cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Integration of Flow-Gradient Patterns Into Clinical Decision Making for Patients With Suspected Severe Aortic Stenosis and Preserved LVEF: A Systematic Review of Evidence and Meta-Analysis

Abstract Objectives This study was designed to evaluate the evidence base for the 2014 American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology (AHA/ACC) guidelines for severe aortic stenosis (SAS) and preserved left ventricular ejection fraction by comparing the natural history of the disease in subgroups of low-gradient (LG) aortic stenosis patients with high-gradient (HG) patients. Background The 2014 AHA/ACC valvular disease guidelines recommend estimation of stroke volume index by echocardiography in patients with suspected LG SAS and preserved left ventricular ejection fraction. Methods PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases were searched for all studies that have compared the natural history of SAS with preserved ejection fraction in flow-gradient patterns. We studied the following 3 subgroups: HG, low-flow low-gradient (LFLG), and normal-flow low-gradient (NFLG). The random effects model was used to pool individual study results. The end-point was long-term all-cause mortality. Results A total of 9 studies with 3,065 patients fulfilled the criteria. Compared to HG SAS, both LFLG and NFLG patients had a higher burden of comorbidities such as coronary artery disease and hypertension. Atrial fibrillation was more prevalent in LFLG patients. Moreover, end-diastolic volume index was smaller for LFLG patients and indexed aortic valve area was larger for NFLG patients. All-cause mortality was similar between HG and LFLG subgroups (relative risk: 1.07; 95% confidence interval: 0.83 to 1.38; p = 0.60), whereas patients with NFLG had a significantly lower all-cause mortality compared to the HG subgroup (relative risk: 0.64; 95% confidence interval: 0.47 to 0.86; p = 0.004). Conclusions Patients with LFLG SAS have similar outcomes compared to HG SAS but worse compared to NFLG SAS. These findings support estimating stroke volume index in patients with suspected LG SAS. All analyses revealed high heterogeneity and further high-quality studies are necessary.
The Cancer Biology of Molecular Imaging

Cancer is a complex series of stepwise genetic alterations resulting in common biologic changes in the transformed cells. Distinguishing features of cancer include rapid proliferation of cells, immortality, resistance to apoptosis, resistance to suppression of proliferation, metastatic behavior, characteristic changes in metabolism, and resistance to immunologic attack. Cancer cells recruit normal host tissues to support growth of the tumor mass. Fibrocytes and collagen producing cells provide structure for the tumor cells. Endothelial cells are recruited to form blood vessels. Tumor blood vessels have incomplete endothelium, making the vessels leaky. This allows large molecules to leak into the tumor interstitium. The middle of the tumor mass has few, if any, lymphatic vessels. The combination of vessel leakiness and few lymphatics results in an increased interstitial pressure in the tumor, making it difficult for chemotherapy to diffuse into the tumor mass.
Principles of Parallel Programming

We assume that our readers are computer literate, meaning that they can write programs in a high-level programming language and that they have at least a basic understanding of what a computer does in the execution of a program.
Reinvigorated Opportunities: Libraries as Essential Institutions for Youth

Abstract Whether it is in a cloud or in a printed book, there is no doubt that the world hungers for information. The current generation of youth has more access to information than any other. Youth continually create, share and manipulate information in a variety of formats. Readily available information in digital formats present youth with numerous opportunities and challenges. Learning information literacy skills such as discerning creditable resources, synthesising information and exhibiting digital citizenship behaviours are essential to their well-being. However, these skills are not innate and must be taught. This essay examines how regardless of the format of information, the learning opportunities provided in libraries remain indispensable and relevant.
TRADE LIBERALIZATION IN A DEVELOPING NATION: THE NIGERIA EXPERIENCE (2007-2014)

Trade liberalization in a Developing Nation: the Nigeria Experience (2007-2014). This research work examines Nigeria as a member of the International Community. Nigeria is not shielded from globalization. However, the country is exposed to both the positive and negative effects of trade liberalization. The research paper examines the negative effects of trade liberalization on Nigeria by focusing on its impact on political, social, cultural, her science and technology and the environment. It argues that although Globalization or Trade Liberalization presents many opportunities, it also exposes developing countries like Nigeria to many new challenges. The paper uses Economic Liberalization Theory propounded by Adam Smith in 1775. It poses objectives of the study with Research questions and Research Hypothesis. The paper also suggests ways by which the negative effects of globalization/Trade Liberalization can be addressed.
RECENT HEAT PUMP INVESTIGATIONS FOR NORTHERN CLIMATE APPLICATIONS

ABSTRACT The present paper describes several successful field studies of electric, air-source heat pumps in heating-dominated climates and, using computer simulations validated by field data, investigates the use of heat pumps as well as fossil-fuel heating equipment, in several Canadian cities. The results of the field studies as well as computer analyses indicate that electric heat pumps can be economically and reliably applied in northern climates.
Graphic vs. Text-Only Résumés: Effects of Design Elements on Simulated Employment Decisions:

Resumes sometimes contain graphical elements, and the use of such “graphical resumes” may be increasing. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of including different types of graphica...
Control System Design and Analysis Education via the Web

Advances in mathematics and computing technology have greatly expanded the range of control systems and engineering problems that can be solved [1]. As methodo­logies become more computational intensive, the desire for development of innovative teaching and learning software has increased. To meet the demand, software packages such as the MATLAB Control Systems Toolbox [2] and Mathematica’s Control System Professional [3] have been developed and made commercially available for the purpose of computer aided control system design and analysis.
"Work identity imprinting: What, how, why and when?"

