cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sleep-disordered breathing is not associated with the presence of retinal microvascular abnormalities: the Sleep Heart Health Study.

Study objective Sleep apnea and milder forms of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) have been associated with overt clinical cardiovascular disease, but it is unknown whether SDB is associated with arterial microvascular pathology. We examined the relation between SDB and retinal microvascular abnormalities. Design Cross-sectional study. Participants Subjects were 2,927 men and women, aged 51 to 97 years, who participated in the Sleep Heart Health Study and had retinal photographs taken within approximately 3 years of overnight, unattended, at-home polysomnography. Measurements and results A respiratory disturbance index (RDI), calculated as the average number of apneas and hypopneas per hour of sleep, was used as an indicator of SDB in analysis. The overall prevalence of retinopathy was slightly higher in people with higher RDI values (5.4%, 4.9%, 8.6%, and 7.6%, respectively, in increasing quartiles of RDI), but after adjustment for age, body-mass index, hypertension, diabetes, and other factors, the presence of retinopathy was not associated with SDB. With the possible exceptions of microaneurysms and generalized arteriolar narrowing, as measured by lower arteriole-to-venule ratio, specific retinal abnormalities were not associated consistently with the RDI. Relative to the first quartile of RDI, the adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for the presence of microaneurysm in the second, third, and fourth quartiles of RDI were 1.05 (0.44-2.55), 1.97 (0.89-4.37), and 1.79 (0.78-4.10), respectively. An increase of RDI from 0 to 10 was associated with a predicted decrease in arteriole-to-venule ratio of 0.01. Results were similar when analyses were conducted in normotensive and nondiabetic persons separately. Conclusions These data do not demonstrate a notable relation between SDB and retinal abnormalities. However, since this is the first investigation of a link between retinopathy and SDB, similar studies should be conducted in other population samples to demonstrate either consistency or inconsistency of our findings across studies.
Additional Case Law

Four additional cases, which bore Marshall’s consideration, are addressed and analyzed. These fell outside the parameters of Laurence’s earlier analysis.
What Accountants Must Know About Maximizing Shareholder Value

A fundamental principle taught to all accounting and business students is that the goal of the firm is maximization of shareholder value (MSV). In order for accountants and auditors to provide firms with ethical recommendations that keep it strong and healthy, they must understand the negative consequences of MSV as a business philosophy. The authors provide several arguments to demonstrate why it is crucial for accountants to encourage management to move away from MSV as a philosophy and embrace maximizing stakeholder value as the preferred philosophy.
Introduction: North American natural gas markets in transition ☆

Abstract Over many decades, energy markets have seen a variety of new technologies with the potential of replacing existing practices for providing conventional fossil fuels. Unlike synthetic fuels during the 1970s or hydrogen during the 2000s, however, hydraulic fracturing for producing natural gas shale resources has had a dramatic impact because it has been cost effective. This article describes a model-comparison effort organized by Stanford's Energy Modeling Forum and provides a brief overview of the principal findings by individual modeling teams that participated in the study.
Case mix–adjusted cost of colectomy at low-, middle-, and high-volume academic centers

Background Efforts to regionalize surgery based on thresholds in procedure volume may have consequences on the cost of health care delivery. This study aims to delineate the relationship between hospital volume, case mix, and variability in the cost of operative intervention using colectomy as the model. Methods All patients undergoing colectomy (n = 90,583) at 183 academic hospitals from 2009–2012 in The University HealthSystems Consortium Database were studied. Patient and procedure details were used to generate a case mix–adjusted predictive model of total direct costs. Observed to expected costs for each center were evaluated between centers based on overall procedure volume. Results Patient and procedure characteristics were significantly different between volume tertiles. Observed costs at high-volume centers were less than at middle- and low-volume centers. According to our predictive model, high-volume centers cared for a less expensive case mix than middle- and low-volume centers ($12,786 vs $13,236 and $14,497, P Conclusion Hospital costs and cost efficiency after an elective colectomy varies significantly between centers and may be attributed partially to the patient differences at those centers. These data demonstrate that a significant proportion of the cost variation is due to a distinct case mix at low-volume centers, which may lead to perceived poor performance at these centers.
The Study of Surface Structures by Photoelectron Diffraction and Auger Electron Diffraction

A knowledge of the atomic identities, positions, and bonding mechanisms within the first 3–5 layers of a surface is essential to any quantitative microscopic understanding of surface phenomena. This implies knowing bond directions, bond distances, site symmetries, coordination numbers, and the degree of both short-range and long-range order present in this selvedge region. A number of surface-structure probes have thus been developed in recent years in an attempt to provide this information.1 Each of these methods has certain unique advantages and disadvantages, and they are often complementary to one another.
Understanding and applying principles of social cognition and decision making in adaptive environmental governance

