cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A description of children dependent on long term ventilation via tracheostomy and their hospital resource use.

Abstract Purpose To describe the proportion of children with an index hospitalization in 2014 who had established long-term invasive ventilator dependence (LTVD), and determine regional variation in hospital length of stay, charges, and readmissions. Design and methods Multicenter, longitudinal, retrospective cohort study using a recently established algorithm to identify children with LTVD from the Pediatric Health Information System database with an index hospitalization at least once during 2014, excluding normal newborn care or chemotherapy, and the subset with established LTVD. Hospitals were grouped by geographic regions. Analysis included descriptive statistics and multi-variable mixed modeling for length of stay, charges, and readmissions. Results Of the 615,883 unique children discharged from 45 children's hospitals in 2014, 2235 (0.4%) had established LTVD. Of these, 342 (15%) were hospitalized in the Northeast, 677 (30%) Midwest, 733 (32%) South and 481 (22%) West. Most had at least two complex chronic conditions (97%) and used a medical device for at least two body systems (71%). No statistically significant regional variation was found for length of stay, charges, or readmissions after adjustment for child demographics, admission type, disposition, primary diagnosis, ICU stay, and number of chronic conditions. Conclusions This study characterized the population of children with LTVD hospitalized in 2014. No regional variation was found for length of stay, charges, or readmissions. Practice implications Children with established LTVD make up a small subset of all children admitted to children's hospitals however, they require substantial, costly, multifaceted care as most have additional complex chronic conditions and require multiple medical devices.
A critical review on the progress and challenges to a more sustainable, cost competitive synthesis of adipic acid

Adipic acid is a key organic diacid intermediate used in nylon manufacturing. It is primarily produced by an industrial process that can form nitrous oxide as a byproduct. Nitrous oxide has a 300-fold higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide, and an estimated 10% of its annual global emissions are a result of adipic acid production. These concerns have led to significant efforts for the development of nitrous oxide mitigation technologies as well as more environmentally friendly routes for adipic acid production. New processes include both advanced chemical and biotechnological routes. In this review, we discuss key recent developments in mitigation as well as new technologies. We also provide a critical look at the potential of new technologies to compete with the incumbent process and highlight key remaining technical challenges to the development of greener (environmentally sustainable) and cost competitive (commercially sustainable) processes for adipic acid manufacture.
The Facilitators and Barriers Faced When Transitioning Back into the Community Following a Prison Sentence.

This qualitative study explored ex-offender’s community reintegration experiences following a prison sentence. Fourteen ex-offenders from the Offender Alumni Association participated in an in-perso...
Transcriptomic signatures of psychomotor slowing in peripheral blood of depressed patients: evidence for immunometabolic reprogramming.

Inflammation impacts basal ganglia motor circuitry in association with psychomotor retardation, a key symptom of major depression (MD). We previously reported associations between circulating protein inflammatory biomarkers and psychomotor slowing as measured by neuropsychological tests probing psychomotor speed in patients with MD. To discover novel transcriptional signatures in peripheral blood immune cells related to psychomotor slowing, microarray data were analyzed in a primary cohort of 88 medically-stable, unmedicated, ambulatory MD patients. Results were confirmed and extended in a second cohort of 57 patients with treatment resistant depression (TRD) before and after anti-inflammatory challenge with the tumor necrosis factor antagonist infliximab versus placebo. Composite scores reflecting pure motor and cognitive-motor processing speed were linearly associated with 403 and 266 gene transcripts in each cohort, respectively (|R| > 0.30, p 5 mg/L), two differential co-expression modules enriched for oxidative stress and mitochondrial degradation were associated with improvements in psychomotor reaction time (p < 0.05). These results indicate that inflammatory signaling and associated metabolic reprogramming in peripheral blood immune cells are associated with systemic inflammation in depression and may affect relevant brain circuits to promote psychomotor slowing.
A Fast Randomized Algorithm for Massive Text Normalization.

Many popular machine learning techniques in natural language processing and data mining rely heavily on high-quality text sources. However real-world text datasets contain a significant amount of spelling errors and improperly punctuated variants where the performance of these models would quickly deteriorate. Moreover, real-world, web-scale datasets contain hundreds of millions or even billions of lines of text, where the existing text cleaning tools are prohibitively expensive to execute over and may require an overhead to learn the corrections. In this paper, we present FLAN, a scalable randomized algorithm to clean and canonicalize massive text data. Our algorithm relies on the Jaccard similarity between words to suggest correction results. We efficiently handle the pairwise word-to-word comparisons via Locality Sensitive Hashing (LSH). We also propose a novel stabilization process to address the issue of hash collisions between dissimilar words, which is a consequence of the randomized nature of LSH and is exacerbated by the massive scale of real-world datasets. Compared with existing approaches, our method is more efficient, both asymptotically and in empirical evaluations, and does not rely on additional features, such as lexical/phonetic similarity or word embedding features. In addition, FLAN does not require any annotated data or supervised learning. We further theoretically show the robustness of our algorithm with upper bounds on the false positive and false negative rates of corrections. Our experimental results on real-world datasets demonstrate the efficiency and efficacy of FLAN.
Incidental Hepatic Granulomata as the Initial Presentation of Crohn's Disease in a Pediatric Patient

