cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Treatment-related myelodysplasia/AML in a patient with a history of breast cancer and an oligodendroglioma treated with temozolomide: Case study and review of the literature

The emergence of temozolomide as an effective alkylating agent with little acute toxicity or cumulative myelosuppression has led to protracted courses of chemotherapy for many patients with gliomas. Secondary, or treatment-related, myelodysplasia (t-MDS) and acute myelogenous leukemia (t-AML) are life-threatening complications of alkylating chemotherapy and have been reported in patients with primary brain tumors. We describe a case of temozolomide-related t-MDS/AML and discuss the clinical features of this condition. Administration of an alkylating agent in patient populations with long median survivals must be undertaken with an understanding of the potential for this treatment complication.
Multi-Hop Relay Protocols for Fast Consensus Seeking

Consensus protocols are distributed algorithms in networked multi-agent systems. Based on the local information, agents automatically converge to a common consensus state and the convergence speed is determined by the algebraic connectivity of the communication network. In order to achieve a fast consensus seeking, we propose the multi-hop relay protocols, where each agent can expand its knowledge by employing multi-hop paths in the network. We demonstrate that multi-hop relay protocols can enlarge the algebraic connectivity without physically changing the network topology. Moreover, communication delays are discussed and a tradeoff is identified between the convergence speed and the time delay sensitivity.
Observable time windows: verifying the results of high-level synthesis

One of the main problems in high-level synthesis has been the lack of verification techniques for checking the equivalence between the behavioral specification and the scheduled implementation. Due to scheduling it may not be possible to compare simulation results before and after high-level synthesis using the same simulation drivers. Given that simulation is the most time consuming step in the design process, this severely reduces the advantages of high-level synthesis. This paper presents techniques and algorithms for comparing simulation results using the same simulation drivers. The approach is based on creating special hardware structures in the implementation and comparing the simulations only at synchronization points called "observable time windows".
Time-Domain Modeling of an RF All-Digital PLL

A new phase-domain all-digital phase-locked loop (ADPLL) for RF wireless applications has recently been proposed and commercially demonstrated. In this brief, we propose time-domain modeling and simulation techniques of the ADPLL that are well suited for system analysis using high-level programming languages, e.g., Matlab. They are based on the event-driven principles inherent in hardware description languages, e.g., VHDL, and enable the development of accurate and time-efficient behavioral models. The proposed techniques are demonstrated and validated through experimental results for a GSM standard.
Decreasing hospital length of stay with pre-transplant hepatic transarterial chemoembolization: Does it work? Analysis of unexpected admissions and hospital days

Purpose To compare the unexpected admissions and hospital days of pre-transplant hepatic transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) as managed by 23 hour observation and same day discharge. Materials and Methods This is a retrospective review of 56 pre-transplant hepatic TACE procedures at a single hepatic transplant center from September 2011 through September 2012. 20 TACE procedures were managed with intent of 23 hour observation and 36 TACE procedures were managed with intent of same day discharge. Variation between the two discharge groups was assessed by the student’s T test for age, tumor size, bilirubin, INR, Child-Pugh score, and MELD score. Unexpected admissions and hospital days were evaluated for each group. Results 56 pretransplant TACE procedures (51 conventional TACE, 5 drug eluting bead TACE) were performed on 47 patients (mean 62 yrs). Of the 23 hr observation group (mean Child-Pugh score 6.7, range 5-9), there were 4 unexpected admissions who were hospitalized for a total of 11 (range 2-4) days. Unexpected admission diagnoses for the 23 hr observation group included pain, fever, encephalopathy and hypotension. 80% (16/20) of the 23 hr discharge group did not experience unexpected admissions or hospital days. The same day discharge group (mean Child-Pugh score 6.9, range 5-12) had 3 unexpected admissions who were hospitalized for a total of 10 (range 1-6) days. Admission diagnoses for the same day discharge group included pain, nausea/vomiting and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. 92% (33/36) of the same day discharge group were discharged on the day of the procedure without unexpected admissions or hospital days. The student’s T-test demonstrated no statistical difference between the two discharge groups when comparing age (p=0.19), tumor size (p=0.40), bilirubin (p=0.48), INR (p=0.47), Child-Pugh score (p=0.31) or MELD score (p=0.32). There was no significant difference in unexpected admissions (p=0.88) and hospital days (p=0.61) between the two TACE discharge groups. Conclusion Same-day discharge following hepatic transarterial chemoembolization can be performed in the pre-transplant population with similar rates of unexpected admission and hospital days as 23 hour observation.
Human muscle length-dependent changes in blood flow

