cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comparison of Arthroscopic and Open Treatment of Septic Arthritis of the Wrist

BACKGROUND: Open irrigation and debridement is the standard of treatment for septic arthritis of the wrist. Although isolated cases of arthroscopic irrigation and debridement have been reported, a comparison of arthroscopic and open techniques has not been performed, to our knowledge. The purpose of this study was to compare the two methods of management. METHODS: A retrospective comparison of patients with septic arthritis of the wrist initially treated, over an eleven-year period, with open or arthroscopic irrigation and debridement was undertaken at a single institution. The clinical presentation, laboratory and microbiological findings, hospital course, complications, and outcomes were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Between 1997 and 2007, thirty-six patients with septic arthritis involving a total of forty wrists were identified. Nineteen wrists (seventeen patients) were initially treated with open irrigation and debridement, and twenty-one wrists (nineteen patients) were initially treated arthroscopically. Eleven wrists in the open-treatment cohort required repeat irrigation and debridement, and eight wrists in the arthroscopy cohort required a repeat procedure. If a repeat irrigation and debridement was required, it was performed in an open fashion in all but two cases. When the comparison included all of the patients in the series, no difference between the two cohorts was found with regard to the number of irrigation and debridement procedures required or the length of the hospital stay. However, when the comparison was limited to the patients with isolated septic arthritis of the wrist, it was found that only one of seven wrists in the open-treatment cohort but all eight wrists in the arthroscopy cohort had been successfully managed with a single irrigation and debridement procedure (p = 0.001). No patient in whom isolated septic arthritis of the wrist had been treated with arthroscopic irrigation and debridement required a second operation. The patients in whom isolated septic arthritis of the wrist was treated with the open method stayed in the hospital for an average of sixteen days compared with a six-day stay for those in whom isolated septic arthritis of the wrist was treated with the arthroscopic method (p = 0.04). The ninety-day perioperative mortality rate in the series was substantial (18% [three patients] in the open-treatment cohort and 21% [four patients] in the arthroscopy cohort). CONCLUSIONS: Arthroscopic irrigation and debridement is an effective treatment for patients with isolated septic arthritis of the wrist; these patients had fewer operations and a shorter hospital stay than did patients who had received open treatment. However, these benefits were not seen in patients with multiple sites of infection. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions to Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence. ORIGINAL ABSTRACT CITATION: “Comparison of Arthroscopic and Open Treatment of Septic Arthritis of the Wrist” (2009;91:1387-93).
Effects of Light Conditioning on Reproduction in Partridge

Reproductive response was measured in two lines of chukar partridge given conditioning light treatments of either 8 hr light:16 hr dark (8L:16D) at 50 lx or 16L:8D at .1 lx for 4, 6, or 8 weeks, respectively. Birds were recycled to lay using the same conditioning light treatments. During both lay cycles, all birds received 16L:8D at 100 lx. The results indicate that both conditioning light regimens were effective in terminating postjuvenile and postlay refractoriness. Hens given a conditioning light treatment of 8L:16D at 50 lx reached sexual maturity earlier, and produced more eggs and more viable chicks, and males maintained fertility longer, compared to birds conditioned under 16L:8D at .1 lx. Light conditioning periods of 6 and 8 weeks were superior to those of 4 weeks. For maximum reproductive performance in partridges, a short day photoperiod of 8L:16D at 50 lx is recommended for successful interruption of either postjuvenile or postlay refractoriness.
Representing generic objects for exploration and recognition

The author introduces the concept of generic objects and presents a paradigm for representing and reasoning about them. These ideas have been implemented within the framework of a robotic perceptual system utilizing vision and touch. The author discusses this system briefly and present the results of running experiments on several different objects. The results show that the system is capable of identifying generic objects and of reasoning about them to generate further exploration strategies for the purpose of hypothesis disambiguation. >
Limited Access to Conservation: Limited-Resource Farmer Participation in the Conservation Security Program in the Southeast

The paper examines the joint adoption of conservation tillage, crop rotations, and soil testing by small and limited-resource farmers in the Southeast. The objectives are to determine the potential eligibility of small farmers for the Conservation Security Program, examine socioeconomic factors affecting adoption, and assess the interdependence between adopting different conservation practices. Results indicate that conservation management, ethnicity, and farm characteristics affect practice adoption. Of the producers surveyed in the study, 7% meet Conservation Security Program eligibility requirements, while the other 93% have less than a 20% likelihood of adopting the needed practices to qualify.
Development of a surrogate simulator for two-phase subsurface flow simulation using trajectory piecewise linearization