We describe a 9-year-old girl who presented with abdominal pain, found incidentally to have multiple liver granulomata. Extensive autoimmune and infectious workup was negative. The patient had esophagogastroduodenoscopy and colonoscopy, confirming the diagnosis of Crohn's disease. Hepatic granulomata are a rare complication of Crohn's disease and are often secondary to pharmacotherapy or infection in immunosuppressed patients. This case, to our knowledge, is the first reported case of a pediatric patient diagnosed with Crohn's disease after initially presenting with hepatic granulomata as an extraintestinal manifestation of the disease.
The Cambridge Introduction to James Joyce

James Joyce has a reputation for being one of modern literature's most difficult writers. This introduction gives students the necessary tools they will need to get the most out of reading him. It provides the essential biographical information and situates his life and works in broader cultural, historical, and literary contexts. Students will also find detailed examinations of the major works including Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. In addition, Bulson lets students see how Joyce evolved as a writer. This introduction also provides a brief history of the critical reception of Joyce's life and works and explains what a variety of critical approaches can teach us. A guide to further reading has been included for those interested in consulting some of the more influential secondary works. This accessible and lively introduction gives students everything they will need to get started reading, understanding, and appreciating Joyce.
Autoimmunity in Lyme Arthritis: Molecular Mimicry between OspA and LFA-1

The first indication that autoimmunity might play a role in treatment-resistant Lyme arthritis was a study of HLA-allele association with Lyme arthritis. The risk for development of treatment-resistant Lyme arthritis has been shown to double when patients have the HLA-DR4 specificity and generate an anti-outer surface protein A (OspA) antibody response. Immunodeficient severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice infected with Borrelia burgdorferi develop severe arthritis, carditis, and hepatitis, which are preventable if anti-OspA antibodies are administered prior to infection and which are treatable if antibodies are administered after induction of arthritis. The authors' work has explored the population of active cells involved in the propagation of treatment-resistant Lyme arthritis. It had been previously shown that Th1 cells dominate the immune response in the synovial fluid of patients with Lyme arthritis, as well as those with RA or other types of chronic inflammatory arthritis. T-cell lines from patients with treatment-resistant Lyme arthritis have previously been shown to preferentially recognize OspA in comparison with T-cell lines from patients with treatment-responsive disease. The authors suggest that OspA, in the context of DR4-homologous alleles, triggers development of an autoimmune response to human lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 (hLFA-1), which leads to treatment-resistant Lyme arthritis. That is, if the spirochetal infection is prevented from disseminating into the joint or is eradicated before a strong proinflammatory response can develop in the localized space of the synovial fluid, the vicious cycle of chronic inflammation is prevented before molecular mimicry and autoimmunity can develop.
An Answer to the Question “Liberating the Future from the Past? Liberating the Past from the Future?”

The future is uncertain; no one can tell for sure that the sun will rise tomorrow. Elaborate predictions are made on the basis of sophisticated “scientific” theories, and much assurance is derived from them, and much arrogance displayed as a result. But we have long lost the hope that any such theory can unveil relations of causal efficacy, that it can fathom the essence of things; all that is accessible to us is past regularities — that’s all the content “causal efficacy” can have for us, as Hume pointed out. So any prediction proffered by those regularities presupposes the belief that the same regularities will continue to take place: that the future will resemble the past. And no one knows that. Besides, if what no one knows were true, then it would continue regularly to be the case, as was without exception in the past, that all scientific theories will at some point prove false and be discarded. Which places us in an uncomfortable dilemma: either there is no grounding for the belief that any prediction we make is true (however true predictions may have been so far) or there is grounding for the belief that all current bases for predictions are false.
Building Adoption of Visual Analytics Software

The impact of visual analytic software can only be fully realized if attention is focused on the development of approaches to facilitate broad adoption. While all technology adoption efforts face obstacles, the highly visual and interactive nature of visual analytics software as a cognitive aid poses particular technological and cultural challenges that must be addressed. Successful adoption requires different techniques at every phase of the technology adoption life cycle, from the innovators and the visionary early adopters to the more pragmatic early majority and finally to the less technologically-oriented late majority. This chapter provides an overview of the technology adoption life cycle and describes the particular challenges of technology adoption for visual analytics software. A case study of visual analytics technology adoption is considered, and the role of organizational culture is examined. Finally, an extensive set of guidelines is presented for facilitating visual analytics software adoption throughout the entire technology adoption life cycle.
Abstract 16984: Role of Inositol 1,4,5-Triphosphate Receptor 2 in Post-Ischemic Heart Failure