Environmental governance systems are under greater pressure to adapt and to cope with increased social and ecological uncertainty from stressors like climate change. We review principles of social cognition and decision making that shape and constrain how environmental governance systems adapt. We focus primarily on the interplay between key decision makers in society and legal systems. We argue that adaptive governance must overcome three cooperative dilemmas to facilitate adaptation: (1) encouraging collaborative problem solving, (2) garnering social acceptance and commitment, and (3) cultivating a culture of trust and tolerance for change and uncertainty. However, to do so governance systems must cope with biases in people's decision making that cloud their judgment and create conflict. These systems must also satisfy people's fundamental needs for self-determination, fairness, and security, ensuring that changes to environmental governance are perceived as legitimate, trustworthy, and acceptable. We discuss the implications of these principles for common governance solutions (e.g., public participation, enforcement) and conclude with methodological recommendations. We outline how scholars can investigate the social cognitive principles involved in cases of adaptive governance.
The hippocampus is particularly important for building associations across stimulus domains

The medial temporal lobe (MTL) is critical for binding together different attributes that together form memory for prior episodes, but whether it is preferentially involved in supporting specific types of associations is a topic of much debate. Some have argued that the MTL, specifically the hippocampus, may be specialized for binding information from different stimulus domains (e.g., linking visual and auditory stimuli). In the current study, we examined the role of the MTL in memory for associations within- vs. across-domains. Patients with either selective hippocampal lesions or more extensive MTL lesions studied pairs of items within the same stimulus domain (i.e., image-image or sound-sound pairs) or across different domains (i.e., image-sound pairs). Associative memory was subsequently tested by having participants discriminate between previously studied and rearranged pairs. Compared to healthy controls, the patients were significantly more impaired in the across-domain condition than the within-domain conditions. Similar deficits were observed for patients with hippocampal lesions and those with more extensive MTL lesions, suggesting that the hippocampus itself is particularly important for binding associations across stimulus domains.
Global Asset Allocation: Investing in a Time of Debt, Deficits, and Quantitative Easing

Built into a pension fund's calculations was a 7% expected return, but in this world of debt, deficits, and quantitative easing (and negative interest rates!), could such a return be counted on? Or was it necessary to reduce the fund's expected returns assumptions? And whether or not assumptions on expected returns were changed, should the fund's global asset allocation be altered? This case provides an opportunity for students to form, in the context of an analysis of the global macroeconomic environment, five-year expected returns for major asset classes. Excerpt UVA-F-1738 Rev. Apr. 2, 2018 Global Asset Allocation: Investing in a Time of Debt, Deficits, and Quantitative Easing Pension fund manager Lynda Chen was troubled. Built into the pension calculations was a 7% expected return, which, relative to other pension funds, was conservative. But in this world of debt, deficits, and quantitative easing (and negative interest rates!), could she count on such a return going forward? Or did she need to further reduce the fund's expected returns assumptions? Currently, as shown in Exhibit 1, her fund was invested in equities (in the United States, other developed markets, and emerging markets) and fixed income (US government and non-US sovereign bonds), with a portion of investable funds kept in cash in case good opportunities arose. Whether or not she changed the assumed expected returns, should she consider altering the fund's global asset allocation? The Global Macro Situation: Debt, Deficits, and Quantitative Easing . . .
Age-dependent regulation of obesity and Alzheimer-related outcomes by hormone therapy in female 3xTg-AD mice.

Depletion of ovarian hormones at menopause is associated with increased Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk. Hormone loss also increases central adiposity, which promotes AD development. One strategy to improve health outcomes in postmenopausal women is estrogen-based hormone therapy (HT), though its efficacy is controversial. The window of opportunity hypothesis posits that HT is beneficial only if initiated near the onset of menopause. Here, we tested this hypothesis by assessing the efficacy of HT against diet-induced obesity and AD-related pathology in female 3xTg-AD mice at early versus late middle-age. HT protected against obesity and reduced β-amyloid burden only at early middle-age. One mechanism that contributes to AD pathogenesis is microglial activation, which is increased by obesity and reduced by estrogens. In parallel to its effects on β-amyloid accumulation, we observed that HT reduced morphological evidence of microglial activation in early but not late middle-age. These findings suggest that HT may be effective during human perimenopause in reducing indices of obesity and AD-related pathology, a conclusion consistent with the window of opportunity hypothesis.
Soil-Weed Seed Communication Systems