Reduced-order modeling (ROM) is a novel approach in all realms of computational science including reservoir simulation. Among various ROM methods, trajectory piecewise linearization (TPWL) is evolving for reservoir engineering applications. Previous investigations reflect promising future for incorporating TPWL into the next generations of enhanced reservoir simulators. In this work, we employ this method to examine the claimed efficiency, robustness and accuracy of it as a surrogate simulator. The self-construction of the used simulator gives us the opportunity to explore this method and to examine previous assertions on the subject. The efficiency of TPWL is primarily due to direct calculation of new saturation and pressure states using a linearized expansion around previously simulated states instead of traditionally solving the flow equations. For further efficiency and reduction of the required memory, TPWL method needs to accompany a space reducing scheme, through which the captured dynamic of the reservoir is projected into a lower-order space. The projection matrix is conventionally constructed through proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) of converged time stepping solutions known as ‘snapshots’ which are obtained during a serious of preprocessing runs called ‘training’ runs. In this work, we apply TPWL method to a hypothetical three-dimensional heterogeneous reservoir consisting of a compressible rock type. We assume an inverted five-spot production–injection pattern and present the results for a two-phase (oil–water) reservoir model under water flooding scenario, in which the injection well is controlled by injection rate. Achieved results demonstrate that use of TPWL leads to significantly faster simulation compared to high fidelity model. We achieved speedup of a factor of 120 while preserving accuracy and reliability of the results. This study suggests that TPWL methodology will be particularly attractive when many solutions of similar simulation models with different well settings are required for history matching or optimization problems. Future research should focus to assess the applicability of TPWL to conditions with strongly compressible flow or capillary pressure effects.
Dynamical mechanism for coexistence of dispersing species without trade-offs in spatially extended ecological systems

Most prior studies on the role of dispersal in the coexistence of competing species have emphasized the need for trade-offs between competitive and colonizing abilities for coexistence. Theoretical studies of the evolution of dispersal recently have revealed an alternative mechanism for the coexistence of species differing solely in dispersal rates in spatially extended systems. We present an analysis and numerical evidence indicating that chaotic synchronism, occurring in an extremely intermittent form, is an important feature of the spatiotemporal variation in fitness required for the coexistence of species without trade-offs.
Contextual Determinants of Drug Use Risk Behavior: a Theoretic Framework

Over the past two decades, public health research has emphasized the role of individual risk behaviors, primarily injection and sexual risk behaviors, in the spread of HIV infection. Much less emphasis has been given to understanding the determinants of these risk behaviors. Although individual characteristics are partly responsible for risky injection and sexual behaviors, they do not explain all the interpersonal variability in risk behavior. Contextual factors associated with HIV risk behavior may include structural factors (e.g., availability of services), social norms and attitudes (e.g., social trust), disadvantage (e.g., neighborhood socioeconomic status), and features of the physical environment (e.g., housing quality). This article presents a conceptual framework that incorporates some of the key contextual domains that may affect drug use behavior. It also presents data from a study of street-recruited drug users as an example of the relations between social contextual factors and frequency of injecting drug use, and discusses some methodological challenges in the study of contextual determinants of drug use behavior.
Population Dynamics, Persistence, and Efficacy of the Entomopathogenic Nematode Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (Oswego Strain) in Association with the Clover Root Curculio (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in Pennsylvania

The population dynamics, persistence, and efficacy of Heterorhabditis bacteriophora Poinar (Oswego strain) applied to control the clover root curculio, Sitona hispidulus (F.), were investigated in a Pennsylvania alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) field. Nematodes established and persisted following application rates of 2.5, 7, and 15 billion infective juveniles per hectare. Significant differences in nematode densities between treatments were not observed beyond 43 d after application, indicating that application rate likely did not affect long-term persistence. In the third field season, plots that received the original 15-billion nematodes per ha treatment were split into clover root curculio-excluded and clover root curculio-present subplots to assess the effect of this insect on nematode persistence. Nematode populations were significantly lower in the curculio-excluded plots by October, suggesting that the nematodes recycled through that host. However, nematode populations were not significantly different by April of the fourth field season. Nematode efficacy throughout the study was inconsistent. In the first field season, emergence of clover root curculio adults was significantly reduced in plots receiving the 15 billion nematode per ha treatment. However, alfalfa taproot ratings for clover root curculio feeding injury indicated that scarring was reduced only in the 7 billion nematodes per ha treatments. No significant reductions in taproot injury were observed in the second field season, but by the third year, significant reductions in root injury were evident in the plots that originally received 7 and 15 billion nematodes per ha.
Effect of hyperextension-hyperflexion (whiplash) on the function of the blood-brain barrier of rhesus monkeys.

