coupling, pressure sensitivity, and transition to full solid state. The model has been implemented, verified, and validated against experimental data available in the literature for copper powder compounds.
A fluorescent metal-sensor study provides evidence for iron transport by transcytosis in the intestinal epithelial cells

Iron transport across the intestinal epithelium is facilitated by the divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1) on the brush border membrane (BBM). The fluorescent metal sensor calcein, which is hydrophilic, membrane-impermeable and quenched by chelation with iron, was used to test our hypothesis that intestinal iron absorption is through the endocytic processes and is involved in a pathway where BBM-derived vesicles fuse with basolateral membrane (BLM)-derived vesicles. To monitor the flux of iron via transcytosis, Caco-2 cells were employed as a polarized cell layer in Transwell chambers. When calcein was added to the basal chamber along with apo-transferrin (apo-Tf), calcein rapidly underwent endocytosis and co-localized with apo-Tf. Calcein was quenched by adding an iron-ascorbate complex and then restored by adding 2,2'-dipyridyl into the apical chamber. These results were confirmed by live-cell imaging. When hemin from the apical surface and calcein from the basal chamber were added to the Caco-2 cells, internalization of DMT1 and quenching of calcein were not observed until 2 h later. These results indicated that absorbed hemin required processing before hemin-derived iron was available to BLM-derived vesicles. These studies suggest that iron is transported in Caco-2 cells by transcytosis with apical-derived vesicles that are fused to BLM-derived vesicles.
The impact of endogenous retroviruses on nuclear organization and gene expression

Background: The organization of chromatin in the nucleus plays an essential role in gene regulation. When considering the mammalian genome it is important to take into account that about half of the DNA is comprised of transposable elements. Given their repetitive nature, reads associated with these elements are generally discarded or randomly distributed among elements of the same type in genome-wide analyses. Thus, it is challenging to identify the activities and properties of individual transposons. As a result, we only have a partial understanding of how transposons contribute to chromatin folding and how they impact gene regulation. Results: Using adapted PCR and Capture-based chromosome conformation capture (3C) approaches, collectively called 4Tran, we take advantage of the repetitive nature of transposons to capture interactions from multiple copies of endogenous retrovirus (ERVs) in the human and mouse genomes. With 4Tran-PCR, reads are selectively mapped to unique regions in the genome. This enables the identification of TE interaction profiles for individual ERV families and integration events specific to particular genomes. With this approach we demonstrate that transposons engage in long-range intra-chromosomal interactions guided by the separation of chromosomes into A and B compartments as well as topologically associated domains (TADs). In contrast to 4Tran-PCR, Capture-4Tran can uniquely identify both ends of an interaction that involve retroviral repeat sequences, providing a powerful tool for uncovering the individual TE insertions that interact with, and potentially regulate target genes. Conclusions: 4Tran provides new insight into the manner in which transposons contribute to chromosome architecture and identifies target genes that transposable elements can potentially control.
Hip-Hop, the “Obama Effect,” and Urban Science Education:

Background/ContextWith the ever increasing diversity of schools, and the persistent need to develop teaching strategies for the students who attend today's urban schools, hip-hop culture has been p...
Decision Making: How Fruit Flies Integrate Olfactory Evidence.

Summary New studies show that, as in mammals, perceptual decision-making behavior in fruit flies involves the integration of sensory information that accumulates over time; this involves a process of dendritic integration that depends on the transcription factor FoxP.
Organization Learning: A Theoretical Framework

This chapter presents a theoretical framework for analyzing organizational learning that was developed in Argote and Miron-Spektor (2011). According to the framework, organizational experience is theorized to interact with the organizational context to create knowledge. The chapter discusses components of the framework, including experience, the organizational context, and knowledge. The organizational learning processes that translate experience into knowledge are also characterized. The chapter uses the framework to provide an overview of research on factors affecting organizational learning. Factors affecting knowledge retention and knowledge transfer are reviewed in subsequent chapters.
Quantitative Assessment of Aortic Regurgitation by Digital Subtraction Angiography

The severity of aortic regurgitation has been traditionally assessed by visual interpretation of cineaortograms utilizing a 1 to 4+ scale [1], This method is subjective and may be influenced by variations in left ventricular volume, radiographic technique, contrast dose, and interobserver agreement [2]. Despite these limitations, this semiquantitative technique continues to be the most widely accepted clinical measurement of the magnitude of aortic regurgitation.
Robust estimation of kinetic parameters in dynamic PET imaging