In this paper I bring theoretical relevance to the construct of work identity imprinting. More specifically, I advance that during "formative periods" people’s identities are particularly prone to ...
Estimation and validation of patient-specific high-resolution lung elasticity derived from 4DCT

Purpose Lung diseases are commonly associated with changes in lung tissue's biomechanical properties. Functional imaging techniques, such as elastography, have shown great promise in measuring tissue's biomechanical properties, which could expand the utility and effectiveness of radiotherapy treatment planning. We present a novel methodology for characterizing a key biomechanical property, parenchymal elasticity, derived solely from 4DCT datasets. Methods Specifically, end-inhalation and end-exhalation breathing phases of the 4DCT datasets were deformably registered and the resulting displacement maps were considered to be ground-truth. A mid-exhalation image was also prepared for verification purposes. A GPU-based biomechanical model was then generated from the patient end-exhalation dataset and used as a forward model to iteratively solve for the elasticity distribution. Displacements at the surface of the lungs were applied as boundary constraints for the model-guided tissue elastography, while the inner voxels were allowed to deform according to the linear elastic forces within the biomechanical model. A convergence criteria of 10% maximum deformation was employed for the iterative process. Results The lung tissue elasticity estimation was documented for a set of 15 4DCT patient datasets. Maximum lung deformations were observed to be between 6 and 31 mm. Our results showed that, on average, 89.91 ± 4.85% convergence was observed. A validation study consisting of mid-exhalation breathing phases illustrated an accuracy of 87.13 ± 10.62%. Structural similarity, normalized cross-correlation, and mutual information were used to quantify the degree of similarity between the following image pairs: (a) the model-generated end-exhalation and ground-truth end-exhalation, and (b) model-generated mid-exhalation images and ground-truth mid-exhalation. Conclusions Overall, the results suggest that the lung elasticity can be measured with approximately 90% convergence using routinely acquired clinical 4DCT scans, indicating the potential for a lung elastography implementation within the radiotherapy clinical workflow. The regional lung elasticity found here can lead to improved tissue sparing radiotherapy treatment plans, and more precise monitoring of treatment response.
How Constructivism Can Boost Success in STEM Fields for Women and Students of Color

National Science Foundation statistics document a stark gap in degree attainment in most STEM fields for women and students of color. This chapter summarizes research on learning, academic achievement, and persistence to help understand the origin of this gap. Discussion focuses on the central role that constructivist teaching and learning environments play in boosting success for women and students of color in STEM. Practical tweaks and tips are presented to encourage educators to incorporate this pedagogy to improve learning and achievement for all students.
Pediatric Fall Risk Assessment Tool Comparison and Validation Study.

Abstract Purpose Compare two pediatric fall risk assessment tools (I'M SAFE and Humpty Dumpty) used at the same organization to determine if one is better able to predict which patients fall. Design and Methods Retrospective data was obtained from patients admitted in 2014. Each patient who experienced a fall during hospitalization was matched with two non-fallers based on age and diagnosis. Logistic regression was performed to identify which tool more accurately determines fall risk and reliability testing was completed for the I'M SAFE tool. Results Over 22,000 patient files were extracted for this study. One hundred seventy-seven falls were identified, seventy-one of them were intrinsic. Of those patients who fell, the majority were assessed to be at high risk for falls. There were too few falls during the study period using the Humpty Dumpty tool to assess and make formal conclusions. The results for the I'M SAFE tool were opposite of what was expected and showed an increased risk for falls for patients who scored low risk using this tool. Conclusions At completion of this study the data reflected that the I'M SAFE tool was not adequately predicting patients at greatest risk for intrinsic falls for this particular population. Practice Implications Further research on these tools is needed in other populations or across multiple sites. Additional work to adapt the tools may be necessary to better predict fall risk without over identifying high risk patients.
Effects of Physical Stress and Pain on Emission of Ultrasonic Vocalizations and Social Interactions

Abstract This chapter discusses the impact of interoceptive and exteroceptive stress on the emission of 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations and social interactions in rats. In the subsection about interoceptive stress, the focus includes inflammatory and pain-related stimuli. For exteroceptive stress, a range of innocuous aversive stimulations to direct physical threat are discussed. Congruent evidences point to the stress-induced aversive emotional response as a cause of the production of 22-kHz USVs in different tests. Thus, 22-kHz USVs may be used as an ethological tool to predict social behavior and aspects of stress resilience in relation to both interoceptive and exteroceptive threats. Furthermore, the generation of 22-kHz USVs during intermittent swim stress appears to be correlated with a state of reduced anxiety that leads to subsequent resilience.
Postoperative atrial fibrillation: a billion-dollar problem