Introduction: The type 2 inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate receptor (IP3R2) is the predominant isoform expressed in ventricular cardiomyocytes. IP3R2-mediated Ca2+ release has been proposed to participate in atrial arrhythmogenesis. However, its involvement in post-ischemic heart failure (HF) has not been elucidated. Methods: To investigate whether myocardial IP3R2 plays a functional role in HF, we generated myocardial specific IP3R2 knock-out (KO) mice by crossing IP3R2flox/flox mice (obtained by opportunely placing loxP sequences flanking exon 3 of IP3R2 gene) with α-MHCCre mice. Results: We confirmed cardiomyocyte-specific IP3R2 deletion in IP3R2flox/flox/α-MHCCre mice (hereafter referred to as KO) at mRNA and protein levels. The loss of IP3R2 in the heart does not result in embryonic lethality: KO mice survived to adulthood and we did not detect any morphological or functional defects in baseline conditions. Serial cardiac ultrasound analyses performed following coronary artery ligation revealed a significa...
A Review of “Secular Saints: Performing Frida Kahlo, Carlos Gardel, Eva Perón, and Selena”

In Secular Saints, Sarah M. Misemer takes a provocative look at four contemporary idols of the (Latin) Americas: Mexican visual artist Frida Kahlo, Argentinean singer-songwriter Carlos Gardel, Arge...
Carotenoid Composition of Colorful Body Stripes and Patches in the Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta) and Red-Eared Slider (Trachemys scripta)

Abstract The objective quantification of integumentary color and its pigmentary basis have been relatively little studied in turtles. We used reflectance spectrometry to measure the color of the chin, neck, and leg stripes and spots of the painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) and the red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta), and we used absorbance spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography to identify pigments in these colored patches. Both species had stripes and patches that were predominantly yellow and orange, but the yellow stripes typically contained a small ultraviolet (UV) reflectance peak. Chin, neck, and leg stripes of the painted turtle and chin and neck stripes of the red-eared slider contained an unidentified apocarotenoid and a ketocarotenoid (astaxanthin), but the postorbital eyespot of the red-eared slider contained only astaxanthin. These findings add painted turtles and red-eared sliders to the growing list of animals that use carotenoids in part to generate red, orange, yellow, and...
Pentobarbital-mediated Regulation of Alternative Polyadenylation in Drosophila Glutathione S-Transferase D21 mRNAs

Abstract Two nearly identical, gstD21(L) and gstD21(S) mRNAs, whose polyadenylation sites differ by 19 nucleotides, are transcribed from the intronless glutathione S-transferase D21 gene in Drosophila. Both mRNAs are intrinsically very labile, but exposure to pentobarbital renders them stabilized beyond what can be attributed to transcriptional activation. We have reconstituted this PB-mediated mRNA stabilization in a transgene (D21L) that contains the full-length gstD21(L) sequence. We have also constructed a similar transgene (D21L-UTR), which matches D21L but excluded the native 3′-UTR. D21L-UTR produces a relatively stable RNA, whose stability is unaffected by pentobarbital. Following pentobarbital treatment of wild-type flies, the levels of gstD21(L) and gstD21(S) mRNAs hold at a relatively constant ratio (L/S) of 1.4 ± 0.2. In transgenic flies, heat shock induction of D21L mRNA changed the L/S ratio to 0.6 ± 0.1, and it was further reduced to 0.3 ± 0.1 as D21L mRNA accumulated in the presence of PB. The ratio returned nearly normal (1.1 ± 0.1) as the D21L mRNA decayed over 12 h after terminating induction. In constrast, when D21L-UTR was present, the ratio remained constant (1.7 ± 0.2) even under various induction conditions and during recovery. Thus, the 3′-UTR, which was the critical difference between these two transgenes, must have some role in determining the L/S ratio. Induced D21L mRNA alone is not sufficient to cause reversible changes in the ratio. Such changes require the presence of pentobarbital. Therefore, pentobarbital may regulate this L/S ratio by affecting the choice of polyadenylation sites for the gstD21 mRNAs through sensing the concentrations of the native 3′-UTR sequences.
Imatinib mesylate causes growth deceleration in pediatric patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia

Background Imatinib mesylate, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, is used in the treatment of chronic myelogeneous leukemia (CML). Given its ease of administration and manageable side effects in adults, imatinib mesylate was introduced as therapy for pediatric CML. Recently published case reports describe growth deceleration in children treated with imatinib. This study details the growth phenotype of seven pediatric patients maintained in remission on imatnib mesylate over an extended period of time. Procedure This study is a retrospective chart review of pediatric patients with CML at Oregon Health & Science University treated with imatinib. Height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) measurements were collected before and during treatment. Median standard deviation scores (SDS) were analyzed by Wilcoxon Rank-Sum test and Wilcoxon signed rank cohort analysis. Results Individual patient analysis demonstrated five of seven subjects with a statistically significant decrease in height SDS pre versus during treatment. The whole group analysis showed a trend to significance for difference in median height SDS pre and during treatment (P = 0.078). Bone age was delayed in all four patients in whom bone ages were obtained. IGF-1, IGFBP-3, and thyroid levels during treatment were normal. Four patients experienced an improvement in height SDS during puberty. However, three patients approaching near final adult height failed to achieve genetic height potential determined by mid-parental target height. Conclusion Growth in children with CML appears to be adversely impacted by imatinib therapy. BMI and IGF-1/IGFBP-3 are maintained during treatment, suggesting a direct effect of imatinib on the growth plate. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2012; 59: 840–845. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A critical examination of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase as a biochemical marker for alcohol abuse

Abstract A total of 101 male and female subjects from two alcohol abuse treatment settings were evaluated for alcohol abuse using the enzyme gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT). Rigorous screening procedures for physical health and abusive drinking were employed in an effort to test GGT's effectiveness as a diagnostic tool for alcohol abuse on a sample of healthy, recently abusive individuals. Results did not support the hypothesis that GGT may be used as a singular biochemical marker for alcohol abuse.
Shared Social and Emotional Activities Within Adolescent Romantic and Non-Romantic Sexual Relationships

Typically, “non-romantic” sexual relationships are assumed to be casual; however, the emotional and social distinctions between romantic and non-romantic contexts are not well understood, particularly in adolescence. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) was used to compare shared emotional (e.g., telling partner that they love her/him) and social (e.g., going out in a group) activities within romantic and non-romantic sexual relationships. Adolescents who reported exclusively romantic sexual relationships (n = 1,891) shared more emotional, but not social, activities with their partners than adolescents who were in non-romantic sexual relationships (n = 315; small effect size, r = .07–.13), akin to adolescents who experienced both relationship types (n = 519; small-to-medium effect size, r = .18–.38). Girls shared more emotional and social activities with their partners than boys when in romantic relationships (small effect size, r = .06–.10); there were no significant gender differences within non-romantic sexual relationships. Findings suggest that gendered scripts remain for sexual relationships that are romantic but not for those that are non-romantic. Notably, for the majority of adolescents, non-romantic relationships still held many emotional and social dimensions typical of romantic relationships and differences between relationship types were small. Although non-romantic relationships were less intimate than romantic sexual relationships, there was remarkable heterogeneity within this relationship type. Caution is advised when working with adolescents engaged in “casual” sexual relationships. Understanding the complexity of adolescent sexual relationships is critical for the advancement of effective sex education programming.
Do provider practices conform to the new pediatric immunization standards

Objective: Standards for pediatric immunization practices were issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga, in May 1992. This article provides baseline data on immunization practices related to eight of the standards. Design: Survey of pediatric providers before publication of the standards. Setting: Baltimore, Md. Participants: Forty of the 41 health centers, clinics, and private practices serving children in designated high-risk census tracts participated in the survey. One hundred seventy-three of the 251 eligible physicians and nurse practitioners at the sites responded. Main Outcome Measures: Conformity with the eight standards was measured as a percentage of either sites or physicians and nurse practitioners across the sites. Results: Conformity with the standards varied, ranging from nearly universal conformity with the need to educate parents and guardians about immunizations (standard 5) to less than 3% for simultaneous administration of all vaccine doses when a child is first eligible (standard 8). For most of the standards, considerable variability was found between and within public and private sites. Conclusions: Providers often followed practices that did not conform to the new standards (prior to issuance). Some of the standards are ambiguous and require clarification before they can be fully applied. The impact of the standards on immunization rates and pediatric primary health care has yet to be tested empirically. (Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1994;148:930-935)
Independence of grain boundary mobility and driving force for square-lattice Monte Carlo models

Computational experiments are used to show that grain boundary (GB) mobility is independent of driving force for a two-dimensional, square-lattice Ising model with Metropolis kinetics. This is established over the entire Monte Carlo (MC) temperature range. A calibration methodology is also provided which endows the MC algorithm with time and length scales and expresses the MC parameters in terms of experimentally measurable quantities. These links are used to verify that the square-lattice MC paradigm delivers the desired sharp-interface grain boundary kinetics over a wide range of mixed driving forces and MC temperatures using a single mobility function.
Sunitinib facilitates the activation and recruitment of therapeutic anti-tumor immunity in concert with specific vaccination