Dynamic PET imaging provides important information for biological research, clinical diagnosis and pharmacokinetic analysis through kinetic modeling and data-driven parameter estimation. Kinetic parameters quantitatively describe dynamic material exchange and metabolism of radiotracers in plasma and tissues. While many efforts have been devoted to estimate kinetic parameters from dynamic PET, the poor statistical properties of the measurement data in low count dynamic acquisition and the uncertainties in estimating the arterial input function have limited the accuracy and reliability of the kinetic parameter estimation. Additionally, the quantitative analysis of individual kinetic parameters is not yet implemented. In this paper, we present a robust kinetic parameter estimation framework which is robust to both the poor statistical properties of measurement data in dynamic PET and the uncertainties in estimated arterial input function, and is able to analyze every single kinetic parameter quantitatively. The strategy is optimized with robust H∞ estimation under minimax criterion. Experiments are conducted on Monte Carlo simulated data set for quantitative analysis and validation, and on real patient scans for assessment of clinical potential.
Determination of the pool size and synthesis rate of bile acids by measurements in blood of patients with liver disease.

Summary 1. A simplified technique for the measurement of bile-acid pool size and synthesis rate has been developed in patients with liver disease. Isotope dilution studies in blood and bile were performed alter intravenous injection of [24-'*C]cholic acid with radioimmunoassay for the measurement of the bile-acid concentration. The interpolated pool sizes and synthesis rates, determined from results from both blood and bile, were not significantly different. The concentration of bile acids in the blood of healthy controls was not sufficiently elevated to permit application of this technique. 2. Three out of six patients with cirrhosis had a markedly reduced pool size compared with that of controls, whereas those with cholestasis had an unchanged pool size. The daily synthesis rate was reduced in both groups. Liver disease caused a redistribution (0-5-16%) of the bile-acid pool to the blood, which was associated with enhanced urinary excretion of cholic acid and its metabolites.
Response to Eric J. Krieg's “The Two Faces of Toxic Waste: Trends in the Spread of Environmental Hazards”

The emergence of the environmental justice movement in the 1980s has presented environmental sociologists with a number of significant questions largely ignored by the subdiscipline. While sociologists have long been concerned with issues of race and class, and became concerned to a lesser extent with issues of environment in the 1970s, an explicit focus on the relationships between race, class, and environment had been limited to the work of very few sociologists (most notably Frederick Buttel and Allan Schnaiberg). The development of grass roots movement claims of "environmental racism" in the distribution of ecological hazards created the impetus for increasing scholarly attention to this phenomenon. The movement raised important questions, including what follows: Do racial and ethnic minorities face a disproportionate burden of environmental degradation? Do environmentally hazardous facilities tend to locate in minority communities? Do minority populations tend to locate near environmental hazards? Are the decisions to locate environmental hazards intentionally racist, or does the existence of institutional racism in labor and housing markets produce environmentally racist outcomes? Is the proximity of minority communities to environmental hazards a result of the cumulative synergistic impacts of race on class, or does race act as a causal variable regardless of class? In the late 1980s and 1990s, a growing number of sociologists and others began to address these questions, often coming to conflicting conclusions about the existence and social causes of environmental racism. Krieg's paper offers another analysis of these issues, making an important contribution to discussions on the distributional dimensions of environmental hazards by addressing the question, What are the most viable indicators of
Dissolution behavior of gold in ammoniacal solutions with iodine as an oxidant

The leaching behavior of gold in ammonical solutions with iodine as an oxidant was investigated using cyclic voltammogram and Tafel polarization. The majority of the experiments were carried out at 75 °C, and the results were compared with consideraton given to the equilibrium of the iodine-ammonia system. The distribution of nine iodide-containing species at various pH values in the absence and presence of ammonia were considered at three different temperatures. It was found that, with the introduction of ammonia into the system, the concentration of iodide (I−), iodine (I2) and triiodide (I3−) is increased substantially, which in turn helps the rate of gold dissolution. The apparent activation energy was found to be about 46 kJ/mole, indicating a chemical-controlled mechanism.
Damage mechanisms in elastomeric foam composites: Multiscale X-ray computed tomography and finite element analyses