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common complication associated with coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. The impact of postoperative AF on hospital resources is substantial, with annual estimated U.S. expenditures exceeding $1 billion [(1)][1]and length of hospital stays increased by a
Nannocystis exedens: A Potential Biocompetitive Agent against Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus

This study examined the potential for controlling toxigenic Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus by biological means using a myxobacterium commonly found in soil. The ability of Nannocystis exedens to antagonize A. flavus ATCC 16875, A. flavus ATCC 26946, and A. parasiticus NRRL 3145 was discovered. Cultures of aflatoxigenic fungi were grown on 0.3% Trypticase peptone yeast extract agar for 14 days at 28 degrees C. When N. exedens was grown in close proximity with an aflatoxigenic mold, zones of inhibition (10 to 20 mm) developed between the bacterium and mold colony. A flattening of the mold colony on the sides nearest N. exedens and general stunting of growth of the mold colony were also observed. When N. exedens was added to the center of the cross-streak of a mold colony, lysis of the colony by the bacterium was observed after 24 h. Microscopic observations revealed that N. exedens grew on spores, germinating spores, hyphae, and sclerotia of the molds. These results indicate that N. exedens may be a potential biocontrol agent against A. flavus and A. parasiticus.
Anova: Analysis of Variance for a Categorical and a Metric Variable

In this chapter we focus on one particular kind of crime—violent crime: murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated violent crime. We address the question of whether the chances of being a victim of violent crime are the same from one part of the country to another. Then, if we do find that the number of violent crimes is not the same in different parts of the country, where are the high and low incidences of violent crime? These questions are more than theoretical. Insult and injury are at stake.
Optimal Mean Robust Principal Component Analysis

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is the most widely used unsupervised dimensionality reduction approach. In recent research, several robust PCA algorithms were presented to enhance the robustness of PCA model. However, the existing robust PCA methods incorrectly center the data using the l2-norm distance to calculate the mean, which actually is not the optimal mean due to the l1-norm used in the objective functions. In this paper, we propose novel robust PCA objective functions with removing optimal mean automatically. Both theoretical analysis and empirical studies demonstrate our new methods can more effectively reduce data dimensionality than previous robust PCA methods.
Pathways to Kindergarten Readiness: The Roles of Second Step Early Learning Curriculum and Social Emotional, Executive Functioning, Preschool Academic and Task Behavior Skills.

Efforts to improve the achievement gap between low-income children and their more affluent peers has led to the development of classroom interventions and curricula to increase executive functioning (EF) and social-emotional skills (SE), thought to be foundational for learning. The Second Step Early Learning (SSEL) curriculum is a commercially available curriculum designed to improve school readiness by building EF and SE skills. However, although widely used, it has not been widely studied. Modeling SSEL’s underlying theory of change, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to longitudinally examine the effects of the curriculum on low-income preschool children’s kindergarten school readiness through the hypothesized mediating role of EF and SE skills in improving pre-academic skills and task behavior in preschool. In a cluster randomized trial, 972 children attending 63 preschool classrooms within 13 low-income Head Start or community preschools were individually tested at the beginning (T1) and end of preschool (T2, n = 836) and followed into kindergarten. Children’s average age at T1 was 53 months, with 51% male, 42% Anglo-American, 26% African-American, and 40% Hispanic-American. Children’s executive functioning, social skills, pre-literacy/language, and pre-math skills were assessed by trained child assessors blind to study conditions at T1 and T2. Assessors also rated children’s task behavior in the testing situation at T1 and T2. School records of children’s kindergarten screening scores were obtained on 345 children at T3. It was expected that SSEL would have both direct and indirect effects on kindergarten readiness through improvements in children’s SE and EF skills preschool academic skills and on-task behavior. We found no direct effects of SSEL on either pre-academic or on-task behavior outcomes in preschool, nor on later kindergarten readiness. However, SSEL significantly increased EF, and as expected by SSEL’s theory of change, growth in EF predicted gains in both pre-academics (particularly pre-math), and on-task behavior in preschool. End-of-year pre-academic skills and on task behavior in turn predicted better kindergarten readiness. Further, SE (although not impacted by SSEL) had direct and indirect effects on kindergarten readiness. Thus, overall, our findings largely support SSEL’s theory of change, particularly in relation to EF.
Getting Started in Service Design: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians. (2017): Joe J. Marquez and Annie Downey, eds. Chicago, IL: Neal-Schuman, 107 pp., $60.00, ISBN: 978-0-8389-1564-6.

The cover of this book explains that it is “A Workbook That Supplements Library Services Design: A LITA Guide by Joe J. Marquez and Annie Downey,” which was published in 2016 and reviewed in volume...
Mapping water exchange across the blood-brain barrier using 3D diffusion-prepared arterial spin labeled perfusion MRI.