The nature of weeds is a complex adaptive, soil-seed communication system. The nature of weedy Setaria life history is an adaptable, changeable system in which complex behaviors emerge when self-similar plant components self-organize into functional traits possessing biological information about spatial structure and temporal behavior. Setaria life history behavior is a Markov chain of irreversible and reversible processes regulated by morpho-physiological traits acting through environment-plant communication systems (environment-plant-seed, soil-seed). Heritable functional traits are the physical reservoirs of information guiding life history development, emergent behavior. The consequence of structural self-similarity and behavioral self-organization has been the evolution of a complex adaptive seed-soil communication system. Weedy Setaria life history is represented in algorithmic form as FoxPatch, a model to forecast seed behavior. Weedy Setaria seed life history behaviors are controlled by environmental information (signals) flowing from the soil to the seed embryo. The specific signal to which Setaria is tuned affecting seed behavior in the soil is the amount of oxygen and heat (T, thermal) in soil water over time, oxy-hydro-thermal time (O2-H2O-T-Time). The Shannon environmental-biological communication system between the soil and the Setaria seed contains the five elements (E) and components:E1, information source, soil; E2, transmitter, soil particle contact with seed surface water films; E3, channel, continuous soil particle-seed surface water films; E4, receiver, living seed interior from the transfer aleurone cell layer (TACL) membrane to aleurone layer to embryo; E5, destination, embryo. The signal is soil O2-H2O-T-Time; the message is O2-H2O-T stimulating embryo respiration. The Setaria soil-seed communication system seed behavior can be also expressed as operations (processes) computed by seed algorithms. Information is physical: memory resides in several locations in the Setaria seed. Memory is expressed in the long-term by responsiveness to O2-H2O-heat messages as determined by the morpho-physiological soil-seed communication system (hull, TACL membrane, scavenger protein). The message is remembered: plants pass on a range of heteromorphic seeds appropriate to continuing, successful local adaptation.
Age-related differences in the motor unit action potential size in relation to recruitment threshold.

Motor unit action potential size (MUAPsize ) versus recruitment threshold (RT) relationship analysis provides a non-invasive measure of motor unit (MU) hypertrophy; however, this method's ability to identify MU atrophy is unknown. This investigation sought to determine if MUAPsize versus RT relationship slope (APslope ) comparison could identify evidence of MU atrophy in older individuals. Surface electromyography signals were recorded from the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) of fourteen young (YG, age = 22·29 ± 2·79 years) and ten older (OG, 61·0 ± 2·0 years) subjects during a 50% maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) isometric trapezoidal muscle action. The signals were decomposed to yield a MUAPsize and RT for each MU. For each subject, the MUs recruited between 10% and 50% MVC were linearly regressed as a function of RT to calculate an individual APslope . FDI cross-sectional area (CSA) and echo intensity (EI) were quantified via ultrasonography. The mean APslope was lower for OG (0·033 ± 0·010 mV %MVC-1 ) than YG (0·056 ± 0·019 mV %MVC-1 ). OG and YG possessed similar CSAs (OG: 2·09 ± 0·31 cm2 ; YG: 2·08 ± 0·41 cm2 ); however, OG (53·25 ± 7·56 AU) had greater EI than YG (43·87 ± 7·59 AU). The lower OG mean APslope was due to smaller MUAPsizes of higher-threshold MUs, likely due to atrophy of muscle fibres that comprise those MUs. In support, similar CSA with greater EI indicated increased adipose and fibrous tissue and reduced contractile tissue in OG. Thus, MUAPsize versus RT relationship may provide a non-invasive measure of MU atrophy.
Delivering Mental Health Services to Ethnic Minorities: Ethical Considerations:

Clinical psychology is currently seeing an increased awareness of ethnic minority issues in mental health service delivery. The Christian psychological literature however has been largely silent on...
Modeling microstructural evolution in irradiated materials with cluster dynamics methods: A review

Abstract As both the design of material systems for nuclear energy applications and the number of reactor designs being proposed increase the need for material models predicting the evolution of microstructures as a function of chemistry, texture, grain size, precipitate content, etc., and irradiation conditions is steadily increasing. This manuscript aims at presenting a review of the different cluster dynamics modeling schemes that have emerged worldwide over the past decade(s). Further, the manuscript also critically discusses limitations in existing approaches and identifies potential routes for future developments.
Volunteer computing with video game consoles

Volunteer computing is a form of distributed computing where projects attempt to accomplish some goal, using volunteered computational resources instead of paying for the resources [1]. Volunteer computing projects are being used for a wide range of computationally intensive scientific and mathematical goals, ranging from searching for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence to searching for cures to cancer and other diseases, to finding Mersenne prime numbers [1, 2, 3]. Due to the computational demands of volunteer computing projects, it is desirable to find additional sources of volunteer computing power. In order to be a viable source of volunteer computing power, a platform must be able to provide enough CPU cycles to make it worth the effort to port volunteer computing applications to that platform. Video game consoles have become increasingly powerful computers over the last 30 years, and the number of video game consoles sold and their computational power combined with their network capability makes them a potentially good platform for volunteer computing. We devise an experiment to test the potential usefulness of video game consoles for volunteer computing and compare the time it takes a video game console and several different computers to do the same amount of work for an example project.
Antimicrobial films and coatings for fresh fruit and vegetables