Abstract Fifteen rhesus monkeys were placed in a cart and subjected to a sudden acceleration to administer a whiplash. The intensity of the acceleration of the head was determined either with a high-speed movie or from accelerometers mounted on the skull. The cart was maximally accelerated at 35 g 30 ms after onset of the impact, and the maximal angular acceleration was 40 × 10 3 rad/s 2 at 50 ms. The animals did not apparently lose consciousness. The permeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) was assessed prior to and 1 h after the whiplash trauma using intravenously administered radioactive pertechnetate ( 99m Tc). The ratio of radioactivity in the cerebrospinal fluid to that in the blood 1 h after administration served as a measure of the blood-brain barrier permeability. Prior to the whiplash trauma this ratio was 4.85 × 10 −3 , and after the trauma it had increased to 28.44 × 10 −3 . This acute change in barrier function may contribute to the alterations in function of the central nervous system subsequent to whiplash trauma.
Prevention of Upper Gastrointestinal Tract Cancers

This chapter will focus on lifestyle factors associated with cancers of the esophagus and stomach. Unlike such major cancers as prostate and breast, whose etiologies remain obscure at the present time, hindering primary prevention, cancers of the upper gastrointestinal tract offer well-defined intervention opportunities. Epidemiologic studies have clearly established the important role of alcohol, tobacco, and diet, and recent findings have documented the relation between infection with Helicobacter pylori and cancer of the stomach. These factors and their interactions will be discussed for cancers of each of these two sites, which together account for approx 35,000 new cases and 26,000 deaths annually in the United States (1).
CASASTART: A Community-Based, School-Centered Intervention for High-Risk Youth

During the past decade, increasing numbers of drug- and alcohol-related delinquency cases have entered the juvenile justice system. The majority of these young people face multiple challenges and risks, yet have few resources to mitigate these risks. This article suggests that the skills, competencies and supports, and protective factors needed to help young people grow into healthy adulthood are not readily available to high-risk youth. We offer lessons from the development, implementation, and institutionalization of one promising model of an evidence-based, community-, and school-centered program for high-risk youth (CASASTART). The experience with this program thus far suggests that program models that encompass a youth development, strength-based, and community-focused approach can intervene successfully with many high-risk youth and their families, reduce use of drugs and alcohol, reduce violent crime, and achieve funding and programmatic stability.
Study on the influence of the incoming lines' towers on the lightning protection of the UHV substation

In this paper, ATP-EMTP programme has been used to study on the lightning protection for the UHV substations during start-up operation mode, the researched result were given when the first tower which was nearest the substation was adopted shape A and shape B. The influence of the top hamper on outage rate due to shielding failure rate, and the a proper top hamper structure was proposed.
Laparoscopic resection of an ovarian pregnancy in a patient using the copper T intrauterine device

This is a case report of a 40-year-old multiparous woman with a right ovarian pregnancy. The patient has had a copper T intrauterine device for about 6 years. The diagnosis of ovarian pregnancy was based on the improper rise of serum beta-hCG levels, sonographic findings of an empty uterus, and the laparoscopic verification of Spiegelberg's criteria. The treatment was by laparoscopic resection of part of the right ovary with the pregnancy. Pathological examination confirmed the presence of ovarian tissue around the chorionic villi. The relationship between the use of the intrauterine device and ovarian pregnancy is discussed.
MalTRAK: Tracking and Eliminating Unknown Malware

Malware or malicious code is a rapidly evolving threat to the computing community. Zero-day malware are exploiting vulnerabilities very soon after being discovered and are spreading quickly. However, anti-virus tools, which are the most widely used countering mechanism, are unable to cope with this. They are based on signatures which need to be computed for new malware strains. After a new malware strikes and before the signature is found allows sufficient time for the malware to perform its damage. We propose a new framework, codenamed MalTRAK, which, when deployed on a clean system, guarantees that any effects of a known or unknown malware can always be reversed and the system can be restored back to a prior clean state. Our framework also maintains detailed dependency lists of system operations which can be used for further forensic analysis. We are able to achieve this without imposing any restrictions on the nature of programs that can be executed by the user and without the user noticing any perceptible system slowdown due to the framework. Furthermore, we are able to track modifications to the system at a level that ensures that we can always monitor any changes to the system state even if a malware modifies the system during execution. We implemented and evaluated MalTRAK on Windows, using 8 known malware assuming they were unknown strains. We then compared our results with two popular commercial anti-virus tools. We were able to successfully restore all the effects of the 8 malware, while the commercial tools, on an average were only able to restore 36% of all their effects put together. For one of the malware samples, the commercial tools could only detect it but could not repair any of its damage. Further, for two of the malware samples, the commercial tools were completely unable to detect or restore any of their effects. Our results show that signature based mechanisms in addition to not being able to prevent infection by new malware strains, are not very effective in removing an infection even after a signature has been developed. Our experience shows that non-signature based approaches, such as MalTRAK, are the next step towards combating the threat of ever-evolving malware.
Higher red meat intake in early adulthood is associated with increased risk of breast cancer; substitution with different protein sources such as legumes and poultry may help