Purpose To present a novel MR pulse sequence and modeling algorithm to quantify the water exchange rate (kw ) across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) without contrast, and to evaluate its clinical utility in a cohort of elderly subjects at risk of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD). Methods A diffusion preparation module with spoiling of non-Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill signals was integrated with pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL) and 3D gradient and spin echo (GRASE) readout. The tissue/capillary fraction of the arterial spin labeling (ASL) signal was separated by appropriate diffusion weighting (b = 50 s/mm2 ). kw was quantified using a single-pass approximation (SPA) model with total generalized variation (TGV) regularization. Nineteen elderly subjects were recruited and underwent 2 MRIs to evaluate the reproducibility of the proposed technique. Correlation analysis was performed between kw and vascular risk factors, Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale, neurocognitive assessments, and white matter hyperintensity (WMH). Results The capillary/tissue fraction of ASL signal can be reliably differentiated with the diffusion weighting of b = 50 s/mm2 , given ~100-fold difference between the (pseudo-)diffusion coefficients of the 2 compartments. Good reproducibility of kw measurements (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.75) was achieved. Average kw was 105.0 ± 20.6, 109.6 ± 18.9, and 94.1 ± 19.6 min-1 for whole brain, gray and white matter. kw was increased by 28.2%/19.5% in subjects with diabetes/hypercholesterolemia. Significant correlations between kw and vascular risk factors, CDR, executive/memory function, and the Fazekas scale of WMH were observed. Conclusion A diffusion prepared 3D GRASE pCASL sequence with TGV regularized SPA modeling was proposed to measure BBB water permeability noninvasively with good reproducibility. kw may serve as an imaging marker of cerebral SVD and associated cognitive impairment.
A convex-programming-based guidance algorithm to capture a tumbling object on orbit using a spacecraft equipped with a robotic manipulator:

An algorithm to guide the capture of a tumbling resident space object by a spacecraft equipped with a robotic manipulator is presented. A solution to the guidance problem is found by solving a coll...
Low Cross-Polarization, High-Isolation Microstrip Patch Antenna Array for Multi-Mission Applications

The design and development of a high-performance, dual-polarization, hybrid aperture-coupled microstrip patch antenna are presented. In the presented design, the horizontal and vertical polarizations are excited using the aperture coupling method. The isolation level of better than 51 dB and cross-polarization level of less than −30 dB are achieved from the measurement results of the designed single element. To achieve better cross-polarization levels, the $2 \times 2$ element subarrays of the proposed unit cell, while the horizontal polarization ports are mirrored, are designed and fabricated, and a lower than −39-dB cross-polarization level is achieved in the measurement results. Finally, to characterize the scan performance of the unit cell and subarray, a $4 \times 10$ element array of the proposed single element is fabricated and a better than −45-dB cross-polarization level is observed while scanning up to 45°.
Effects of perennial neighbors and nitrogen pulses on growth and nitrogen uptake by Bromus tectorum

An experiment was conducted to determine if growth and biomass responsesof the annual grass Bromus tectorum are affected by themagnitude and timing of nitrogen (N) pulses and if these responses areinfluenced by different perennial neighbor species. Nitrogen(NH4:NO3) was applied in three pulse treatments of varyinginterpulse length (3-d, 9-d, or 21-d between N additions). The total amount of Nadded was the same among treatments; hence, both the frequency and magnitude ofN pulses varied (i.e., the longer the interpulse period,the greater the amount of N added for a single pulse).Bromus showed little response to the different N-pulsetreatments. The only characteristic that varied among pulse treatments wasspecific leaf area (SLA), which was significantly greater whenBromus was grown under the 21-d N pulse than when grownunder the 3-d or 9-d N pulses. Bromus height, leaf andtiller numbers, leaf area and aboveground biomass were not affected by theN-pulse treatments nor were tissue-N contents and concentrations. However,Bromus production and tissue-N were significantly differentwhen Bromus was grown with different perennial neighborspecies. Tiller production, aboveground biomass, and seed numbers ofBromus were lowest when the perennial neighbor was thetussock grass Agropyron desertorum, intermediate when theneighbor was the evergreen shrub Artemisia tridentata, andgreatest when the neighbor was the deciduous shrub Chrysothamnusnauseosus. N contents of Bromus leaves were alsolowest when the neighbor was Agropyron. In contrast, root Nuptake capacities were greatest for Agropyron-Bromus rootmixes and lowest for Chrysothamnus-Bromus root mixes. Theseresults suggest that perennial neighbors affect growth, seed production, and Nuptake of Bromus to a greater extent than the timing andmagnitude of N pulses.
A Passive-Stacked Third-Order Buck Converter With Inherent Input Filtering Achieving 0.7-W/mm $^{2}$ Power Density and 94% Peak Efficiency

This letter describes a passive-stacked third-order buck (PS3B) converter that offers loss-, structure-, and noise-related benefits as compared to a conventional buck converter. Specifically, all the passives including two inductors are stacked in a packaging-friendly manner at the PS3B converter input, allowing for the inductors to process lower current than a conventional buck converter while inherently filtering input current noise. A prototype shows that the converter achieves a peak efficiency of 94% and a peak power density of 0.7 W/mm2.
Intrauterine Device Training Workshop for Preclinical Medical Students.