The multikinase inhibitor sunitinib malate (SUT) has been reported to reduce levels of myeloid suppressor cells and Treg cells in cancer patients, hypothetically diminishing intrinsic impediments for active immunization against tumor-associated antigens in such individuals. The goal of this study was to identify longitudinal immune molecular and cellular changes associated with tumor regression and disease-free status after the treatment of established day 7 s.c. MO5 (B16.OVA) melanomas with SUT alone (1 mg/day via oral gavage for 7 days), vaccination using ovalbumin (OVA) peptide-pulsed dendritic cell [vaccine (VAC)] alone, or the combination of SUT and VAC (SUT/VAC). We observed superior anti-tumor efficacy for SUT/VAC combination approaches, particularly when SUT was applied at the time of the initial vaccination or the VAC boost. Treatment effectiveness was associated with the acute loss of (and/or failure to recruit) cells bearing myeloid-derived suppressor cells or Treg phenotypes within the tumor microenvironment (TME) and the corollary, prolonged enhancement of Type-1 anti-OVA CD8(+) T cell responses in the tumor-draining lymph node and the TME. Enhanced Type-1 T cell infiltration of tumors was associated with treatment-induced expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and CXCR3 ligand chemokines in vascular/peri-vascular cells within the TME, with SUT/VAC therapy benefits conditionally negated upon adminsitration of CXCR3 or VCAM-1 blocking antibodies. These data support the ability of a short 7 day course of SUT to (re)condition the TME to become more receptive to the recruitment and prolonged therapeutic action of (VAC-induced) anti-tumor Tc1 cells.
Variation for biomass and residue production by dry pea

Abstract Pea (Pisum sativum L.) cultivars, grown for their dry edible seed, produce small and fragmentary harvest residues. The small residue pieces are ineffective in controlling soil erosion when the pea crop is followed by winter wheat in rotation. This presents a special problem for pea–wheat rotations common on the steep loess hills of the Palouse region of the U.S. Pacific Northwest. To determine the amount of residue produced by dry pea, total aboveground biomass was measured in plots of advanced pea yield trials conducted by the USDA at three locations in the Palouse region. Samples were collected in 1993, 1994 and 1995 and the amounts of residue produced were measured. Individual entries produced from 2300 to 4760 kg/ha of total biomass. Mean harvest indices for the nurseries ranged from 35% in 1994, a dry year, to 47% in both 1993 and 1995. Seed and residue yields were smaller in 1994 than in 1993 and 1995. Residue production and seed yield were influenced by sowing date and the amount and distribution of precipitation. Despite large environmental effects on residue production, sufficient genetic variation to improve the residue yields of dry pea was observed. The large, positive and significant correlation between seed yield and residue production indicated that it is possible to increase seed yields simultaneously with residue production through the incorporation of germplasm with greater potential for vegetative growth.
Impact of the Versatile Aerosol Concentration Enrichment System (VACES) on Gas Phase Species

The performance of the Versatile Aerosol Concentration Enrichment System (VACES) was assessed in terms of the enrichment factor (EF) for highly soluble vapors. Gases ranged in their behavior from a slight enrichment for ammonia (EF(NH 3 ) = 1.9 ± 0.8) to strong depletion of nitric acid (EF(HNO3) = 0.12 ± 0.06). H2O2 fell in between, with EF(H2O2) averaging 0.37 (±0.25) and ranging from 0.07 and 0.91 depending on conditions. Detailed results for H2O2 indicate that there are two competing processes at play: soluble gases are lost to condensed water in the VACES, particularly in the saturator water bath but also other locations, depleting outlet gas-phase concentrations and resulting in EFs well below 1. Working in the opposite direction, H2O2 (and other soluble gases) can also be concentrated together with particles. Presumably, the gases are absorbed into the particles as they take up water, pass through the concentration step, and are released once particles are re-dried. Depending on conditions and the g...
Damage Evolution and Stress Analysis in Zirconia Thermal Barrier Coatings during Cyclic and Isothermal Oxidation

The failure mechanisms of air-plasma-sprayed ZrO{sub 2} thermal barrier coatings with various microstructures were studied by microscopic techniques after thermal cycling. The elastic modulus (E) and hardness (H) of the coatings were measured as functions of the number of thermal cycles. Initially, both E and H increased by -60% with thermal cycling because of sintering effects. However, after -80 cycles (0.5 h at 980{sup o}C), the accumulated damage in the coatings led to a significant decrease of -20% of the maximum value in both E and H. These results were correlated with stresses measured by a spectroscopic technique to understand specific damage mechanisms. Stress measurement and analysis revealed that the stress distribution in the scale was a complex function of local interface geometry and damage in the top coat. Localized variations in geometry could lead to variations in measured hydrostatic stresses from -0.25 to -2.0 GPa in the oxide scale. Protrusions of the top ZrO{sub 2} coat into the bond coat were localized areas of high stress concentration and acted as damage-nucleation sites during thermal and mechanical cycling. The net compressive hydrostatic stress in the oxide scale increased significantly as the scale spalled during thermal cycling.
Prevalence of aortic valve prolapse with bicuspid aortic valve and its relation to aortic regurgitation: A cross-sectional echocardiographic study