Commentary on : Farvid MS, Cho E, Chen WY, et al. Dietary protein sources in early adulthood and breast cancer incidence: prospective cohort study. BMJ 2014;348:g3437.[OpenUrl][1][Abstract/FREE Full Text][2] Evidence evaluating associations between protein consumption and breast cancer provides inconsistent findings and sparse evidence of elevated risk with red meat intake. The study by Farvid and colleagues used data from the Nurses’ Health Study II cohort to improve on earlier work by evaluating dietary exposures earlier in adulthood. The large sample afforded … [1]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DBMJ%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1136%252Fbmj.g3437%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F24916719%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [2]: /lookup/ijlink?linkType=ABST&journalCode=bmj&resid=348/jun10_3/g3437&atom=%2Febnurs%2F18%2F2%2F44.atom
Designing and evaluating a wizarded uncertainty-adaptive spoken dialogue tutoring system

We describe the design and evaluation of two different dynamic student uncertainty adaptations in wizarded versions of a spoken dialogue tutoring system. The two adaptive systems adapt to each student turn based on its uncertainty, after an unseen human ''wizard'' performs speech recognition and natural language understanding and annotates the turn for uncertainty. The design of our two uncertainty adaptations is based on a hypothesis in the literature that uncertainty is an ''opportunity to learn''; both adaptations use additional substantive content to respond to uncertain turns, but the two adaptations vary in the complexity of these responses. The evaluation of our two uncertainty adaptations represents one of the first controlled experiments to investigate whether substantive dynamic responses to student affect can significantly improve performance in computer tutors. To our knowledge we are the first study to show that dynamically responding to uncertainty can significantly improve learning during computer tutoring. We also highlight our ongoing evaluation of our uncertainty-adaptive systems with respect to other important performance metrics, and we discuss how our corpus can be used by the wider computer speech and language community as a linguistic resource supporting further research on effective affect-adaptive spoken dialogue systems in general.
Applicability of a diffusion model to lateral transport in the terrestrial and lunar exospheres

Kinetic theory is used to determine a series expansion of the vertical flux of particles in an exosphere in terms of time and space derivatives of particle concentration, exobase velocity, and temperature. For sufficiently large scale variations of these parameters in time and space, the series can be truncated to a form that is similar to a diffusion equation. Owing to this analogy, it is possible to unite the mathematical description of molecular diffusion, which governs thermospheric flow, and the corresponding exospheric equation by using effective transport coefficients which change smoothly with altitude through the transition from thermosphere to exosphere. A new definition of the exobase for lateral flow emerges from the analogy of exospheric and thermospheric diffusion, as the altitude where the horizontal mean free path length equals the mean horizontal extent of ballistic trajectories of the transported gas, as opposed to the scale height of the dominant gas which determines the exobase for escape. It is shown that the approximation of exospheric lateral flow as a diffusion process is applicable to global scale problems concerning terrestrial helium and heavier gases, and lunar gases heavier than helium.
Cost effectiveness of routine type and screen testing before laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the cost effectiveness of routine preoperative blood type and screen testing before laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
Carbon dioxide and methane fluxes by a forest soil under laboratory-controlled moisture and temperature conditions

Abstract Carbon dioxide and methane are important greenhouse gases whose exchange rates between soils and the atmosphere are controlled strongly by soil temperature and moisture. We made a laboratory investigation to quantify the relative importance of soil moisture and temperature on fluxes of CO2 and CH4 between forest soils and the atmosphere. Forest floor and mineral soil material were collected from a mixed hardwood forest at the Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research Site (MA) and were incubated in the laboratory under a range of moisture (air-dry to nearly saturated) and temperature conditions (5–25°C). Carbon dioxide emissions increased exponentially with increasing temperature in forest floor material, with emissions reduced at the lowest and highest soil moisture contents. The forest floor Q10 of 2.03 (from 15–25°C) suggests that CO2 emissions were controlled primarily by soil biological activity. Forest floor CO2 emissions were predicted with a multiple polynomial regression model (r2=0.88) of temperature and moisture, but the fit predicting mineral soil respiration was weaker (r2=0.59). Methane uptake was controlled strongly by soil moisture, with reduced fluxes under conditions of very low or very high soil moisture contents. A multiple polynomial model accurately described CH4 uptake by mineral soil material (r2=0.81), but only weakly (r2=0.45) predicted uptake by forest floor material. The mineral soil Q10 of 1.11 for CH4 uptake indicates that methane uptake is controlled primarily by physical processes. Our work suggests that inclusion of both moisture and temperature can improve predictions of soil CO2 and CH4 exchanges between soils and the atmosphere. Additionally, global change models need to consider interactions of temperature and moisture in evaluating effects of global climate change on trace gas fluxes.
Stability and Decomposition of Ca-Substituted Lanthanum Ferrite in Reducing Atmospheres