Publisher Summary Edible films are generally defined as continuous matrices that can be prepared from edible materials, such as proteins, polysaccharides, and lipids. They can be used as film wraps or pouches for food or formed as film coatings on food or between food components. When consumed with the food, an edible film or coating becomes an ingredient of the food. Waxes such as carnauba wax have been used in fresh fruit and vegetable coatings to reduce moisture loss and add gloss since the 1930s in the United States. Edible films/coatings are also currently used in a variety of other applications, including collagen casings for sausages, chocolate coatings for dry nuts and fruits and shellac coatings for chocolates and other confectioneries. Interest in the application of edible coatings to fruits and vegetables has increased because they can be used to maintain fresh quality by controlling oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange between the product and the ambient atmosphere and by providing microbial stability for the product by incorporating antimicrobial agents. Both functional approaches reduce the vulnerability of the product to microbial decay. This chapter provides general information about edible films and coatings and their use with fruits and vegetables to reduce microbial growth. It reviews potential antimicrobial agents for antimicrobial films/coatings and summarizes methods for testing antimicrobial activity of films/coatings. It presents a summary of the results of scientific investigations of edible films and coatings that incorporate antimicrobials. The chapter focuses on edible coatings formed on fruits and vegetables. However, many of the investigations involve study of antimicrobials in edible films that have been formed independent of a fruit or vegetable surface.
The Achievement Ideology of "Reading Wonders": A Critical Content Analysis of Success and Failure in a Core Reading Programme.

In the early 1960s, researchers began to conduct content analyses of core reading programmes/basal readers. Although these researchers often adopted a critical perspective, and examined the ideolog...
Intimate partner violence moderates the association between oxytocin and reactivity to dyadic conflict among couples.

Abstract Emerging literature indicates individual and contextual differences impact response to oxytocin (OT). Intimate partner violence (IPV) is one chronic stressor that may moderate OT response. To test the hypothesis that IPV moderates the association between OT and reactivity to a dyadic conflict task, data from a larger randomized controlled study was collected from heterosexual couples (N = 60 individuals; 30 couples) at high risk for IPV due to substance misuse. Partners within each dyad completed a 10-minute dyadic conflict task in the laboratory, and then self-administered a single dose of OT (40 IU) or placebo. Forty-five minutes later, participants completed another 10-minute dyadic conflict task. Stress reactivity was measured before and after the second conflict task using neuroendocrine (i.e., salivary cortisol), physiological (i.e., skin conductance), and subjective responses. Couple conflict behaviors were observed during the conflict tasks and assessed using a validated coding system. Among women, physical IPV modulated skin conductance in those administered OT, and OT interacted with physical and psychological IPV to yield less positive subjective and behavioral responses. No main or moderating effects were found for men. Findings support emerging literature on sex differences in response to OT. Future research is needed to effectively translate OT into therapeutic intervention.
Short-term Outcomes of Esophagectomies in Octogenarians-An Analysis of ACS-NSQIP.

Abstract Background In the face of an increasingly aged population, surgical management in the elderly will rise. This study assesses the short-term outcomes of esophagectomies in octogenarians. Material and methods The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was queried for esophagectomy cases from 2005 to 2014. Patients aged Results Among 9354 esophagectomies, 4.3% were performed in patients aged ≥80 y. Ivor Lewis was the most common approach, comprising 43% of cases. Octogenarians more frequently had dependent functional status (P Conclusions Age is independently associated with multiple adverse outcomes, including mortality, discharge to facility, and postoperative cardiopulmonary complications. Functional dependence is even more so associated with poor outcomes. Careful selection of very elderly patients is required to minimize additional risk.
DNA Polymerase η (Eta)

DNA polymerase η is necessary for efficient repair/replication of ultraviolet (UV) radiation-induced DNA damage through translesion synthesis. Mutations in this gene result in xeroderma pigmentosum, variant type (XPV). Patients with this disease are highly susceptible to developing various types of skin cancers as a result of UV-induced DNA damage.
Communities experiencing shale gas development

The influx of natural gas infrastructure and laborers associated with Marcellus Shale development has raised questions regarding the presence of a “boomtown” effect on Pennsylvania’s rural communities. This chapter examines quantitative and qualitative data gathered from four Pennsylvania counties to assess how various social indicators, including housing, healthcare, education, crime, and residents’ perceptions of their communities, have changed as a result of Marcellus Shale development. The quantitative data indicate that changes across many of these indicators are limited and difficult to distinguish from regional and long-term trends. Qualitative data resulting from focus groups, on the other hand, demonstrates substantial changes in how residents feel about their communities and their outlook for the future. The community implications of these findings are discussed, as well as the methodological challenges of studying rural communities experiencing unconventional development.
Control of lysosomal TRPML1 channel activity and exosome release by acid ceramidase in mouse podocytes.