Although a multitude of factors that influence skeletal muscle blood flow have been extensively investigated, the influence of muscle length on limb blood flow has received little attention. Thus the purpose of this investigation was to determine if cyclic changes in muscle length influence resting blood flow. Nine healthy men (28 ± 4 yr of age) underwent a passive knee extension protocol during which the subjects' knee joint was passively extended and flexed through 100-180° knee joint angle at a rate of 1 cycle per 30 s. Femoral blood flow, cardiac output (CO), heart rate (HR), stroke volume (SV), and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were continuously recorded during the entire protocol. These measurements revealed that slow passive changes in knee joint angle did not have a significant influence on HR, SV, MAP, or CO; however, net femoral blood flow demonstrated a curvilinear increase with knee joint angle (r(2) = 0.98) such that blood flow increased by ∼90% (125 ml/min) across the 80° range of motion. This net change in blood flow was due to a constant antegrade blood flow across knee joint angle and negative relationship between retrograde blood flow and knee joint angle (r(2) = 0.98). Thus, despite the absence of central hemodynamic changes and local metabolic factors, blood flow to the leg was altered by changes in muscle length. Therefore, when designing research protocols, researchers need to be cognizant of the fact that joint angle, and ultimately muscle length, influence limb blood flow.
ALDH7A1 expression is associated with recurrence in patients with surgically resected non-small-cell lung carcinoma

Aim: The purpose of this study was to describe the prognostic significance of ALDH7A1 in surgically treated non-small-cell lung carcinoma. (NSCLC). Materials & methods: We immunohistochemically analyzed ALDH7A1 expression in surgically resected NSCLC from 89 patients using a tissue microarray. Results: ALDH7A1 staining was positive in 43 patients and negative in 44 patients, with two tumor sections missing. For stage I NSCLC patients, ALDH7A1 positivity was associated with decreased recurrence-free and overall survival. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that ALDH7A1-expressing NSCLC tumors had a significantly higher incidence of lung cancer recurrence compared with patients with ALDH7A1-negative tumors, although there was no association with overall survival. Conclusion: For patients with NSCLC, low ALDH7A1 expression was associated with a decreased incidence of cancer recurrence. Specifically in stage I patients, negative staining for ALDH7A1 was associated with improved recurrence-free and overall surv...
Electron microscopy of DNA polymerase bound to DNA

Abstract High-resolution mounting and shadowing techniques were applied to the electron microscopic visualization of Escherichia coli DNA polymerase, free and bound to DNA. The enzyme appeared to be roughly spherical with a diameter of about 65 A; dimeric forms, linked by mercury between the cysteine side chains, appeared as pairs of spheres, 130 A × 56 A. Enzyme molecules were observed at regular intervals along a DNA helix composed of about 20 polydeoxythymidylate chains aligned along a polydeoxyadenylate chain. This binding corresponds to attachment of the enzyme at the points of apposition of thymidylate chains, namely, nicks in the helical structure; little or no binding was observed along the length of unnicked phage λ DNA. Enzyme molecules were oriented both over and to the side of the DNA chain implying a shallow rather than a very deep groove for the area of attachment. With one molecule of a dimeric enzyme attached to DNA, the other member of the pair assumed a variety of juxtapositions suggesting considerable flexibility in the area of cross-linkage.
A primary cell culture system of luteinizing hormone releasing hormone neurons derived from embryonic olfactory placode in the rhesus monkey

The purpose of this study is to establish a primary LHRH cell culture system using embryonic olfactory placode and to examine whether LHRH cells derived from olfactory placode and the migratory pathway of LHRH neurons mature in vitro. Six monkey fetuses at the ages of E34-E36 were delivered surgically and the area including the olfactory placode (PL) and the areas that encompass the migratory pathway (MP) were dissected out. The tissues were cut into small pieces and plated on collagen- or poly-L-lysine-coated glass coverslips in medium M199. Cultures were maintained for up to 33 days and immunostained for LHRH, GnRH-associated peptide, neurofilament protein, neuron-specific enolase, and glial fibrillary acidic protein. LHRH positive cells were also positive for neurofilament proteins neuron-specific enolase, and GnRH-associated peptides, but negative for glial fibrillary acidic protein. In the first week of culture, LHRH cells remained within the explants of PL, were rounded (average dimensions: 13.0 x 11.3 microns) and stained lightly. By the second week a number of LHRH cells (15.7 x 13.6 microns) with neurites started to migrate out from PL explants, whereas some still remained in the PL. By the third week a large number of LHRH cells (19.3 x 9.4 microns) had migrated out from the PL. They were fusiform in shape with clear nuclei and extended long varicose neurites up to 500 microns in length. A few "pioneer" LHRH cells appeared to lead the migration of 100-400 LHRH cells forming 1-3 major migratory paths. In contrast, LHRH cells from MP explants migrated out sooner than those from PL explants. LHRH cells from the ventral part of the MP, which is close to the PL, migrated out by 1-2 weeks and formed several migratory paths, whereas LHRH cells from the dorsal part of the MP, which is farther from the PL, were scattered widely around explants and their neurites were extended tortuously. Cultured LHRH cells released LHRH into the media and responded to challenge with high K+. The results indicate that 1) primary LHRH neurons can be obtained from the embryonic PL and their migratory pathway, 2) these neurons migrate and mature in culture and 3) they are accessible for cellular and molecular studies.
Resolution enhancement by AdaBoost