Calcium-substituted lanthanum ferrites (La1−xCaxFeO3−δ x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4) were synthesized in air and subsequently decomposed in reducing atmospheres. The partial pressure of oxygen (PO2) was controlled by varying the H2/H2O ratio by bubbling hydrogen/argon mixtures through water baths at controlled temperatures. Three regions of mass loss were identified as the PO2 was reduced, two of which were determined to be associated with decomposition reactions. Calcium was shown to decrease the thermal stability of the perovskite compound, but rather than incrementally increasing the required PO2 for decomposition proportional to calcium concentration, all samples partially decomposed at a single PO2. The extent of the partial decomposition was dependent on the amount of calcium substitution and temperature. The perovskite phase remaining after the partial decomposition was found to fully decompose at the same oxygen partial pressure as pure lanthanum ferrite.
Selecting the country in which to start internationalization: The non-sequential internationalization model

Abstract The paper analyses the selection of the country in which a firm starts internationalization. It proposes that some firms strategically choose a non-sequential internationalization, that is, they select a country that is dissimilar to their country of origin for their first foreign expansion. The reason for this is that some firms develop, in their home country, three types of knowledge that are useful to overcome foreign expansion difficulties: knowledge to manage complexity, developed by having multiple operations at home; knowledge to manage differences in competitive conditions, developed by operating in business-to-business industries, and knowledge to manage differences in institutional environments, developed by allying to a foreign firm at home.
Ground-state density-matrix algorithm for excited-state adiabatic surfaces: application to polyenes

Abstract A low-cost method for computing excited-state adiabatic surfaces, which totally avoids the calculation of the excited-state many-electron wavefunctions, and scales favorably with molecular size is proposed. The technique combines standard ground-state calculations with a time-dependent density-matrix calculation of vertical optical excitations, using the ground-state single-electron density matrix as an input. Several surfaces are generated simultaneously. The structure and vibrational frequencies of the 1 Bu state of hexatriene and octatetraene are calculated using this method. The computed sign of the excited-state equilibrium displacements facilitates rapid analysis of resonance Raman measurements.
Heavy Ion Reactions on Curium Targets

The availability of relatively large quantities of curium isotopes has made them available as targets for both the preparation of new elements (californium from curium-242 and nobelium from curium-246) and for heavy ion reactions to make new neutron-rich isotopes for study. In addition, curium-248 has been used as a target in a wide variety of attempts to make superheavy elements. The availability of such target materials is a tribute to Professor Glenn Seaborg’s vision in establishing the Transplutonium Production Program in the early 1960’s when he was Chairman of the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission. Some recent results of heavy ion experiments with curium-248 will be discussed briefly.
Solanum phureja: Anther Culture and the Induction of Haploids in a Cultivated Diploid Potato Species

Within the diverse group of cultivated diploid (2n = 2× = 24) potatoes of the Andean region of South America, distinction among species is not always possible. Local farmers have generally applied similar selection criteria to develop “cultivars”with regionally important characters from a species mixture in which Solanum phureja Juz. and Buk. has generally been included. The distinguishing characteristic which has most often been used to separate S. phureja from other cultivated diploid tuber-bearing species is a lack of tuber dormancy, a feature which has enabled two or three crops per year in frost-free valleys at high altitude (Correll 1962). Some selected clones have become known as the Papa Amarilla in local markets of Peru and Colombia.
Export of Horticultural Products from India: Economic Impact of Cost of Compliance for Food Safety Measures:

Food standards are expected to acquire greater importance with increasing concerns on food safety – on breakout of diseases on one hand, and growing consumer demand for products which are healthy, ...
Procedures, Cosmetics, and Surgery

This section reviews the most high yield facts regarding procedures in dermatology, including cosmetics and surgery.
Models of axon regeneration in Drosophila

Maintaining neuronal connectivity in the face of injury and disease is a major challenge for the nervous system. The great length of axons makes them particularly vulnerable to insult with dire consequences for neuronal function. In the peripheral nervous system there is a program of axonal regeneration that can reestablish connectivity. In the mammalian central nervous system, however, injured axons have little or no capacity to regenerate. The molecular mechanisms that promote axon regeneration have begun to be identified and many of the implicated pathways are evolutionarily conserved. Here we discuss Drosophila models of axonal regrowth, describe insights derived from these studies, and highlight future directions in the use of the fly for dissecting the mechanisms of axonal regeneration.
The Neuroptera of Haiti, West Indies.

An excellent opportunity to collect and study the Neuroptera of Haiti came to the writer while he was in the employ of the Service Technique between July 15, 1928 and March 20, 1930. While this work was not a major enterprise, nevertheless a fair representation of this order has been brought together. Some of the insects, notably the Chrysopidae and several Myrmeleontids[2][1], were found to be common insects there. [1]: #fn-2
Blood glucose and lactic acid in relation to milk secretion.