The transient receptor potential mucolipin 1 (TRPML1) channel has been reported to mediate lysosomal Ca2+ release that is involved in Ca2+-dependent lysosome trafficking and autophagic flux. Howeve...
Never Enough: Capitalism and the Progressive Spirit

Neil Gilbert is the Chernin Professor of Social Welfare at the University of Berkeley, and in this volume, a provocateur challenging every value and assumption of American progressivism. Gilbert se...
Influence of physical and chemical hydrology on bioremediation of a U-contaminated aquifer informed by reactive transport modeling incorporating 238U/235U ratios

Abstract Microbially-catalyzed reductive immobilization of aqueous uranium (U) as a solid phase has been proposed as a U remediation technique. Both laboratory and field experiments have demonstrated that this reduction reaction alters the 238U/235U ratio, producing a 238U-enriched U(IV) solid. In contrast, other major U reactive transport processes fractionate these isotopes much less. This suggests the potential to quantify the extent of bioreduction occurring in groundwater containing U using the 238U/235U ratio, which would substantially improve upon current practices largely relying on U concentration measurements alone. Current reactive transport models for uranium dynamics include only concentration measurements, which are strongly influenced by highly coupled reactive transformation and aqueous transport processes. The complex physical and chemical behavior of U potentially compromises such quantitative analysis of U storage and release. Here we report the first numerical reactive transport model which explicitly incorporates variations in the 238U/235U ratio of U and demonstrates improved interpretation of the principal chemical reactions and groundwater transport processes affecting the subsurface mobility and distribution of this widespread contaminant. Recent U bioreduction studies performed in a contaminated aquifer in Rifle, Colorado, USA applied Rayleigh distillation models to interpret U stable isotope fractionation observed as a result of acetate amendment. These simplified models were unable to resolve the spatiotemporal pattern of U isotope fractionation recorded in the aqueous solutes. Here, we employ the multi-component, isotope-enabled CrunchTope reactive transport software to interpret these measured U isotope ratios, and demonstrate accurate reproduction of observed trends in both geochemistry and 238U/235U ratios for two consecutive years of field experiments. Our results indicate that accurately modeling both the U concentration and isotope ratio distributions greatly constrains the parameter space of the model. We find that the transport properties of U in the Rifle aquifer are governed by the presence of low-permeability regions, which the isotopes are uniquely sensitive to. When U reduction is spatially constrained by these low-permeability regions, the shift in the 238U/235U ratio becomes more muted. Accurate modeling of observed U isotope ratios thus provides a powerful means to better understand bioremediation, and the current study serves to advance the application of this novel method.
Brainstorming Generative Adversarial Networks (BGANs): Towards Multi-Agent Generative Models with Distributed Private Datasets

To achieve a high learning accuracy, generative adversarial networks (GANs) must be fed by large datasets that adequately represent the data space. However, in many scenarios, the available datasets may be limited and distributed across multiple agents, each of which is seeking to learn the distribution of the data on its own. In such scenarios, the local datasets are inherently private and agents often do not wish to share them. In this paper, to address this multi-agent GAN problem, a novel brainstorming GAN (BGAN) architecture is proposed using which multiple agents can generate real-like data samples while operating in a fully distributed manner and preserving their data privacy. BGAN allows the agents to gain information from other agents without sharing their real datasets but by "brainstorming" via the sharing of their generated data samples. In contrast to existing distributed GAN solutions, the proposed BGAN architecture is designed to be fully distributed, and it does not need any centralized controller. Moreover, BGANs are shown to be scalable and not dependent on the hyperparameters of the agents' deep neural networks (DNNs) thus enabling the agents to have different DNN architectures. Theoretically, the interactions between BGAN agents are analyzed as a game whose unique Nash equilibrium is derived. Experimental results show that BGAN can generate real-like data samples with higher quality and lower Jensen-Shannon divergence (JSD) and Frechet Inception distance (FID) compared to other distributed GAN architectures.
A bundled intervention lowers surgical site infection in hysterectomy for benign and malignant indications.

Objective To evaluate the impact of a surgical site infection (SSI) prevention bundle on SSI rates after hysterectomy for benign and malignant indications at an urban academic medical center. Methods The bundled invention was implemented for all abdominal gynecologic surgeries at Prentice Women's Hospital, Chicago, USA, from August 2016 to January 2017, and officially incorporated in department-wide policy from February 1, 2017. SSI data were prospectively collected for any open, vaginal, laparoscopic, or robotic hysterectomy for benign or malignant indications performed from February 2017 to January 2018. A retrospective review of all hysterectomies performed from February 2015 to January 2016 was conducted to establish baseline pre-bundle SSI data. Results Among 532 hysterectomies performed post-bundle implementation, there were two SSIs. By contrast, there were 14 SSIs among 515 hysterectomies in the same period before bundle implementation, representing a decrease in SSI rate from 2.7% to 0.4% (odds ratio, 7.41; 95% confidence interval, 1.67-32.75). The two SSIs in the post-bundle period occurred in open hysterectomies, whereas 8 (57.1%) SSIs in the pre-bundle period occurred in minimally invasive hysterectomies. Conclusion An SSI prevention bundle was effective for reducing the SSI rate in hysterectomy for both benign and malignant indications.
Diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy and machine learning.