This work proposes a learning scheme based still image super-resolution reconstruction algorithm. Super-resolution reconstruction is proposed as a binary classification problem and can be solved by conditional class probability estimation. Assuming the probability takes the form of additive logistic regression function, AdaBoost algorithm is used to predict the probability. Experiments on face images validate the algorithm.
Gravity program of Hawaii Institute of Geophysics in Pacific area

The Hawaii Institute of Geophysics is currently engaged in three gravity programs in the Pacific area, a study of the Hawaiian Ridge, the Solomon Islands, and Samoa. The Institute is also participating in the Air Force Cambridge Research Center sponsored international pendulum gravity standardisation program. In two cases the Institute gravity program forms part of a broader program that is being shared by other agencies. On the Hawaiian Ridge the collaborating agencies are the U. S. Geological Survey and the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. In the Solomon Island area, they are the Solomon Island Geological Survey, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Queensland, and the Army Map Service (Far East).
Ubiquitination of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coa reductase in permeabilized cells mediated by cytosolic E1 and a putative membrane-bound ubiquitin ligase

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) enzyme, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase, catalyzes the production of mevalonate, a rate-controlling step in cholesterol biosynthesis. Excess sterols promote ubiquitination and subsequent degradation of reductase as part of a negative feedback regulatory mechanism. To characterize the process in more detail, we here report the development of a permeabilized cell system that supports reductase ubiquitination stimulated by the addition of sterols in vitro. Sterol-dependent ubiquitination of reductase in permeabilized cells is dependent upon exogenous cytosol, ATP, and either Insig-1 or Insig-2, two membrane-bound ER proteins shown previously to mediate sterol regulation of reductase degradation in intact cells. Oxysterols, but not cholesterol, promote reductase ubiquitination under our conditions. Finally, we show that ubiquitin-activating enzyme (E1) can efficiently replace cytosol to ubiquitinate reductase in response to sterol treatment, suggesting that other molecules required for ubiquitination of reductase, such as the ubiquitin-conjugating and -ligating enzymes (E2 and E3), are localized to ER membranes.
Managers as facilitators of learning in learning organizations

The concept of learning organization has received considerable attention in the literature, but from a scholarly perspective little empirical research has been done in this area. This article reports on a qualitative study in which the critical incident technique was used to examine the perceptions of managers regarding their beliefs, behaviors, triggers, and outcomes when they serve as facilitators of learning for their employees. An overview of the major findings are provided from a macrolevel perspective. The results suggest that there are specific behavior sets that define the role of facilitator of learning for managers in this study. Implications for practice are discussed and recommendations for further research are provided.
Do Recessions Keep Students in School? The Impact of Youth Unemployment on Enrolment in Post‐compulsory Education in England

In this paper I assess the impact of the youth labour market on enrolment in post-compulsory education. To that end, I construct data for a panel of English regions and identify youth labour market effects using variation in youth unemployment rates across regions and over time. My estimates suggest that the youth labour market has large enrolment impacts, at least twice as large as suggested by UK estimates based on time series data. This helps to explain why enrolment growth slowed down from the mid-1990s and suggests that a weakening youth labour market could cause enrolment to increase again.
Family Therapy With Gifted and Talented Adolescents

Family therapy has been recommended as a counseling modality for gifted adolescents and their families. The purpose of this article is to propose and discuss 3 guiding questions that can help counselors conceptualize and differentiate family therapy with gifted and talented adolescents: (1) What is the problem? (2) Who is in the room? and (3) What approach to family therapy will be most effective? For each question, we first summarize relevant family therapy theory and research. Then, we provide recommendations based on a small, but growing literature on counseling with families of gifted and talented youth plus our own clinical experience as family therapists working with families of gifted and talented adolescents. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of this literature for clinical practice, counselor training, parents of gifted adolescents, and future research.
Trade-Off Between Diversity and Channel Estimation Errors in Asynchronous MC-DS-CDMA and MC-CDMA

This paper investigates the trade-off between diversity and channel estimation errors for asynchronous multi-carrier CDMA (MC-CDMA) and multicarrier direct-sequence CDMA (MC-DS-CDMA). We construct a side-by-side comparison between the two systems by assuming equal operating and channel conditions. Both systems perform pilot-symbol- aided channel estimation and maximal ratio combining at the receiver, where the weighting coefficients are determined by the channel estimates at each sub-carrier. Closed-form expressions for the probability of error of both systems are derived under two separate channel scenarios. These two scenarios assume a frequency-selective Rayleigh fading channel, where the coherence bandwidth is equal to either the bandwidth of a MC-DS-CDMA sub-band or the bandwidth of a MC-CDMA sub-band. Finally, we compare the bit error rates of the two systems for different information rates, number of users, and number of pilot symbols used in each channel estimate.
The Regime Complex for Climate Change