Although aortic valve prolapse (AVP) has been suggested as a cause of aortic regurgitation (AR) in patients with bicuspid aortic valves, neither the frequency of AVP nor its relation to AR in this setting has been defined. To assess these relations, 64 patients with bicuspid aortic valves diagnosed by 2-dimensional echocardiography and 20 normal subjects, similarly distributed according to age and sex, were studied. The presence and degree of AVP were defined using 3 quantitative terms: aortic valve prolapse distance (AVPD), area (AVPA) and volume (AVPV). Each was corrected (c) for patient size with reference to the diameter of the aorta at the level of insertion of the valve cusps. In normal subjects, the AVPDc averaged 0.09 +/- 0.06 (range 0 to 0.16) and the AVPAc averaged 0.08 +/- 0.06 cm (range 0 to 0.15). In patients with bicuspid aortic valves, the AVPDc averaged 0.26 +/- 0.10 (range 0.11 to 0.59, p = 0.00005 vs normal subjects), whereas the AVPAc averaged 0.35 +/- 0.17 cm (range 0.05 to 0.90, p = 0.00005 vs normal subjects). When the AVPDc criteria were used, 81% of the bicuspid valves were abnormal; when the AVPAc criteria were used, 87% were abnormal. The degree of prolapse defined by the AVPVc, which considers both cusp area and degree of apical displacement, was significantly greater for patients with bicuspid aortic valve with clinical AR than for those without (p = 0.008). However, because of the overlap between groups, there was no point at which this measure uniquely separated patients with and without AR.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Copy number and targeted mutational analysis reveals novel somatic events in metastatic prostate tumors

Advanced prostate cancer can progress to systemic metastatic tumors, which are generally androgen insensitive and ultimately lethal. Here, we report a comprehensive genomic survey for somatic events in systemic metastatic prostate tumors using both high-resolution copy number analysis and targeted mutational survey of 3508 exons from 577 cancer-related genes using next generation sequencing. Focal homozygous deletions were detected at 8p22, 10q23.31, 13q13.1, 13q14.11, and 13q14.12. Key genes mapping within these deleted regions include PTEN, BRCA2, C13ORF15, and SIAH3. Focal high-level amplifications were detected at 5p13.2-p12, 14q21.1, 7q22.1, and Xq12. Key amplified genes mapping within these regions include SKP2, FOXA1, and AR. Furthermore, targeted mutational analysis of normal-tumor pairs has identified somatic mutations in genes known to be associated with prostate cancer including AR and TP53, but has also revealed novel somatic point mutations in genes including MTOR, BRCA2, ARHGEF12, and CHD5. Finally, in one patient where multiple independent metastatic tumors were available, we show common and divergent somatic alterations that occur at both the copy number and point mutation level, supporting a model for a common clonal progenitor with metastatic tumor-specific divergence. Our study represents a deep genomic analysis of advanced metastatic prostate tumors and has revealed candidate somatic alterations, possibly contributing to lethal prostate cancer.
Magnetic liquid stabilization of fluidization in a bed of nonmagnetic spheres

Abstract This work concerns a novel phenomenon in which magnetization of the fluidizing fluid, a ferrofluid, stabilizes the state of uniform fluidization in a bed of nonmagnetic particles. Stability analysis of the two-phase flow using mean field theory to determine magnetic forces acting on components of the bed mixture is employed to predict onset of transition from the stably fluidized to the unstably fluidized state. Computations of predicted transition velocity vs. applied induction exhibit general agreement with data in support of assumptions of the continuum theory. Concepts for process applications are described that utilize the novel features of the beds in contactors for the exchange of mass and heat.
Banking on Folk Art: Banamex-Citigroup and Transnational Cultural Citizenship

This article offers two readings of The Great Masters of Mexican Folk Art, a travelling exhibition of the Fomento Cultural Banamex, AC's folk art collection that coincided with Citigroup's buyout of Banamex, Mexico's second largest bank. The first, a political economic critique, situates the exhibition within the neoliberal economic reform of the Mexican banking system and the designs of US-based transnational banks on migrant remittances. The second, a material culture approach, focuses on the exhibitionary strategies employed to incentivise folk art consumption as a mode of cosmopolitan citizenship.
Mercury bioaccumulation by shrimp (Penaeus aztecus) transplanted to Lavaca Bay, Texas

Abstract A field study was conducted to determine mercury accumulation rates by brown shrimp, Penaeus aztecus , transferred to a mercury contaminated estuary, Lavaca Bay, Texas. Mercury levels in the caged shrimp rose from an average baseline value of 347 ± 163 ppb to 1170 ± 107 ppb in 36 days, resulting in an average rate of mercury uptake of 22 ppb per day. Our results show that shrimp rapidly accumulate Hg when confined to a contaminated area, even though the natural population of shrimp in Lavaca Bay is not contaminated.
Growth stimulation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv by coenzyme Q10.