Conclusions1. There was no apparent relation between arterio-venous blood sugar differences and the following: period of time following milking, arterial blood sugar level and level of milk production. 2. Both glucose and lactic acid are absorbed by the lactating mammary gland in considerable quantities. While the glucose arterio-venous loss is not sufficient to account for all of the milk sugar, the combined loss of the two substances to the lactating mammary gland can account for all of the milk lactose.
Lamp Ballast capacitors with polyester film dielectric

The inservice test results show that a dielectric system, consisting of 0.35 mil Mylar® and a dielectric grade mineral oil, is a suitable dielectric system for lamp ballast capacitors.
Fecal Indole as a Biomarker of Susceptibility to Cryptosporidium Infection

Cryptosporidium causes significant diarrhea worldwide, especially among children and immunocompromised individuals, and no effective drug treatment is currently available for those who need it most. In this report, previous volunteer infectivity studies have been extended to examine the association between fecal indole and indole-producing (IP) gut microbiota on the outcome of a Cryptosporidium infection. Fecal indole concentrations (FICs) of 50 subjects and 19 taxa of common gut microbiota, including six IP taxa (11 subjects) were determined in stool samples collected before and after a challenge with Cryptosporidium oocysts. At the baseline, the mean FIC (± the standard deviation) was 1.66 ± 0.80 mM in those who became infected after a challenge versus 3.20 ± 1.23 mM in those who remained uninfected (P = 0.0001). Only 11.1% of the subjects with a FIC of >2.5 mM became infected after a challenge versus 65.2% of the subjects with a FIC of 2.5 mM, while those of Bacteroides pyogenes, B. fragilis, and Akkermansia muciniphila were greater in those with a baseline FIC of <2.5 mM. These data indicate that some IP bacteria, or perhaps indole alone, can influence the ability of Cryptosporidium to establish an infection. Thus, preexisting indole levels in the gut join the oocyst dose and immune status as important factors that determine the outcome of Cryptosporidium exposure.
Further Evidence that Renal Oncocytoma has Malignant Potential

AbstractWe report a case of bilateral renal oncocytoma. The right tumor infiltrated the renal capsule focally, and the left tumor penetrated through the capsule into the surrounding perinephric fat and extended into the left renal vein. Karyotyping of the left oncocytoma showed loss of chromosomes 1 and Y (—1,—Y). These karyotypic anomalies, along with the capsular, perinephric fat and renal vein involvement, indicate that renal oncocytomas, despite similar gross and microscopic pathological characteristics, are a heterogeneous group of tumors, some of which have malignant (local invasiveness) potential.
Understanding the Impact of Matchup between Country-of-Origin Facets and Country Stereotypes on Advertising Effectiveness

ABSTRACTCountry-of-Origin (COO) information has been used as an advertising appeal. Although it has been confirmed to influence advertising effectiveness, previous research in advertising has not fully taken different COO facets into consideration. This study proposes that two COO facets (Country-of-Assembly (COA) and Country-of-Design (COD)) in advertisements are processed distinctively by consumers. Specifically, COA is processed cognitively, while COD is processed affectively. This study tested the interplay between COO facets and country stereotypes (functional and emotional) on advertising effectiveness. The results present a matchup effect between COO facets and country stereotypes. The results presented a matchup effect, such that participants express more favorable attitude towards the advertisement when they saw COA with a functional country or COD with an emotional country. Product types (utilitarian vs. hedonic) do not influence such a matchup effect. Theoretical and practical implications of t...
The emotional cost of distance: Geographic social network dispersion and post-traumatic stress among survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

RATIONALE: Social networks offer important emotional and instrumental support following natural disasters. However, displacement may geographically disperse network members, making it difficult to provide and receive support necessary for psychological recovery after trauma. OBJECTIVES: We examine the association between distance to network members and post-traumatic stress using survey data, and identify potential mechanisms underlying this association using in-depth qualitative interviews. METHODS: We use longitudinal, mixed-methods data from the Resilience in Survivors of Katrina (RISK) Project to capture the long-term effects of Hurricane Katrina on low-income mothers from New Orleans. Baseline surveys occurred approximately one year before the storm and follow-up surveys and in-depth interviews were conducted five years later. We use a sequential explanatory analytic design. With logistic regression, we estimate the association of geographic network dispersion with the likelihood of post-traumatic stress. With linear regressions, we estimate the association of network dispersion with the three post-traumatic stress sub-scales. Using maximal variation sampling, we use qualitative interview data to elaborate identified statistical associations. RESULTS: We find network dispersion is positively associated with the likelihood of post-traumatic stress, controlling for individual-level socio-demographic characteristics, exposure to hurricane-related trauma, perceived social support, and New Orleans residency. We identify two social-psychological mechanisms present in qualitative data: respondents with distant network members report a lack of deep belonging and a lack of mattering as they are unable to fulfill obligations to important distant ties. CONCLUSION: Results indicate the importance of physical proximity to emotionally-intimate network ties for long-term psychological recovery.Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Language: en
Plasmodium Falciparum Recurrence Two Years after Exposure in Endemic Country: A Case Report