Abstract Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive incurable neurodegenerative disease and a major health problem in aging population. We show that the combined use of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) and machine learning applied for the analysis of micro-drops of plasma samples of AD and healthy controls (HC) yields robust classification. Following the acquisition of LIBS spectra of 67 plasma samples from a cohort of 31 AD patients and 36 healthy controls (HC), we successfully diagnose late-onset AD (> 65 years old), with a total classification accuracy of 80%, a specificity of 75% and a sensitivity of 85%.
Preconception Counseling, Contraceptive Counseling, and Long-Acting Reversible Contraception Use in Women with Type I Diabetes: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background: Reproductive-age women with type I diabetes require preconception counseling, contraceptive counseling, and access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) to better support peri-...
Identification of new OPA1 cleavage site reveals that short isoforms regulate mitochondrial fusion

OPA1, a large GTPase of the dynamin superfamily, mediates fusion of the mitochondrial inner membranes, regulates cristae morphology, and maintains respiratory chain function. Inner membrane-anchored long forms of OPA1 (l-OPA1) are proteolytically processed by the OMA1 or YME1L proteases, acting at cleavage sites S1 and S2, respectively, to produce short forms (s-OPA1). In both mice and humans, half of the mRNA splice forms of Opa1 are constitutively processed to yield exclusively s-OPA1. However, the function of s-OPA1 in mitochondrial fusion has been debated, because in some stress conditions, s-OPA1 is dispensable for fusion. By constructing cells in which the Opa1 locus no longer produces transcripts with S2 cleavage sites, we generated a simplified system to identify the new YME1L-dependent site S3 that mediates constitutive and complete cleavage of OPA1. We show that mitochondrial morphology is highly sensitive to the ratio of l-OPA1 to s-OPA1, indicating that s-OPA1 regulates mitochondrial fusion.
Appropriate Patient Selection for Outpatient Shoulder Arthroplasty: A Risk Prediction Tool

Background The transition from inpatient to outpatient shoulder arthroplasty critically depends on appropriate patient selection, both to ensure safety as well as to counsel patients preoperatively regarding individualized risk. Cost and patient demand for same-day discharge have encouraged this transition, and a validated predictive tool may help decrease surgeon liability for complications and help select patients appropriate for same-day discharge. We hypothesized that an accurate predictive model could be created for short inpatient length of stay (discharge at least by postoperative day 1), potentially serving as a useful proxy for identifying patients appropriate for true outpatient shoulder arthroplasty. Methods A multi-center cohort of 5,410 shoulder arthroplasties (2,805 anatomics, 2,605 reverses) from two geographically diverse, high-volume health systems were reviewed. Inpatient short stay was the primary outcome, defined as discharge on either postoperative day 0 or 1, and 49 patient outcomes and factors including the Elixhauser Comorbidity Index, sociodemographic factors, and intra-operative parameters were examined as candidate predictors for short stay. Factors surviving parameter selection were incorporated into a multivariable logistic regression model, which underwent internal validation using 10,000 bootstrapped samples. Results In total, 2,238 (41.4%) patients were discharged at least by postoperative day 1, with no difference in rates of 90-day readmission (3.5% vs 3.3%, p = 0.774) between short and extended length of stay (discharge after postoperative day 1) cohorts. A multivariable logistic regression model demonstrated high accuracy (AUC: 0.762) for discharge by postoperative day 1, and was composed of 13 variables: surgery duration, age, gender, electrolyte disorder, marital status, ASA, paralysis, diabetes, neurologic disease, peripheral vascular disease, pulmonary circulation disease, cardiac arrhythmia, and coagulation deficiency. The percentage cutoff maximizing sensitivity and specificity was calculated to be 47%. Internal validation showed minimal loss of accuracy after bias correction for overfitting, and the predictive model was incorporated into a freely-available, online tool to facilitate easy clinical use. Conclusions A risk prediction tool for short inpatient length of stay after shoulder arthroplasty reaches very good accuracy despite requiring only 13 variables, and was derived from an underlying database with broad geographic diversity in the largest institutional shoulder arthroplasty cohort published to date. Short inpatient length of stay may serve as a proxy for identifying patients appropriate for same-day discharge, although perioperative care decisions should always be made on an individualized and holistic basis.
Transport Properties of Amine/Carbon Dioxide Reactive Mixtures and Implications to Carbon Capture Technologies