There is no integrated regime governing efforts to limit the extent of climate change. Instead, there is a regime complex: a loosely coupled set of specific regimes. We describe the regime complex for climate change and seek to explain it, using functional, strategic, and organizational arguments. This institutional form is likely to persist; efforts to build a comprehensive regime are unlikely to succeed, but narrower institutions focused on particular aspects of the climate change problem are already thriving. Building on this analysis, we argue that a climate change regime complex, if it meets specified criteria, has advantages over any politically feasible comprehensive regime, particularly with respect to adaptability and flexibility. Adaptability and flexibility are particularly important in a setting, such as climate change policy, in which the most demanding international commitments are interdependent yet governments vary widely in their interest and ability to implement them.
A systems management approach to improving performance and reducing risks in research projects and programs

The Systems Management Office at the NASA Langley Research Center has adopted an approach to improving performance and reducing risks in research programs and projects that recognizes the interrelationship of good program or project management and systems engineering processes in achieving success. The approach stresses early identification, improvement, and implementation of good program or project management practices through consulting and facilitated, "just-in-time" training tailored to the specific program or project. The approach also addresses process and policy improvement and value-added independent reviews and assessments. The approach is further detailed and specific activities and highlights indicating effectiveness of the approach are presented.
Design of switching controllers for systems with changing dynamics

We present a framework for designing stable control schemes for systems with changing dynamics (SCD). Such systems form a subset of hybrid systems; their stabilization is therefore a problem in hybrid control. It is often difficult or even impossible to design a single controller that would stabilize a SCD. An appealing alternative are switching control schemes, where a different controller is employed in each dynamic regime and the stability of the overall system is ensured through an appropriate switching scheme. We formulate a set of sufficient conditions for the stability of a switching control scheme. We show that by imposing a hierarchy among the controllers, sufficient conditions can be formulated in a form suitable for the controller design. The hierarchy is formally defined through a partial order. Our methodology is applied to stabilization of a two-wheel mobile robot of the Hilare type, where the wheels are allowed to slip.
Porosity, permeability, and fluid flow in the Yellowstone geothermal system, Wyoming

Cores from two of 13 U.S. Geological Survey research holes at Yellowstone National Park (Y-5 and Y-8) were evaluated to characterize lithology, texture, alteration, and the degree and nature of fracturing and veining. Porosity and matrix permeability measurements and petrographic examination of the cores were used to evaluate the effects of lithology and hydrothermal alteration on porosity and permeability. The intervals studied in these two core holes span the conductive zone and the upper portion of the convective geothermal reservoir. Variations in porosity and matrix permeability observed in the Y-5 and Y-8 cores are primarily controlled by lithology. Y-8 intersects three distinct lithologies: volcaniclastic sandstone, perlitic rhyolitic lava, and non-welded pumiceous ash-flow tuff. The sandstone typically has high permeability and porosity, and the tuff has very high porosity and moderate permeability, while the perlitic lava has very low porosity and is essentially impermeable. Hydrothermal self-sealing appears to have generated localized permeability barriers within the reservoir. Changes in pressure and temperature in Y-8 correspond to a zone of silicification in the volcaniclastic sandstone just above the contact with the perlitic rhyolite; this silicification has significantly reduced porosity and permeability. In rocks with inherently low matrix permeability (such as densely welded ash-flow tuff), fluid flow is controlled by the fracture network. The Y-5 core hole penetrates a thick intracaldera section of the 0.6-Ma Lava Creek ash-flow tuff. In this core, the degree of welding appears to be responsible for most of the variations in porosity, matrix permeability, and the frequency of fractures and veins. Fractures are most abundant within the more densely welded sections of the tuff. However, the most prominent zones of fracturing and mineralization are associated with hydrothermal breccias within densely welded portions of the tuff. These breccia zones represent transient conduits of high fluid flow that formed by the explosive release of overpressure in the underlying geothermal reservoir and that were subsequently sealed by supersaturated geothermal fluids. In addition to this fracture sealing, hydrothermal alteration at Yellowstone appears generally to reduce matrix permeability and focus flow along fractures, where multiple pulses of fluid flow and self-sealing have occurred.
National and State-Specific Td and Tdap Vaccination of Adult Populations.

Introduction The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends a single dose of tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis vaccine (Tdap) for adults followed by tetanus and diphtheria toxoids (Td) booster doses every 10 years thereafter. This study assessed recent Td and Tdap vaccination among adult populations. Methods The 2013 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data were analyzed in 2015 to assess Td and Tdap vaccination coverage among adults at national and state levels. Multivariable logistic regression and predictive marginal models were performed to identify factors independently associated with vaccination. Results Overall, national vaccination coverage among adults aged ≥18 years for Td was 57.5% and for Tdap was 28.9%. Among states, Td vaccination coverage ranged from 47.8% in Nevada to 73.1% in Minnesota, and Tdap coverage ranged from 17.7% in Mississippi to 47.6% in Minnesota. Characteristics independently associated with an increased likelihood of Tdap vaccination among adults aged ≥18 years were younger age; being female; American Indian/Alaska Native race; being never married; higher education; not being in the workforce; reporting a household income ≥$75,000; living in the West or Midwest U.S.; reporting excellent, very good, good, or fair health; having health insurance; having a healthcare provider; having a routine checkup in the previous year; receipt of influenza vaccination in the previous year; and having ever received pneumococcal vaccination. Conclusions By 2013, Td and Tdap vaccination coverage were 57.5% and 28.9%, respectively. Coverage varied by state. Implementation of evidence-based programs is needed to improve Td and Tdap vaccination levels among adult populations.
Inquiry Teaching in the College Classroom.