Plasmodium falciparum typically manifests as a severe, symptomatic infection due to the high parasitemia and increased adherence of infected cells to blood vessel endothelium. However, there have been previous reports of P. falciparum recrudescence months to years after exposure. We report the case of a 56 year old woman who presented with malarial symptoms after recent travel to New York and previous travel to Liberia.
Everyone is African: How science explodes the myth of race

Everyone is African by Daniel Fairbanks provides a satisfying scientific critique of genetic conceptions of race and racial difference.Fairbanks presents two central scientific truths in the book. ...
Considering Individual Differences and Environmental Influences in the Assessment of Temperament, Self-regulation, and Social Skill Development in Young Children: A Framework for Practitioners

The purpose of this chapter is to review existing research on the constructs of temperament, self-regulation, and social skills development in young children, and to discuss how these constructs can be assessed in clinical and school settings. Our premise is that, while each can be assessed independently, it is necessary to consider the interrelations and interactions among these characteristics in order to best understand the child’s overall functioning. Moreover, the chapter also considers the connections of temperament, self-regulation, and social skills to environmental factors, such as parenting and educational environments. Following this discussion, we present an assessment model that encompasses these constructs and includes transactional influences. Lastly, the chapter provides information regarding specific tools that can be used to assess temperament, self-regulation, and related constructs in young children.
Soybean looper (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) oviposition preference relative to plant development in soybean and cotton

Oviposition choice by soybean looper, Pseudoplusia includens (Walker), of soybean and cotton in two phenological stages was tested in field cages to determine relative oviposition preference for th...
Filamentary arrays in breakdown plasmas generated by a 1.5 MW, 110 GHz Gyrotron

We present the observation, for the first time, of large, regular arrays of plasma filaments during surface and volume breakdown in air at atmospheric pressure using a focused, linearly polarized Gaussian output beam of a pulsed gyrotron. Both volume breakdown in free space and surface breakdown at/near a dielectric window have been studied. A gyrotron with an internal mode converter that emits 110 GHz microwave pulses with up to 1.5 MW peak power and pulse length of 3 microseconds has been used as the source of the microwave beam. Diagnostics include optical emission measurements using photodiodes and a camera, and microwave transmission measurement. The formation of the observed regular filamentary array can be explained by field enhancement approximately a quarter wavelength upstream of each existing filament due to diffraction from the filament.
A Heartbreaking Renal Transplantation: Is Norepinephrine the Culprit to Blame?

Abstract Introduction Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TCM), also known as “broken heart syndrome,” “apical ballooning syndrome,” and “stress-induced cardiomyopathy,” was first described in Japanese patients in 1990 by Sato et al. TCM is an increasingly recognized syndrome characterized by transient and reversible systolic dysfunction of the apical and middle segments of the left ventricle. This syndrome resembles acute myocardial infarction in the absence of evident coronary artery occlusion. Herein, we present a case of a 51-year-old male who underwent his second deceased-donor renal transplantation for end-stage-renal-disease due to a work-related accident. Perioperatively, initiation of continuous infusion of noradrenaline was decided to achieve adequate graft perfusion due to persistently low blood pressure. On the second postoperative day, the patient experienced tachycardia and atypical angina-like chest pain. Electrocardiogram (ECG) showed signs of myocardial infarction and elevated troponin levels were observed. Urgent coronary angiography was normal and transthoracic echocardiography (TEE) was indicative for Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Discussion Although, the precise pathophysiology of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is still unknown, it seems that it is associated with excessive sympathetic stimulation, microvascular dysfunction, coronary artery vasospasm, and abnormal myocardial tissue metabolism. The development of patient's symptoms after the initiation of norepinephrine along with their immediate resolution after the discontinuation of the drug might suggest a causal relationship. This is the first time that TCM after renal transplantation is thought to be linked with the administration of exogenous catecholamines.
Abstract 4403: Antitumor properties of ouabain in lipid double emulsion integrated with tumor cell membrane fractions