WE have reported that coenzyme Q10 will stimulate the growth of a scotochromogenic strain of Mycobacteria1. The basal medium used in the experiments was the liquid medium of Proskauer and Beck2 which contains, in addition to inorganic salts, asparagine as a nitrogen source and glycerol as an energy source. This medium will support slow growth of human varieties of Mycobacteria provided a heavy inoculum is used. In our experiments1 a small inoculum was used and no growth occurred. Addition of coenzyme Q10 and sodium lauryl sulphate to the medium permitted growth of the scotochromogenic Mycobacterium. Both the substances had to be added to stimulate growth. Under these same conditions growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv did not occur. We have now discovered that coenzyme Q10 will stimulate the growth of M. tuberculosis H37Rv if Proskauer and Beck medium is supplemented with pyruvate and succinate instead of lauryl sulphate.
The Emergent Role of Social Intermediaries in the New Economy

This paper focuses on the role of social intermediaries in the evolution of the economy. By ‘social intermediaries’ I mean those institutions that mediate between the economy and other realms of social activity and maintain a balance between them. Among institutions of this kind are trade unions and governmental organizations but also cooperatives, household-based enterprises, religious institutions, and, increasingly, networks of professionals and business people based on race, sex, ethnicity and religion.
Integrated multimodal endomicroscopy platform for simultaneous en face optical coherence and two-photon fluorescence imaging

We report an all-fiber-optic scanning, multimodal endomicroscope capable of simultaneous optical coherence tomography (OCT) and two-photon fluorescence (TPF) imaging. Both imaging modalities share the same miniature fiber-optic scanning endomicroscope, which consists of a double-clad fiber with a core operating in single mode at both the OCT (1310 nm) and two-photon excitation (1550 nm) wavelengths, a piezoelectric two-dimensional fiber-optic beam scanner, and a miniature aspherical compound lens suitable for simultaneous acquisition of en face OCT and TPF images. A fiber-optic wavelength division multiplexer was employed in the integrated platform to combine the low coherence OCT light source and the femtosecond two-photon excitation laser into the same optical path. Preliminary imaging results of cell cultures and mouse tissue ex vivo demonstrate the feasibility of simultaneous real-time OCT and TPF imaging in a scanning endomicroscopy setting for the first time.
Family History Information Exchange Services Using HL7 Clinical Genomics Standard Specifications

A number of family history applications are in use by health care professionals (e.g., CAGENE, Progeny, Partners Health care Family History Program) as well as by patients (e.g., the US Surgeon Generalâ€™s Family History Program). Each has its own proprietary data format for pedigree drawing and for the maintenance of family history health information. Interoperability between applications is essentially non-existent. To date, disparate family history applications cannot easily exchange patient information. The receiving application should be able to understand the semantics of the incoming family history and enable the user to view and/or to edit it using the receiving applications interface. We envision that any family history application will be able to send and receive an individualâ€™s family history information using the newly created HL7 Clinical Genomics Specifications through the Semantic Web, using services that will transform one format to the other through the HL7 canonical representation.
Socioeconomics viewpoint: the need for an update of the clinical practice guideline on cataract.

In June 1994, the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR), Washington, DC, called a meeting to hear opinions on the need for a reconstituted panel to revise the recently published clinical practice guideline Cataract in Adults: Management of Functional Impairment . 1 The need and timing of a revision depend essentially on the answer to two questions: (1) Are there serious flaws in the previous panel's work that would necessitate a rereview? or (2) Is there new scientific information that can be critically assessed that would substantially alter the recommendations of the guideline? It is important to consider these questions with care because any revision is likely to be both costly and time-consuming.
Memory Retraining in Brain-Damaged Patients: The Airplane List

Summary Recall failures can be traced to inadequate encoding and unfocussed retrieval search. A method is given for encouraging deep and elaborate encoding of a list of words, and two brain-damaged patients who were unable to recall the list at first, were shown to, retrieve many of the words when retrieval cues were given by the examiner.
Black Studies and Social Work Education: New Life Styles for Social Workers

As of 1969, there were about 1,400 four-year colleges which have traditionally enrolled a preponderance of students whose racial origins were other than Black. Virtually all offered what W. Todd Furniss (1969) of the American Council of Education calls the "standard curriculum," devised by white scholars in the natural sciences, history, social sciences, literature, the arts and the professions. Commonly, the materials used were prepared by whites. These colleges felt that they were committed to "ready their students to live and work in society as it is now." Earlier, in 1968, a Council on Social Work Education publication charged social work schools with the professional education of minority students. However, a cursory look at existing curriculum and student population in schools of social work reveal the same phenomena-a standard curriculum and few Black students. The need was (and is) for competent Black social workers, who are effective in the profession and who understand needs and strengths of the population with whom they work. Gone were the days of "color blindness." In were the days of "equal opportunity." Recruitment of Black students ensued at both types of institutions.
Quantitative effects of functional bundle branch block in patients with atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia

Changes in the retrograde conduction time (ventriculoatrial [VA]) interval during functional bundle branch block (BBB) have been used to separate septal from free wall accessory pathways (APs), but different values of the VA interval prolongation (deltaVA) have been described in different reports. A total of 95 patients with single nondecremental APs who developed BBB during atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia were studied. Free wall APs were found in 60 patients, and 35 had septal APs. For patients with free wall APs, complete and incomplete BBB ipsilateral to the atrial insertion site of APs were observed in 39 of 60 patients (65%) and 31 of 60 patients (52%), respectively. For patients who had both complete (QRS > or = 120 ms) and incomplete (QRS or = 120 ms associated with deltaVA > or =40 ms served to best separate free wall from septal APs with a sensitivity of 88% and a specificity of 89%. Left anterior fascicular block was associated with marked lengthening of deltaVA for those with left free wall APs, whereas a left posterior fascicular block pattern resulted in a marked increase in the deltaVA for patients with posteroseptal APs. In the absence of fascicular block patterns, a deltaVA > or =40 ms provides strong evidence of a free wall AP, with a sensitivity of 95% and a specificity of 100%. The left posterior fascicle appears to provide predominant innervation of the posterior septum.
Optimal curing for thermoset matrix composites: Thermochemical and consolidation considerations

A design sensitivity method is used to find optimal autoclave temperature and pressure histories for curing of thermoset-matrix composite laminates. The method uses a finite element simulation of the heat transfer, curing reaction, and consolidation in the laminate. Analytical sensitivities, based on the direct differentiation method, are used within the finite element simulation to find the design sensitivities, i.e., the derivatives of the objectives function and the constraints with respect to the design variables. Standard gradient-based optimization techniques are then used to systematically improve the design, until an optimal process design is reached. In this study the objective is to minimize the total time of the cure cycle, while the constraints include a maximum temperature in the laminate (to avoid thermal degradation) and a maximum deviation of the final fiber volume fraction from its target value (to achieve proper consolidation). The simulations of curing process are performed for EPON 862/W epoxy under a conventional cure cycle, for both thin and thick parts. Time-optimal cure cycles are found using the optimization program. Simulations of fast-curing cycles are also examined. The optimal cycles are similar in form to conventional cure cycles, but give substantially shorter cure times. The entire scheme works automatically and efficiently, simultaneously adjusting multiple design variables at each iteration.
Catalytic nanomotors: fabrication, mechanism, and applications

Catalytic nanomotors are nano-to-micrometer-sized actuators that carry an on-board catalyst and convert local chemical fuel in solution into mechanical work. The location of this catalyst as well as the geometry of the structure dictate the swimming behaviors exhibited. The nanomotors can occur naturally in organic molecules, combine natural and artificial parts to form hybrid nanomotors or be purely artificial. Fabrication techniques consist of template directed electroplating, lithography, physical vapor deposition, and other advanced growth methods. Various physical and chemical propulsion mechanisms have been proposed to explain the motion behaviors including diffusiophoresis, bubble propulsion, interfacial tension gradients, and self-electrophoresis. The control and manipulation based upon external fields, catalytic alloys, and motion control through thermal modulation are discussed as well. Catalytic nanomotors represent an exciting technological challenge with the end goal being practical functional nanomachines that can perform a variety of tasks at the nanoscale.
Comment on “Subsurface water detection on Mars by astronauts using a seismic refraction method: Tests during a manned Mars simulation,” by V. Pletser et al.

Abstract Pletser et al. performed a seismic-refraction survey on Devon Island with the goal of assessing the feasibility of astronauts carrying out such operations on Mars to detect subsurface water. We demonstrate that the seismic analysis is fundamentally flawed. The survey performed in this test will likely bear little resemblance to future crewed geophysical surface operations, and better methods exist to detect subsurface water.
Determination of the structure of the adduct from guanosine and glycidaldehyde

Abstract The complete structure of the 1:1 adduct between guanosine and glycidaldehyde has been unequivocally determined by high-field NMR data and by synthesis of related model compounds.
Efficient estimation in dynamic conditional quantile models

In this paper we consider the problem of semiparametric efficient estimation in conditional quantile models with time series data. We construct an M-estimator which achieves the semiparametric efficiency bound recently derived by Komunjer and Vuong (forthcoming). Our efficient M-estimator is obtained by minimizing an objective function which depends on a nonparametric estimator of the conditional distribution of the variable of interest rather than its density. The estimator is new and not yet seen in the literature. We illustrate its performance through a Monte Carlo experiment.