Discussions among professors often center on the topic of how to get students involved, how to enable them, and motivate them to learn more and to learn it better. The standard lecture format leaves most of us-teachers and students alike-wanting more. What can we do to accomplish these goals? A teaching method known as “inquiry teaching” has been adapted to the college classroom where followers claim the method builds analytic skills, improves students’ knowledge base, and promotes student engagement. Inquiry students are more likely to build hypotheses, integrate, and apply new knowledge more than students in traditional lecture-format classrooms. Although inquiry-based learning may be beneficial, in a study of 77 faculty members at two universities, students’ grades in inquiry-based classes were not significantly higher than grades in standard lecture classes. Inquiry methods are not a panacea for college student learning.
Games in classroom and practice in library and information science education

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the impact a games-based curriculum can have on library and information science (LIS) curriculum. Design methodology approach – This is a worked example, using a case study and iterative design approach. Each iteration of this course and the reports are from the respective opinions of the instructors. Findings – The authors found that once students looked past games as being pleasant distractions and were able to see them as both context-rich and well-designed learning environments, they were conducive in bringing games to libraries to spur interest-driven learning. Some students tackled analog and digital game design, while others would play historical games and tie those back to available books, and still others used board and video games to bring parents and their children together through play. While these findings do not dictate that this would work in all situations, presenting games and play as an inclusive practice that spans topics and interes...
Uterine and Oviduct Fluid Protein Patterns in the Rabbit Before and After Ovulations

At the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia the electrophoretic patterns and protein binding of steroids in rabbit uterine and oviductal fluids were investigated. Use was made of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. A postalbumin (migrating behind albumin) protein appeared in the uterine fluid after ovulation. This proteins concentration increased during early pregnancy or pseudopregnancy reached a maximum on the fifth day postovulation and decreased to nearly 0 by the ninth day postovulation. The proten was absent in serum and in oviductal fluid of pregnant and pseudopregnant rabbits. Progesterone or progesterone and estradiol administration resulted in the appearance of this protein in the uterine fluid of oophorectomized females but failed to induce its appearance in the oviductal fluid of these animals. In oophorectomized females receiving only estradiol the uterine or oviductal patterns were unaffected. The postalbumin protein which migrated in front of transferrin and whose appearance was obviously stimulated by progesterone has a significance yet unclear.
Toward Improving the Type IV Cracking Resistance in Cr-Mo Steel Weld Through Thermo-Mechanical Processing

Detailed microstructure characterization of Grade 91 (Modified 9Cr-1Mo, ASTM A387) steel subjected to a thermo-mechanical treatment process was performed to rationalize the cross-weld creep properties. A series of thermo-mechanical processing in the austenite phase region, followed by isothermal aging at temperatures at 973 K to 1173 K (700 °C to 900 °C), was applied to the Grade 91 steel to promote precipitation kinetics of MX (M: Nb and V, X: C and N) in the austenite matrix. Detailed characterization of the base metals after standard tempering confirmed the presence of fine MX dispersion within the tempered martensitic microstructure in steels processed at/and above 1073 K (800 °C). Relatively low volume fraction of M23C6 precipitates was observed after processing at 1073 K (800 °C). The cross-weld creep strength after processing was increased with respect to the increase of MX dispersion, indicating that these MX precipitates maintained during weld thermal cycles in the fine-grained heat-affected zone region and thereby contribute to improved creep resistant of welds in comparison to the welds made with the standard “normalization and tempering” processes. The steels processed in this specific processing condition showed improved cross-weld creep resistance and sufficient room temperature toughness. The above data are also analyzed based on existing theories of creep deformation based on dislocation climb mechanism.
Mechanical systems for a synchrotron X-ray-enhanced scanning tunnelling microscope

Synchrotron X-ray-enhanced scanning tunnelling microscopy (SXSTM) is a novel technique by which materials can be studied with elemental-sensitive and nanometre-spatial resolution. This poster covers the mechanical engineering design for the prototype SXSTM instrument. System performance and sample handling requirements along with the desire to use existing components constrained the design. The SXSTM needs to be mechanically and acoustically isolated from the environment. In addition, all sample preparations are done in situ, and thus, the sample and SXSTM tips need to be prepared and moved inside the vacuum chamber with a wobble stick. The final design incorporates an Advanced Photon Source-designed vacuum chamber, existing components and commercial parts to provide the user with a robust prototype system to demonstrate the impact of this new technique.
External Rotation Predicts Outcomes After Closed Glenohumeral Joint Reduction With Botulinum Toxin Type A in Brachial Plexus Birth Palsy.