The structure and transport properties of physisorbed and chemisorbed CO2 in model polyamine liquids (hexamethylenediamine and diethylenetriamine) are studied via molecular dynamics simulations. Such systems are relevant to CO2 absorption processes where nonaqueous amines are used as absorbents (e.g., when impregnated or grafted onto mesoporous media or misted in the gas phase). It is shown that accounting for the ionic speciation resulting from CO2 chemisorption enabled us to capture the qualitative changes in extent of absorption and fluidity with time that are observed in thermogravimetric experiments. Simulations reveal that high enough concentration of reacted CO2 leads to strong intermolecular ionic interactions and the arrest of molecular translations. The transport properties obtained from the simulations of the ionic speciated mixtures are also used to construct an approximate continuum-level model for the CO2 absorption process that mimics thermogravimetric experiments.
Programmed cell death in the Müllerian duct induced by Müllerian inhibiting substance.

The importance of a secretory product of the fetal testis, Mullerian Inhibiting Substance, in determining the fate of the Mullerian duct in the developing male fetus has been well documented. The present investigation has examined the mechanism of action of Mullerian Inhibiting Substance in the male rat fetus during the course of Mullerian duct degeneration. The action of Mullerian Inhibiting Substance mimics the general morphogenetic phenomenon of “programmed cell death,” although important differences were found compared to the majority of other studies of cell death. The initial morphological event in the degenerating Mullerian duct is an increase in lysosomes within the duct cells. Following loss of polarity and orientation, the duct cells are subsequently removed by invading macrophages from the surrounding mesenchyme. Concommitant with the differentiation of these macrophages, the adjacent mesenchyme assumes a characteristic whorled pattern around the degenerating Mullerian duct. Cytochemical localization of acid phosphatase confirmed the presence of newly formed lysosomes within the Mullerian duct cells and subsequently within the cytoplasm of the invading macrophages.
The 1997 pension reform in Mexico

In 1995-96, Mexico shifted to a multipillar approach to old-age security. The objective of the publicly managed first pillar is redistribution; a fully-funded second pillar provides for mandatory individual savings accounts and competitive but exclusive and specialized pension fund management; the third pillar is voluntary savings. The package could provide effective income security and protection against old-age poverty, in a manner compatible with goals of savings and economic growth. It offers Mexico's first real opportunity to shift to a defined-distribution model and to expand and deepen institutional investors - although in the short term its impact on capital markets will be limited by the need to focus on the security of pension fund investments. The reformed systems provides for a probably irreversibly shift toward private intermediation of most domestic investment funds. Further efforts to improve the pension system should encourage efficiency, confidence, and economies of scale. There are weaknesses in Mexico's pension design - especially the limited scope for workers in the private sector, the continued role of the housing-fund component, and the moral hazard implications of the lifetime-switch option. But Mexico achieved radical reform with its pension system within a difficult political and economic environment. And the timing of the reform was appropriate. The age structure in the existing system was very young, so coverage could increase. Also, reform took place after the inflationary 1980s and the recent financial crisis, which eroded the real value of old pensions, the acquired pension rights of the transition generation, and the minimum pension for minimum-wage retirees. If returns on invested contributions are high enough, much of the transition generation will choose the defined-contribution alternative over the old pay-as-you-go system. This will release the government from pension liabilities, except for the minimum pension guarantee for new affiliates. Ensuring the system's long-term success will require improved financial performance from INFONAVIT, the authorities' political will and regulations, and the system's flexibility in the face of changing circumstances.
Threshold DSS Signatures without a Trusted Party

A t-out-of-l threshold signature scheme allows l members of a group to own shares of a private key such that any t of them can create a signature, while fewer them t cannot. Most of these schemes require a single trusted party to create the secret key and calculate the l shares. Harn [10] and Li, Hwang, and Lee [13] have devised threshold schemes based on the difficulty of solving the discrete logarithm problem which do not require such a trusted party. This paper extends that property to 2-out-of-l threshold signatures based on the Digital Signature Standard and describes two possible generalizations to a t-out-of-l scheme.
Using ground reaction force to predict knee kinetic asymmetry following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