Introduction Medical school reproductive health curricula often lack adequate education regarding intrauterine devices (IUDs). When placed in clinical scenarios, students may have insufficient know...
Patient Specific Biomechanics Are Clinically Significant In Accurate Computer Aided Surgical Image Guidance

Augmented Reality is used in Image Guided surgery (AR IG) to fuse surgical landmarks from preoperative images into a video overlay. Physical simulation is essential to maintaining accurate position of the landmarks as surgery progresses and ensuring patient safety by avoiding accidental damage to vessels etc. In liver procedures, AR IG simulation accuracy is hampered by an inability to model stiffness variations unique to the patients disease. We introduce a novel method to account for patient specific stiffness variation based on Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE) data. To the best of our knowledge we are the first to demonstrate the use of in-vivo biomechanical data for AR IG landmark placement. In this early work, a comparative evaluation of our MRE data driven simulation and the traditional method shows clinically significant differences in accuracy during landmark placement and motivates further animal model trials.
Chapter 219 – Tissue Transglutaminase: A Unique GTP-Binding/GTPase

Publisher Summary One of the most interesting biochemical features of TGase-2 is the fact that it shares sites for GTP-binding/GTP hydrolysis and acyl transferase activities on the same polypeptide chain. This chapter shows how the binding of guanine nucleotides to the rat TGase-2 negatively impacts its transamidation activity. A potentially important regulatory feature exhibited by TGase-2 is its responsiveness to Ca2+. The increased TGase-2 transamidation activity associated with some human cancer cells can contribute to oncogenesis by promoting drug-resistance. The study reviews many important questions surrounding the function of TGase-2 that are aimed at understanding the functional significance of its GTP-binding/GTP-hydrolytic cycle. There have been a number of suggestions that TGase-2 functions as a signal transducer, mediating the stimulation of phospholipase C activity by the α1-adrenergic receptor, as well as by the oxytocin and thrombaxin receptors. These shed important new light on the growth and survival of cells, and how these processes go awry during the development of the malignant state.
41. CREATING A STANDARDIZED TEMPLATE FOR LEARNING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES IN RESIDENCY ELECTIVE CURRICULA

Background ACGME accreditation requires residency programs have curricula with competency-based goals and objectives at each educational level. Prior published attempts at standardizing learning goals and objectives (LGO) mostly focus on specific fields, thus limiting generalizability for programmatic use. The recently published ACGME accreditation criteria prompted our institution to review our elective LGOs and develop a process to facilitate both ease of LGO creation and accreditation compliance. Objectives 1) Identify published standards for residency elective curricula; 2) evaluate the current state of our program's elective LGOs, and 3) pilot a process to implement LGO best practices. Methods We designed an electronic form (e-form) to compare our institution's elective LGOs to those reported in the literature. Two authors independently evaluated and scored our program's electives. Results informed the design of a second e-form for guiding elective directors in creating LGOs meeting accreditation expectations. This form was piloted by 5 elective directors. Results Review of prior studies revealed two major types of elective LGO features: common “core” characteristics, and less frequent “secondary” characteristics. Core characteristics included: demonstration of learner progression over time, inclusion of ACGME's core competencies, measurable deliverables, and expected outcomes. Secondary characteristics included: orientation and reference materials, formal didactics, milestone calendars, and scholarly products. We evaluated 55 unique electives at our program using these characteristics. Twenty percent of our current electives did not have LGOs available. Over 94% of LGOs had not been updated for at least 2-3 years. We also identified gaps between best practices and the current state of our elective LGOs (Figure 1). The new electronic form was piloted by 5 elective directors. Director feedback from our pilot included: checkboxes for common responses; free-text options in all areas; and providing a customizable “sample week” calendar. Conclusions While electives are highly customized by design, establishing LGO guidelines helps to define goals for learner progression, minimizes the difficulties in the transition process, and provides a framework for elective directors as they strive to design the best experience. Our next step will be to implement the e-form for all of our electives.
Titration of fresh meat color stability and malondialdehyde development with Holstein steers fed vitamin E-supplemented diets.

Pigment and lipid oxidations were investigated in longissimus lumborum (LL), semimembranosus (SM), and gluteus medius (GM) from Holstein steers fed four doses of vitamin E (64 [control], 295, 550, or 2,173 IU/d) for two durations (42 or 126d). Vitamin E dose did not affect (P = .30) carcass quality or yield characteristics. The LL was stored in vacuum packages at 4 degrees C for 14, 28, and 56 d, and GM and SM were stored for 14 d. Increments of dose and duration of vitamin E supplementation increased (P SM > LL, the color display-life ranking of these muscles across vitamin E treatments was LL > SM > GM.
Beyond Personal Experiences: Examining Mediated Vicarious Experiences as an Antecedent of Medical Mistrust.

African Americans consistently report higher levels of medical mistrust than their White counterparts. As a result, medical mistrust is considered to be a contributor to racial health disparities. ...
Misogyny in Medicine.