Few studies have investigated outcomes after adjunct botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) injections into the shoulder internal rotator muscles during shoulder closed reduction and spica cast immobilization in children with brachial plexus birth palsy. The purpose of this study was to report success rates after treatment and identify pretreatment predictors of success. Children with brachial plexus birth palsy who underwent closed glenohumeral joint reduction with BTX-A and casting were included. Minimum follow-up was 1 year. Included patients did not receive concomitant shoulder surgery nor undergo microsurgery within 8 months. Records were reviewed for severity of palsy, age, physical examination scores, passive external rotation (PER), and subsequent orthopaedic procedures (repeat injections, repeat reduction, shoulder tendon transfers, and humeral osteotomy). Treatment success was defined in 3 separate ways: no subsequent surgical reduction, no subsequent closed or surgical reduction, and no subsequent procedure plus adequate external rotation. Forty-nine patients were included. Average age at time of treatment was 11.5 months. Average follow-up was 21.1 months (range, 1 to 9 y). Thirty-two patients (65%) required repeat reduction (closed or surgical). Only 16% of all patients obtained adequate active external rotation without any subsequent procedure. Increased PER (average 41±14 degrees, odds ratio=1.21, P=0.01) and Active Movement Scale external rotation (average 1.3, odds ratio=2.36, P=0.02) predicted optimal treatment success. Limited pretreatment PER (average −1±17 degrees) was associated with treatment failure. Using the optimal definition for success, all patients with pretreatment PER>30 degrees qualified as successes and all patients with PER<15 degrees were treatment failures. Pretreatment PER>30 degrees can help identify which patients are most likely to experience successful outcomes after shoulder closed reduction with BTX-A and cast immobilization. However, a large proportion of these patients will still have mild shoulder subluxation or external rotation deficits warranting subsequent intervention. Level IV—therapeutic.
Ali al-Du‘aji and al-‘alam al-adabi (The Literary World): a voice of the Tunisian avant-garde under colonial rule (1930–1936)

ABSTRACTUnder French colonisation, Tunisian intellectuals, with al-Snusi at the head, sought to create an Arabic language literary periodical al-‘alam al-adabi (The Literary World) in the 1930s that attempted to create a national identity and define a national culture within an international context. A border zone, using Walter Mignolo’s term, opens where colonial knowledges and local knowledges come together fuelling debates. This article examines the literary contributions of Ali al-Du‘aji to a nationalist intellectual project that made use of a monthly, then weekly periodical. Al-Du‘aji made use of literary colonial knowledge by subverting it to local knowledge in order to create a modern text that broke with traditional Arabic literary forms.
Homelessness among a nationally representative sample of US veterans: prevalence, service utilization, and correlates

To examine the prevalence of lifetime homelessness among veterans and use of Veterans Affairs (VA) homeless services, as well as their association with sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. A nationally representative sample of 1533 US veterans was surveyed July–August 2015. Among all veterans, 8.5 % reported any lifetime homelessness in their adult life, but only 17.2 % of those reported using VA homeless services. Prevalence of homelessness and VA homeless service use did not significantly differ by gender. Being low income, aged 35–44, and having poor mental and physical health were each independently associated with lifetime homelessness. Veterans who were White or lived in rural areas were significantly less likely to have used VA homeless services. Homelessness remains a substantial problem across different generations of veterans. The low reported uptake of VA homeless services suggests there are barriers to care in this population, especially for veterans who live in rural areas. Governmental resources dedicated to veteran homelessness should be supported, and obtaining accurate prevalence estimates are important to tracking progress over time.
Recent Advances in High Power Gas Switches

Primarily because of a shilft from defense-related applications to those more commercial, the emphasis in recent developments of high power closing gas switches has been on lifetime and reliable operation at medium average power, rather than on improvements in single shot performance at very high peak power. Most of the work has focused on pseudosparks and very high pressure spark gaps. The lifetime of pseudosparks is now approaching that of thyratrons. Recovery times of less than one millisecond in high pressure hydrogen spark gaps allow operation with repetition rates exceeding 1 kHz. Anode voltage fall times of less than 100 ps have been achieved in strongly overvolted, high pressure spark gaps. In the field of opening switches, Plasma Opening Switches (POS) have received the most attention. The increase in peak power into the terawatt range and the controllability of the opening effect in POS were recent major achievements.
A Analysis of Prognosis and Influential Factors of Tuberculous Meningitis