Asymmetries in sagittal plane knee kinetics have been identified as a risk factor for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) re-injury. Clinical tools are needed to identify the asymmetries. This study examined the relationships between knee kinetic asymmetries and ground reaction force (GRF) asymmetries during athletic tasks in adolescent patients following ACL reconstruction (ACL-R). Kinematic and GRF data were collected during a stop-jump task and a side-cutting task for 23 patients. Asymmetry indices between the surgical and non-surgical limbs were calculated for GRF and knee kinetic variables. For the stop-jump task, knee kinetics asymmetry indices were correlated with all GRF asymmetry indices (P < 0.05), except for loading rate. Vertical GRF impulse asymmetry index predicted peak knee moment, average knee moment, and knee work (R(2) ≥ 0.78, P < 0.01) asymmetry indices. For the side-cutting tasks, knee kinetic asymmetry indices were correlated with the peak propulsion vertical GRF and vertical GRF impulse asymmetry indices (P < 0.05). Vertical GRF impulse asymmetry index predicted peak knee moment, average knee moment, and knee work (R(2) ≥ 0.55, P < 0.01) asymmetry indices. The vertical GRF asymmetries may be a viable surrogate for knee kinetic asymmetries and therefore may assist in optimizing rehabilitation outcomes and minimizing re-injury rates.
Urologic co-morbidities associated with sacrococcygeal teratoma and a rational plan for urologic surveillance

Background Sacrococcygeal teratoma (SCT) is one of the most common neonatal and fetal tumors. SCT pelvic mass effect and the need for aggressive surgical resection, create potential for urologic co-morbidity. We reviewed our experience with SCTs and propose a rational plan for urologic surveillance. Methods We retrospectively reviewed all patients with SCT evaluated at our institution from 2004 to 2011. We collected data on the need for reconstructive surgery related to the urologic co-morbidity, the time to detection of urologic co-morbidity, and length of follow-up. Results We identified 28 patients evaluated during the study period with a median follow-up of 3.1 year (range 0.14–13.4). The Altman classifications were—type I: 7 (25%), II: 15 (53.6%), and III: 6 (21.4%). Eighteen (64.3%) patients had an associated urologic co-morbidity: 12 (42.9%) patients had hydronephrosis, VUR—10 (35.7%), NGB—13 (46.4%), and 4 (14.3%) developed ≥CKD2. When comparing the patients according to Altman classification, there was a trend towards more urologic co-morbidity in patients with increasing pelvic involvement, P = 0.06. Eleven patients (39.3%) had delayed urologic evaluation and five (17.9%) required reconstructive urologic surgery. In comparing these groups, 4 of 11 (36.4%) undergoing delayed urologic evaluation progressed to reconstruction, as opposed to only one of 17 (5.7%) with urologic evaluation within first year of life (P-value = 0.06). Conclusion Urologic co-morbidities are common in children with SCT and appear most common in patients with more pelvic tumor involvement (≥Altman II). A risk-adapted approach to urologic surveillance is proposed. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2013;60:1626–1629. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Spirituality and Ethics in Long-Term Care

The issues of spirituality and ethics are evoked in a case of an 89-year-old woman resident in a nursing home who refused nutrition and hydration. Clergy representing Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, Hinduism and Islam were asked to respond to questions regarding the choice to end life and spiritual resources to help the patient. The clergy agreed that the patient is in a spiritual crisis but her autonomy should be respected, and spiritual resources should be expended to enhance meaning. The ethical dilemma for the social worker, as for the clergy, is whether to support the patient's freedom to end her life or persuade her to continue to live. The dilemma is based on conflicting social work values of self-determination and the preservation of life. Three ethical principles are in conflict: respect for autonomy, the duty to prevent harm, and beneficence. At the end of the process of ethical deliberation, the social worker must be prepared to accept the patient's decision.
Gene expression patterns in the black blowfly (Phormia regina) as revealed by two-dimensional electrophoresis of proteins. I. Developmental stage-specific and sex-specific differences.

The black blowfly,Phormia regina, has been implicated in human myiasis and as a contact vector of viral and bacterial diseases present in carrion to which female flies are attracted for egg deposition. Inbred strains ofP. regina are an excellent model system for studying gene expression in the developmental stages of such holometabolous dipteran parasites. However, information regarding gene and protein expression patterns inP. regina is limited. We used ISO-DALT high-resolution, two-dimensional electrophoresis with silver staining to establish fundamental protein maps for examination of the stage-specific gene expression patterns in the 615 most abundant proteins of the eggs, first- and third-instar larvae, pupae, and male and female adults. We also used a differential extraction technique to identify the major cuticular proteins of the adults. The results show 48 clearly identifiable stage-specific and sex-specific proteins. Thus, approximately 8% of the most abundant proteins exhibit developmental changes. These analyses serve as an initial data base for further studies of ontogenetic regulation, organellar origin, and physiologic function of the stage-specific proteins in the life cycle of these opportunistically parasitic dipterans.
Effects of environmental novelty on filial behavior in imprinted ducklings

Environmental novelty was manipulated in imprinted ducklings by varying the illumination level of the experimental apparatus. Bright illumination disrupted filial behavior in subjects that had received little prior exposure to the imprinting object, with approach being suppressed more when the object was stationary than when it was moving. In subjects with prolonged prior imprinting exposure, bright illumination enhanced filial behavior. These effects can be understood if one assumes that environmental novelty has an energization effect while also eliciting responses that are incompatible with filial behavior.