Abstract To understand the mechanisms of damage initiation and propagation in glass microballoon (GMB)/silicone elastomer matrix syntactic foam composites, multiscale X-ray computed tomography images obtained during in situ compression were analyzed using quantitative image processing and digital volume correlation (DVC) techniques. High-resolution tomograms revealed that both the initiation and propagation of GMB collapse depended on the local clustering of GMBs, leading to the formation of pseudo-crush bands in the composite. This resulted in prominent bands of axial strain variation that grew to several millimeters in length as revealed by DVC. A new mechanism based on stress redistribution around collapsed GMBs is proposed to explain the damage propagation, which is supported by finite element analysis and successfully captures the effects of cluster orientation on the observed damage.
Granular cell tumor of the lung.

A 46-year-old female with history of asthma, active smoking (20 pack-years), and schizophrenia was evaluated for a persistent asymptomatic pulmonary nodule. Her past medical history was notable for hypertension, obesity, polycystic ovary syndrome, abnormal uterine bleeding, multinodular thyroid gland, and vitamin D deficiency. Seven months before presentation, a chest radiograph (CXR) was obtained to evaluate unintended weight loss, and showed a 3 cm spiculated mass in the left lower lobe concerning for a primary lung malignancy. Follow-up computed tomography (CT) suggested that the left lower lobe mass corresponded to rounded atelectasis; however, at 6 month follow-up, low-dose chest CT scan revealed a 2.1 × 1.2 cm nodule within the central portion of the left lower lobe, with pleural thickening, and arising from or extending into the left lower lobe bronchus. The patient had no recent history of appetite change, exertional dyspnea, chronic cough, wheeze, fever, or other chest complaints. Her examination showed normal vital signs, oxygen saturation of 98% while inspiring room air, and an entirely normal lung and general physical examination, except for diminished breath sounds at the left base with no wheeze. An endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) with fine-needle aspiration (FNA) and endobronchial biopsy was performed.
Statistical Analysis of Droplet Charge Acquired during Contact with Electrodes in Strong Electric Fields.

Aqueous droplets acquire charge when they contact electrodes in high-voltage electric fields. Although many researchers have investigated droplet charging under various conditions, the droplet charges are typically reported simply in terms of a mean and standard deviation. Here, we show that droplets often acquire significantly less charge for a single contact compared to the previous and subsequent contacts. These “low-charge events,” which are not observed with charging of metal balls, yield up to a 60% decrease in charge acquired by the droplet and occur regardless of the applied field strength, droplet conductivity, or droplet volume. In all cases examined here, the occurrence of low-charge events to good approximation follows a negative binomial distribution (i.e., a Pascal distribution) with a mean probability of 13%. We further demonstrate that approximately 16% of charging events are characterized by “irregular” Taylor cone dynamics, suggesting that instabilities in the electrically driven deforma...
Seizure Action Plans for Pediatric Patients With Epilepsy: A Randomized Controlled Trial:

Objectives:Seizure action plans help patients and caregivers better self-manage their epilepsy. We hypothesized that providing pediatric patients and their caregivers with a seizure action plan wou...
Fast Monolithic Detector Calibration Method - a simulation study

We have developed a fast detector calibration method, which is capable of calibration of monolithic crystal detectors fast and conveniently. This method could potentially be used to achieve the DOI calibration information of a thick detector. Compared with traditional calibration method, this calibration technique doesnt require a well-collimated pencil beams, and can calibrate a detector in reduced time with fan beams. After the collection of the calibration reference dataset, we propose a data-processing method called common-data subset (CDS) method to acquire the reference datasets as if they were acquired using a pencil beam or even as if there is a single-point light source scanning inside the scintillator. If using fan beams, only 2N scans (in x and y directions) are necessary to calibrate the whole detector surface instead of doing N2 scans using pencil gamma-ray beam. For calibration of the DOI information, 3N scans are necessary, within which the last set of N scans are done with slant beams. Monte-Carlo simulation has been done to support the feasibility of this method, which enables simple, fast and robust calibration for monolithic crystal detectors.
Alterations in the Gut Microbiome at 6 Months of Age in Obese Latino Infants.