Objective:to observe the prognosis and to analyze the influential factors of tuberculous meningitis patients. Methods: 123 tuberculous meningitis cases were retrospectively from January 1991 to December 2003.The patients were followed up through phone or clinic and the modified Rankin scale (MRS)score was used as the index of primary outcome. The influential factors were analyzed by monovariate and multivariate ordinal Regression(cumulative logistic)analysis. Results: the shortest follow-up time was 12 day and the longest was 22 months. Nine cases were lost to follow-up. The lost rate was 8.9%. Thus,the final number was 101. Monovariate and multivariate ordinal Regression analysis showed that unfavorable prognosis was associated with low Glasgow scale(GCS) score (OR=0.757,95%CI:0.632 to 0.908,P=0.003),positive hemiplegia(OR=0.317,95%CI:0.109 to 0.922,P=0.035),microdosege Isoniazid (OR=0.113,95%CI:0.019 to 0.664,P=0.016)),the compound formulation for tuberculosis no received a pyrazinamide (PZA) add-on therapy (OR=3.386,95%CI:1.480 to 7.747,P=0.004),no assistant glucocorticoid (OR=3.383,95%CI:1.507 to 7.592,P=0.003) and received a lumber puncture of injection intrathecal drug treatment (OR=8.782,95%CI:3.025 to 25.496,P=0.000). Among these,PZA add-on and injection intrathecal drug treatment was the most important factor. Conclusions:the GCS score,hemiplegia,INH,glucocorticoid,PZA and the injection intrathecal are the major factor influencing the prognosis of the tuberculosis.
Bullying, Depression, and Suicide Risk in a Pediatric Primary Care Sample.

Abstract. Background: Suicide is a serious public health concern for US youth. Research has established an association between bullying and suicide risk. However, several questions remain regarding this relationship. Aims: The present study examined (a) whether experiences of verbal, physical, and cyber bullying were uniquely associated with general suicide risk; (b) whether each specific form of bullying was related to suicide attempt; and (c) whether depression moderated the relationship between each type of bullying and suicide risk. Method: The sample included medical records of 5,429 youth screened in primary care when providers had mental health concerns. Patients were screened using the Behavioral Health Screen (BHS), which assessed a range of mental health problems and behaviors, including bullying, depression, and suicide. Results: All types of bullying were associated with suicide risk, but verbal bullying was uniquely associated with suicide attempt. Depression significantly moderated the relat...
Origin of the right vertebral artery from the left side of the aortic arch proximal to the origin of the left subclavian artery.

The authors describe a patient in whom there was an anomalous origin of the right vertebral artery from the aortic arch, proximal to the origin of the left subclavian artery-another potential vertebral origin anomaly that one may encounter when performing cerebral angiography
The Theory of Entrepreneurial Competence

Within the Entrepreneurial Value Creation Theory, the Theory of Entrepreneurial Competence combines resources and opportunities, propelled by entrepreneurial intention, resulting in an entrepreneurial competence as a key source of value creation generated from within Stage 1—Formulation. Specifically, within the Theory of Entrepreneurial Intentionality, entrepreneurial intention and adaptability, via the feasibility modulator, adjusts and adapts entrepreneurial resources. Next, the entrepreneur advances forward to the effectuation multiplier, which deploys entrepreneurial resources to reconfigure the entrepreneurial opportunity into an entrepreneurial competence, which then leads into Stage 2—Monetization (see figure 5.1). This iterative process can also initiate from the intention input and cycle through this internal process between the feasibility modulator and the effectuation multiplier.
Variation in inpatient hospital and physician payments among patients undergoing general versus orthopedic operations

Background Comparative data on surgeon payments for operative procedures are not well documented. We sought to assess variations in surgeon payments after common general and orthopedic operations using a nationally representative sample of privately insured patients. Methods A total of 486,506 patients who underwent a general (appendectomy, cholecystectomy, colectomy) or orthopedic (total knee replacement, total hip replacement) operation between 2010–2012 were identified from the Truven Health MarketScan database. Results Median age was 54 years (general operation, 44 years vs orthopedic operation, 58 years; P Conclusions Hospital and surgeon payments following routine general and orthopedic operations vary greatly. Patients with comorbid conditions and those who experienced a postoperative complication resulted in higher overall payments. Though significant variability existed at the surgeon level, hospital payments were responsible for the highest source of variability.
Learning to use analogies

In order for a system to learn how to do new tasks, it must be capable of assimilation and accommodation. The assimilation capability enables a system to relate unfamiliar situations to situations that it knows about. Through assimilation, an unfamiliar situation is transformed, for a time, into a familiar situation. The accommodation capability enables a system to make such transformations permanent. ANA, the system described in this paper, is a production system that is capable of both assimilation and accommodation. Initially, ANA has a few methods for accomplishing a variety of simple tasks. When it is given a not too unfamiliar task, it performs that task by analogy with one of the tasks it has a method for. When it accomplishes a new task (and typically this happens only after the method has been extended to handle problems that it was not designed to cope with), it stores the knowledge of how it did the task. If ANA is subsequently faced with the same task, it recognizes the task and performs it using the knowledge previously gained.
Dual Decomposed Learning with Factorwise Oracle for Structural SVM of Large Output Domain