Misogyny in Medicine Sexism is not about the culture intrinsic to a specific health care system; it is pervasive throughout clinical and academic medicine. Gender equity in medicine won’t materiali...
IMPROVING RANSAC FEATURE MATCHING BASED ON GEOMETRIC RELATION

Abstract. Feature Matching between images is an essential task for many computer vision and photogrammetry applications, such as Structure from Motion (SFM), Surface Extraction, Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (VSLAM), and vision-based localization and navigation. Among the matched point pairs, there are typically false positive matches. Therefore, outlier detection and rejection are important steps in any vision application. RANSAC has been a well-established approach for outlier detection. The outlier ratio and the number of required correspondences used in RANSAC determine the number of iterations needed, which ultimately, determines the computation time. We propose a simple algorithm (GR_RANSAC) based on the two-dimensional spatial relationships between points in the image domain. The assumption is that the distances and bearing angles between the 2D feature points should be similar in images with small disparity, such as the case for video image sequences. In the proposed approach, the distances and angles are measured from a reference point in the first image and its correspondence in the other image, and the points with any significant differences are considered as outliers. This process can pre-filter the matched points, and thus increase the inliers’ ratio. As a result, GR_RANSAC can converge to the correct hypothesis in fewer trial runs than ordinary RANSAC.
Visualization of two-phase refrigerant flow in the inlet header of brazed plate heat exchangers and its effect on distribution

Abstract This paper presents an experimental study of two-phase R134a flow in the inlet header of brazed plate heat exchangers and its effect on flow distribution among the channels. Visualization of the two-phase flow is accomplished through a 3-D printed transparent window on the inlet header of the heat exchangers. The two-phase flow distribution among channels is quantified based on infrared images of the heat exchanger sidewalls. At the test conditions, the observed flow regimes in the inlet header are periodic and two or three stages are identified in one cycle: top corner vapor flow, vapor jet flow, and (conditional) liquid blockage flow. Among them, the top corner vapor flow affects the distribution most, in which the vapor refrigerant is mainly present at the top corner of the header and branches out through the first several channels, leaving the liquid refrigerant to occupy the rest flow area of the inlet header and present a single-phase like distribution profile. When the inlet vapor quality increases, the distribution of the liquid refrigerant is improved since the vapor refrigerant can reach more downstream channels to help balance the total pressure drop. With the mass flux increases, the maldistribution caused by the header induced pressure drop is more significant, which compromises the benefit brought by the higher vapor momentum. When the number of plates is increased, the liquid refrigerant distribution is worse due to an increased pressure drop in the headers.
Lyapunov Stability of Periodic Control on a Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor

Abstract Periodic control uses zero mean parametric excitation as a tool to influence the transient behavior of a dynamical system. Unlike conventional methods, based on feedback or feedforward principles, the method of periodic control may not require any measurement of the deviations or disturbances to stabilize an unstable system. The choice of amplitude and frequency in periodic control provides two additional degrees of freedom to stabilize an open-loop system. Stability analysis of periodically forced systems is often limited to linearization methods. This is often not sufficient to assess the global properties of a non-linear system like finding the region of convergence. In this paper, forced oscillations are introduced in the input flow rates of a continuous stirred-tank reactor (CSTR) to operate the process around an unstable point. We use Lyapunov analysis to demonstrate the exponential stability of a CSTR system under the operation of periodic control. For exponentially convergent systems, we derive a theorem to estimate the region of convergence and show that the rate of convergence for a system under weak oscillations is almost the same as that of its averaged system. Numerical simulations of a propylene glycol process are carried out to illustrate the exponential stability of periodic control and verify the results of our analysis.
Getting Through COVID-19: Keeping Clinicians in the Workforce.

Clinicians continue to wrestle with how to provide safe, high-quality care during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article urges employers and organized medicine to take tangible steps to preserve the c...
LOW DOSE ENDOTOXIN (EN) AND FIBRONECTIN (FN) DEPLETION IN RATS: A MODEL OF REYE'S SYNDROME

Plasma FN concentrations are decreased in Reye's Syndrome. FN depletion in experimental animals potentiates the systemic effects of EN. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of FN depletion on the response to endotoxin. Sprague-Dawley male rats (n=30) were entered into 4 groups: (C) Control (D5W IV), (F) FN depletion (1% gelatin 15 mg/kg IV), (E) E. coli EN (0.2 mg/kg IP), and (FE) 1% gelatin (15 mg/kg IV) followed in one hour with EN (0.2 mg/kg IP). Serum ammonia (NH3), free fatty acids (FFA), lactate, glucose, SGOT and SGPT were obtained prior to fasting (baseline), 12 hours after onset of fast, and upon sacrifice (12 hr after test injection). At sacrifice, liver, spleen and brain specimens were fixed for fat staining, routine histology, and electron microscopy (EM). Plasma chemistry values were unchanged by fasting.
Taurocholate stimulates transcytotic vesicular pathways labeled by horseradish peroxidase in the isolated perfused rat liver