Proceedings: AACR 106th Annual Meeting 2015; April 18-22, 2015; Philadelphia, PA Cell membrane proteins such as integrins are crucial for cell-cell recognition, binding and communication, cell-stromal interaction and adhesion, tumor invasion and metastasis. It was reported that cell-size hydrophobic beads coated with tumor membrane molecules could stimulate the lymphokine activated killer (LAK) cells to release IFN-alpha and TNF-alpha, and interrupted the recognition between LAK cells and tumor cells (Chong AS, 1988, 1991). Lipid double emulsion is a convenient formulation method to integrate lipid materials, hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs in uniformed particles to achieve combinational chemotherapy. However the nonspecific uptake of double emulsion particles in vivo limits its targeting therapeutic potential. In current study, we sought to coat double emulsion particles with tumor cell membrane fraction to mimic the tumor cell surface in order to enhance the interaction and uptake of emulsion particles into tumor cells. Canine osteosarcoma cells and lymphoma cells were chosen for this study because canine cancers develop in immunocompetent environments and share many similar features observed in human cancers, such as long periods of latency for initiation, progression and development, metastasis, acquired drug resistance and recurrence. We use ouabain as therapeutic warhead in the emulsion particles because ouabain is known to have extremely high anticancer potential at nanomolar concentration level from our previous studies. The major obstacle of applying ouabain in vivo therapy is that the therapeutic dose window of ouabain is very narrow. Therefore in an attempt to mitigate such narrow therapeutic margin of safety, ouabain was formulated in lipid double emulsion by using microfluidic synthesis method and membrane emulsification method. The double emulsion particles were further coated with osteosarcoma cell membrane fraction. Our preliminary results showed enhanced antitumor activities of ouabain in tumor cell mimic-double emulsion or nanoemulsion against canine osteosarcoma cells and lymphoma cells in vitro and in orthotopic xenograft models in vivo, suggesting a promising therapeutic benefit in canine cancer targeting therapy. Citation Format: Jun Wu, Mariele Mondala, Meng-Yin Hsieh, Eugene Roberts, Richard Ermel. Antitumor properties of ouabain in lipid double emulsion integrated with tumor cell membrane fractions. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 4403. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-4403
Nm23/nucleoside diphosphate kinase in human cancers.

Tumor metastasis is the leading cause of death in cancer patients. From a series of tumorcohort studies, low expression of Nm23/NDP kinase has been correlated with poor patientprognosis and survival, lymph node infiltration, and histopathological indicators of highmetastatic potential in a number of cancer types, including mammary and ovarian carcinomas andmelanoma. In other tumor types, no correlation has been established. Transfection ofNm23/NDP kinase cDNA into highly metastatic breast, melanoma, prostrate and squamous cellcarcinomas, and colon adenocarcinoma cells significantly reduced the metastatic competencyof the cells in vivo. In culture, cell motility, invasion, and colonization were inhibited, whereastumorigenicity and cellular proliferation were not affected, indicating that Nm23/NDP kinaseacts as a metastasis suppressor.
Paleoseismic Evidence for the 21 April 1918 Mw 6.9 Surface Rupture of the Northern Clark Strand of the Central San Jacinto Fault, California

Abstract In this study, we present the results of a new paleoseismic investigation in the South Fork Wilderness ∼7 km southeast of Blackburn Canyon, ∼5 km northwest of Hog Lake near Anza, California, that demonstrate that the northern Clark fault has ruptured twice in the past 300 yrs. These new results corroborate previously made interpretations that were based solely on surficial geomorphology—that the northern Clark fault (with a recurrence interval of ∼100 yrs) ruptured in both the November 1800 and April 1918 earthquakes and has a more frequent recurrence interval than the central and southern Clark fault.
Analgesic use and risk of recurrent falls in participants with or at risk of knee osteoarthritis: data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative.

Summary Objective Few studies have compared the risk of recurrent falls across different types of analgesic use, and with limited adjustment for potential confounders (e.g., pain/depression severity). We assessed analgesic use and the subsequent risk of recurrent falls, among participants with or at risk of knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods A longitudinal analysis included 4231 participants aged 45–79 years at baseline with 4-year follow-up from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) cohort study. We grouped participants into six mutually exclusive subgroups based on annually assessed analgesic use in the following hierarchical order of analgesic/central nervous system (CNS) potency: use of (1) opioids, (2) antidepressants, (3) other prescription pain medications, (4) over-the-counter (OTC) pain medications, (5) nutraceuticals, and (6) no analgesics. We used multivariable modified Poisson regression models with a robust error variance to estimate the effect of analgesic use on the risk of recurrent falls (≥2) in the following year, adjusted for demographics and health status/behavior factors. Results Opioid use increased from 2.7% at baseline to 3.6% at the 36-month visit (>80% using other analgesics/nutraceuticals), while other prescription pain medication use decreased from 16.7% to 11.9% over this time period. Approximately 15% of participants reported recurrent falls. Compared to those not using analgesics, participants who used opioids and/or antidepressants had a 22–25% increased risk of recurrent falls (opioids: RR adjusted = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.04–1.45; antidepressants: RR adjusted = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.10–1.41). Conclusion Participants with or at risk of knee OA who used opioids and antidepressants with/without other analgesics/nutraceuticals may have an increased risk of recurrent falls after adjusting for potential confounders. Use of opioids and antidepressants warrants caution.