Objective: To investigate gut microbial composition in Latino infants in relation to breastfeeding, obesity, and antibiotic exposure.Method: We analyzed the gut microbiome in 6-month-old Latino inf...
National Use of Chemotherapy in Initial Management of Stage I Pancreatic Cancer and Failure to Perform Subsequent Resection

Chemotherapy is increasingly administered prior to resection in patients with early-stage pancreatic adenocarcinoma, but the national prevalence of this practice is poorly understood. Our objectives were to (1) describe the utilization of upfront chemotherapy management of stage I pancreatic cancer; (2) define factors associated with the use of upfront chemotherapy and subsequent resection; and (3) assess hospital-level variability in upfront chemotherapy and subsequent resection. The National Cancer Database was used to identify patients treated for clinical stage I pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Outcomes were receipt of upfront chemotherapy and surgical resection after upfront chemotherapy. Associations between patient/hospital factors and both initial management and subsequent resection were assessed by multivariable logistic regression. A total of 17,495 patients were included, with 26.6% receiving upfront chemotherapy. Upfront chemotherapy was more likely in patients who were ≥ 80 years of age (odds ratio [OR] 1.64, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.39–1.93), had T2 tumors (OR 2.56, 95% CI 2.36–2.78), or were treated at a low-volume center (OR 2.10, 95% CI 1.63–2.71). Among patients receiving upfront chemotherapy, only 33.5% underwent subsequent resection. Resection was more likely in patients with T1 tumors (OR 1.22, 95% CI 1.04–1.43) and in those treated at high-volume centers (OR 4.03, 95% CI 2.90–5.60). Only 20.4% of hospitals performed resection in > 50% of patients after upfront chemotherapy. Rates of surgical resection after upfront chemotherapy are relatively low, and the proportion of patients who eventually undergo resection varies considerably between hospitals. The use of surgery after upfront chemotherapy in resectable pancreatic cancer should be considered as an internal quality-of-cancer-care measure.
Efficiently Discovering Users Connectivity with Local Information in Online Social Networks

Abstract People’s activities in Online Social Networks (OSNs) have generated a massive volume of data to which tremendous attention has been paid in academia and industry. With such data, researchers and third-parties can analyze human beings’ behaviors in social communities and develop more user-friendly services and applications to meet people’s needs. However, often times, they face a big challenge of acquiring the data, as the access to such data is restricted by their collectors (e.g., Facebook and Twitter), due to various reasons, such as their user’s privacy. In this paper, we intend to shed light on leveraging limited local social network topological properties to effectively and efficiently conduct search in OSNs. The problem we focus on is to discover the connectivity of a group of target users in an OSN, particularly from the perspective of a third-party analyst who does not have full access to the network. For the analyst, even discovering a user’s local connections requires issuing a query through OSN APIs (e.g., Facebook Friendlist API or Twitter Followerlist API). We develop searching techniques which demand only a few number of queries for the connectivity discovery. After conducting an intensive set of experiments on both real-world and synthetic data sets, we found that our proposed techniques perform as well as the centralized detection algorithm, which assumes the availability of the entire data set, in terms of the size of the discovered subgraph connecting all target users as well as the number of queries made in the search. The experiment results demonstrate the effectiveness of incorporating topological properties of social networks into searching in the OSNs.
Characterization of phytoplankton variability in the Cariaco Basin using spectral absorption, taxonomic and pigment data

Abstract The spectral absorption coefficient of marine phytoplankton provides information on phytoplankton community structure, biomass, and general physiological conditions. These variables are necessary for understanding and predicting ocean productivity, carbon fluxes, underwater light propagation, water quality, and for assessing marine photochemical processes. The Cariaco Basin, located on the continental shelf of Venezuela in the southeastern Caribbean Sea, is the site of the CARIACO Ocean Time-Series project. Since 1995, CARIACO has collected bio-optical (hyperspectral inherent and apparent optical properties — IOPs and AOPs, respectively), biogeochemical and ecological observations to characterize local ecosystem variations in response to regional and global changes in climate. We examine phytoplankton taxonomic and pigment time series data collected by this program between 2006 and 2012 to understand how seasonal changes in these parameters relate to bio-optical data (i.e., absorption spectra). TChla and accessory pigments varied seasonally in response to changes in the phytoplankton community composition, with higher concentrations of microphytoplankton (> 20 μm; 45%) during upwelling (December–April) than during the rainy season (16%; May/June–October/November). Picophytoplankton (