Abstract The effect of taurocholate on transcytotic vesicular pathways labeled with horseradish peroxidase was assessed in isolated perfused rat liver preparations. Forty-five minutes after a horseradish peroxidase load in a recirculating system, continuous infusion of taurocholate but not taurodehydrocholate significantly increased horseradish peroxidase excretion in bile by 50% compared with controls. When horseradish peroxidase (25 mg) was pulse loaded for 1 minute in control perfusions, it appeared in bile in early (4–6 minutes) and late (20–25 minutes) peaks, the latter accounting for 90% of total horseradish peroxidase output. Taurocholate infusion significantly increased horseradish peroxidase output in both early and late peaks, whereas only a small increase in the early peak was observed with taurodehydrocholate. Colchicine pretreatment increased the early peak in bile but abolished the second peak. Electron micrographs from control livers revealed the accumulation of horseradish peroxidase-containing vesicles in pericanalicular regions at early (2 minutes) as well as late (18 minutes) periods. When a morphometric analysis of electron micrographs was performed from pericanalicular regions 2 minutes after a 1-minute pulse of horseradish peroxidase (500 mg), taurocholate but not taurodehydrocholate increased both the density and percent area of horseradish peroxidase-containing vesicles compared with controls. In contrast, colchicine pretreatment had no effect on the density of the early-appearing vesicles, although their individual sizes were reduced. Taurocholate but not taurodehydrocholate also increased the percent of tubular structures in the pericanalicular region. These findings indicate that taurocholate stimulates both early and late transcytotic vesicle pathways and that a rapid transcellular-colchicine-insensitive and therefore probably microtubule-independent vesicle pathway is present in hepatocytes that must be distinguished from paracellular routes.
Liver, Pancreas, Spleen, and Kidney MRI

The sections in this article are 1 Introduction 2 Imaging Techniques 3 Image Quality 4 Pulse Sequence Performance 5 The Liver 6 Hepatocellular Carcinoma 7 Benign Disease: Cavernous Hemangioma 8 The Pancreas 9 The Spleen 10 The Kidney 11 Summary 12 Biographical Sketch Related Articles
Therapists' Perspectives on Working with Interracial Couples

SUMMARY This paper is based on interviews with seven marriage and family therapists (AAMFT Clinical Members) on their experiences of providing therapy to interracial couples in the course of their private practices. The interviews were conducted by the author as part of a masters thesis project. Interracial couples may frequently present for therapy with a variety of generic couples' issues and concerns. However, therapists often find that underlying these more generic concerns are issues related to the ethnic, racial, and cultural differences that the partners bring to the relationship. This paper focuses on the historical context of intermarriage, specific concerns and issues that interracial couples experience in their relationships, and on the experiences of therapists providing therapeutic services to this diverse and challenging client population.
Study of the Effective Thermal Conductivity of Nanofluids

Nanofluids, that is liquids containing nanometer sized metallic or non-metallic solid nanoparticles, show an increase in thermal conductivity compared to that of the base liquid. In this paper a model for thermal conductivity of nanofluids based on the theory of Brownian motion of particles in a homogeneous liquid combined with the macroscopic Hamilton-Crosser model is presented. The model is shown to predict a temperature and particle size dependent thermal conductivity. Comparison between the predicted and experimental results show that the model is able to accurately predict the temperature and volume fraction dependence of the thermal conductivity of water based alumina and gold nanofluids.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
N-Acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG) is the probable mediator of axon-to-glia signaling in the crayfish medial giant nerve fiber

Glial cell hyperpolarization previously has been reported to be induced by high frequency stimulation or glutamate. We now report that it also is produced by the glutamate-containing dipeptide N-acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG), by its non-hydrolyzable analog beta-NAAG, and by NAAG in the presence of 2-(phosphonomethyl)-pentanedioic acid (2-PMPA), a potent inhibitor of the NAAG degradative enzyme glutamate carboxypeptidase II. The results indicate that NAAG mimics the effect of nerve fiber stimulation on the glia. Although glutamate has a similar effect, the other presumed product of NAAG hydrolysis, N-acetylaspartate, is without effect on glial cell membrane potential, as is aspartylglutamate (in the presence of 2-PMPA). The hyperpolarization induced by stimulation, glutamate, NAAG, beta-NAAG, or NAAG plus 2-PMPA is completely blocked by the Group II metabotropic glutamate receptor antagonist (S)-alpha-ethylglutamate but is not altered by antagonists of Group I or III metabotropic glutamate receptors. The N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist MK801 reduces but does not eliminate the hyperpolarization generated by glutamate, NAAG or stimulation. These results, in combination with those of the preceding paper, are consistent with the premise that NAAG could be the primary axon-to-glia signaling agent. When the unstimulated nerve fiber is treated with cysteate, a glutamate reuptake blocker, there is a small hyperpolarization of the glial cell that can be substantially reduced by pretreatment with 2-PMPA before addition of cysteate. A similar effect of cysteate is seen during a 50 Hz/5 s stimulation. From these results we suggest that glutamate derived from NAAG hydrolysis appears in the periaxonal space under the conditions of these experiments and may contribute to the glial hyperpolarization.
Good-enough level and dose-effect models: Variation among outcomes and therapists