Many applications of machine learning involve structured output with large domain, where learning of structured predictor is prohibitive due to repetitive calls to expensive inference oracle. In this work, we show that, by decomposing training of Structural Support Vector Machine (SVM) into a series of multiclass SVM problems connected through messages, one can replace expensive structured oracle with Factorwise Maximization Oracle (FMO) that allows efficient implementation of complexity sublinear to the factor domain. A Greedy Direction Method of Multiplier (GDMM) algorithm is proposed to exploit sparsity of messages which guarantees $\epsilon$ sub-optimality after $O(log(1/\epsilon))$ passes of FMO calls. We conduct experiments on chain-structured problems and fully-connected problems of large output domains. The proposed approach is orders-of-magnitude faster than the state-of-the-art training algorithms for Structural SVM.
Abstract 372: Regulation of Nox1 and Nox2 by Cigarette Smoke in Cerebral Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells: A Role of Oxidative Stress in Cerebral Aneurysm Formation

Objectives: Cigarette smoke is one of the most significant environmental risk factor for cerebral aneurysm formation and progression. Factors including inflammation and matrix degradation are consi...
Arsenic and Obesity: A Comparison of Urine Dilution Adjustment Methods.

Introduction: A commonly used approach to adjust for urine dilution in analyses of biomarkers is to adjust for urinary creatinine. However, creatinine is a product of muscle mass and is therefore a...
Restaurant Authenticity: Factors That Influence Perception, Satisfaction and Return Intentions at Regional American-Style Restaurants

This study assessed perceptions of authenticity and its relationship with satisfaction and return intentions for regional American-style restaurants using randomly selected customers at a Southern-...
Crystal structures of rhizopuspepsin/inhibitor complexes.

The crystal structures of the aspartic proteinases have been extensively studied over the past fifteen years (Hsu et al., 1977; Subramanian et al., 1977; reviewed by Davies, 1990). After the initial determinations of the native structures uncomplexed with inhibitors, a few complexes with pepstatin (Bott et al., 1982) and with a fragment of pepstatin (James et al., 1982) were reported. These studies showed that these inhibitors bound in the deep groove that separates the N- and C-terminal domains of the enzyme. Accompanying the binding of the inhibitor was a displacement of the “flap” region of the molecule, a hairpin loop that closes down on the inhibitor, the extent of the displacement depending on the initial location of the flap (James et al., 1982; Bott et al., 1982; Suguna et al., 1987 and Cooper et al., 1987). Since no other major conformational changes were observed, the crystals of these proteinases offered a convenient vehicle for examining a number of bound inhibitor conformations. Other factors facilitating the examination of these inhibitors were the availability of large numbers of renin inhibitors, and the fortunate ease of access to the combining site in several of the crystal forms, thus enabling the inhibitors to be soaked into the crystals.
A framework for processing corrections in task-oriented dialogues

Mundane discourse abounds with utterances referring to other utterances. These meta-language utterances appear with surprising frequency in task-oriented dialogues, such as those arising in the context of a natural language interface to an operating system. This paper identifies some simpler types of dialogue-level metalanguage utterance and provides a computational framework to process such phrases in the context of a case-frame parser exploiting strongly-typed domain semantics.
Speculations About the Implications of the Pathways Vision for How We Understand Accounting

In the spirit that a picture is worth a thousand words, the Pathways Commission Vision’s “perception” of accounting is a simplistic caricature of a practice epitomized by bookkeeping and governed by a “black letter” tradition whereby hard-and-fast rules exist for distilling the vast number of data business generates into a meaningful narrative about the financial state and performance of a firm. The “Reality” Vision is a rather heroic self-perception the profession has for the role it will play in producing a prosperous society. The problematic ambiguity with the “Reality” obviously revolves around the concept of “prosperous society” and what implications different notions of prosperous have for accounting’s role in society, given accounting’s (and accountants’) limitations. We propose a vision for a prosperous society based on the 17 UN goals, specifically focusing on the two which relate to income distribution and sustainability. We consider how accounting can play a role in helping achieve this view of a prosperous society.
Correlated Molecular Orbital Theory Study of the Al + CO2 Reaction.

Density functional theory (DFT) and correlated molecular orbital electronic structure calculations were used to study the Al + CO2 → AlO + CO reaction on the electronic ground-state potential-energy surface (PES). Geometries were optimized using DFT (M11/jun-cc-pV(Q+d)Z) and more accurate energies were obtained using the composite Weizmann-1 theory with Brueckner doubles (W1BD). The results comprise the most complete, most systematic characterization of the Al + CO2 reaction surface to date and are based on consistent application of high-level methods for all stationary points identified. The pathways from Al + CO2 to AlO + CO on the electronic ground-state PES all involve formation of one or more stable AlCO2 complexes denoted η-AlCO2, trans-AlCO2, and C2v-AlCO2, among which η-AlCO2 and C2v-AlCO2 are the least and most stable, respectively. We report a new minimum-energy pathway for the overall reaction, namely formation of η-AlCO2 from reactants and dissociation of that same complex to products via a bo...
Endothelial cells: The heart attack of the Clones

Neovascularization induced by acute myocardial infarction is mediated by clonal expansion of mature endothelial cells, which is triggered by VEGFR-2 signaling.