AbstractObjective: The current study examined the good-enough level (GEL) and dose-effect model on three outcome variables: well-being, symptom distress, and life functioning, while accounting for therapist effects. The dose-effect model assumes the rate of change is consistent across clients, and the GEL model assumes that the rate of change will vary according to the total length of treatment. Method: The sample included 13,664 clients who completed 2–100 sessions of therapy. Results: The GEL model was a better fit to the data compared to the dose-effect model for all outcomes. There were fewer changes in life functioning compared to well-being and symptom distress for clients. There were significant therapist effects for changes in symptom distress and life functioning, but not for the rates of change in well-being. Conclusion: Therapists should consider the rates of change for their own clients as well as by outcome.
Solvent effects on host-guest complexation

Complex formation between 15-crown-5 and malononitrile was studied in twelve solvents by calorimetry. Thermodynamic parameters for the crown ether adduct were determined and used in a LFER analysis to ascertain the solvent effects on the complexation process. Enthalpy of solution data show that malononitrile is solvated by electron pair donation by the solvents and the crown ether is solvated by donating electron pairs to the solvents. The complex is more solvated than the monomers.
Generalized conjugate directions for unconstrained function minimization

The theory of unconstrained optimization has led to the development of a large class of iterative methods that reduce to conjugate direction methods when they are applied to quadratic functions. The purpose of this paper is to give a generalization of conjugate directions to nonquadratic functions.
THE EFFECT OF EXOGENOUS CATALASE ON THE AEROBIC GROWTH OF CLOSTRIDIA.

The results obtained by Holman (1955) indicating a marked protective effect of catalase on clostridia growing aerobically were shown to be due to impurities in the catalase preparation used. In aerobic liquid shake flask cultures, no stimulation of growth by crystalline catalase could be demonstrated, although withLactobacillus acidophilus andL. leichmannii a marked effect was observed.
Equity portfolio diversification under time-varying predictability: Evidence from Ireland, the US, and the UK

Abstract We use multivariate regime switching vector autoregressive models to characterize the time-varying linkages among short-term interest rates (monetary policy) and stock returns in the Irish, the US and UK markets. We find that two regimes, characterized as bear and bull states, are required to characterize the dynamics of returns and short-term rates. This implies that we cannot reject the hypothesis that the regimes driving the markets in the small open economy are largely synchronous with those typical of the major markets. We compute time-varying Sharpe ratios and recursive mean-variance portfolio weights and document that a regime switching framework produces out-of-sample portfolio performance that outperforms simpler models that ignore regimes. The portfolio shares derived under regime switching dynamics implies a fairly low commitment to the Irish market.
Abdominal sensory neurons providing negative feedback to the feeding behavior of the blowfly

1. The anatomy of the abdominal nerves of the blowfly, Phormia regina, is briefly described. Five nerves connect the thoracico-abdominal ganglion (TAG) with the abdomen, an unpaired median abdominal nerve (MAN), a pair of medial accessory abdominal nerves (MAAN) and a pair of lateral accessory abdominal nerves (LAAN). 2. The affect on feeding of cutting the MAN, MAAN or LAAN immediately posterior to the TAG is reported. A significant increase in feeding is produced only by cutting the MAN. Cutting the MAN posterior to the second lateral branches arising from it has no affect on feeding. 3. A small population of cell bodies is located within the branches of the abdominal nerves. These cells are 15–20 microns in diameter and are usually situated at branch points. Approximately 4–8 such cells are located in the first and second lateral branches of the MAN. 4. Electrical recording from cells in peripheral abdominal nerves reveals steady activity which survives complete isolation of the cell from the CNS and the periphery. A unit can be activated by gentle stretch of the nerve containing it or branching in its immediate vicinity. Stretch was the only consistently effective stimulus found. 5. Recording from the cells in situ demonstrates that their net rate of firing is dependent on crop volume. The short-term temporal pattern of output can be modulated by crop contractions and expansions. It is suggested that the output of these cells acts in the CNS to reduce the probability of feeding.
ADULT AGE AND THE SPEED-ACCURACY TRADE-OFF

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the possibility that previously reported age differences in speed of performance were caused by older subjects placing more emphasis on accuracy than younger subjects. The speculation that older subjects generally have a greater emphasis on accuracy was confirmed, but only in one of the experiments was the complete age difference in speed found to be attributable to an age difference in accuracy. It was concluded that although a speed-accuracy trade-off cannot account for all age differences in speed, the greater bias towards accuracy in older subjects and the problems associated with interpreting traditional reaction time make it advisable that future researchers in this area employ procedures that allow an empirical determination of the relationship between speed and accuracy.
A methodology for crack tip mesh design

Abstract A methodology for crack tip mesh design is developed which consists of comparing the mesh geometric parameters against the accuracy of the finite element solution. By successive changes in the mesh parameters a near optimal mesh can be obtained. This was done here two-dimensional linear elastic single mode problems. The direct displacement extrapolation method for stress intensity factor estimation is used.