cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Low Referral Rate for Genetic Testing in Racially and Ethnically Diverse Patients Despite Universal Colorectal Cancer Screening

Background & Aims Guidelines recommend that all colorectal tumors be assessed for mismatch repair deficiency, which could increase identification of patients with Lynch syndrome. This is of particular importance for minority populations, in whom hereditary syndromes are under diagnosed. We compared rates and outcomes of testing all tumor samples (universal testing) collected from a racially and ethnically diverse population for features of Lynch syndrome. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of colorectal tumors tested from 2012 through 2016 at 4 academic centers. Tumor samples were collected from 767 patients with colorectal cancer (52% non-Hispanic white [NHW], 26% African American, and 17% Hispanic patients). We assessed rates of tumor testing, recommendations for genetic evaluation, rates of attending a genetic evaluation, and performance of germline testing overall and by race/ethnicity. We performed univariate and multivariate regression analyses. Results Overall, 92% of colorectal tumors were analyzed for mismatch repair deficiency without significant differences among races/ethnicities. However, minority patients were significantly less likely to be referred for genetic evaluation (21.2% for NHW patients vs 16.9% for African American patients and 10.9% for Hispanic patients; P = .02). Rates of genetic testing were also lower among minority patients (10.7% for NHW patients vs 6.0% for AA patients and 3.1% for Hispanic patients; P Conclusion In a retrospective analysis, we found that despite similar rates of colorectal tumor analysis, minority patients are less likely to be recommended for genetic evaluation or to undergo germline testing for Lynch syndrome. Improvements in institutional practices in follow up after tumor testing could reduce barriers to diagnosis of Lynch diagnosis in minorities.
Secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, macrophage activation syndrome, and hyperferritinemic sepsis-induced multiple-organ dysfunction syndrome in the pediatric ICU

Children with secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis present diagnostic and therapeutic challenges to the intensivist. Management of this condition can be facilitated with a collaborative approach among a team of intensivists, immunologists, rheumatologists, hematologists, and infectious disease specialists. Controversy over management approach commonly centers on incomplete understanding at the time of clinical presentation regarding individual patient differences in inflammation pathobiology that require different therapies. This review provides the clinician with the rationale for personalizing care for these critically ill children.
Aging and male sexuality

Awareness of the importance of sexuality and its disorders in the aging population is increasing as the proportion of older people grows. Based in part on the author's clinical experience and research at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, this book presents an up-to-date overview of the sexuality of aging men in health and illness, within a multidimensional conceptual framework, and taking account of physiological, psychological, interpersonal and social influences. Also discussed are the impact of medical illness, psychopathology and drugs, with a review of coping strategies in shaping individual sexual responses to aging and disease. Many case studies and vignettes are incorporated, and a chapter is devoted to the sexuality of older gay men. A balanced account of medical and psychosocial evaluation and treatment concludes the book, which will be of broad interest to clinicians and students interested in sexuality and aging.
ALTERED INSULIN SENSITIVITY IN ENDOTOXIN AND SEPTIC SHOCK

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the altered insulin sensitivity in endotoxin and septic shock. Altered glucose homeostasis is one of the hallmarks of septic and endotoxic shock. Initial hyperglycemia followed by a marked fall in blood glucose has been documented in several species, including man. The altered endocrine environment in serious bacterial infections includes variations in the ratio of plasma insulin to glucagon. Insulin resistance has been reported during endotoxemia and septicemia. The interplay of circulating plasma insulin and altered glucose homeostasis in endotoxic shock has also been studied. The chapter presents a study in which transport of 3-0-methylglucose was studied in adipocytes preincubated for 45 min at 24°C in the presence and absence of 1.0 mU insulin. Transport was initiated with the addition of 2μCi of 3-0-[ 3 H] methylglucose in 0.1 ml buffer. Incubation periods ranged from 15 to 75 s, and the cells were separated using the microfuge centrifugation technique. Inulin space in the cell pellets was determined and appropriate corrections were made. In majority of the experiments, adipocytes from rats previously injected with endotoxin exhibited greater binding of insulin at low hormone concentrations than in control cells.
Multi-parameter exploration of dynamics of regulatory networks.

Abstract Over the last twenty years advances in systems biology have changed our views on microbial communities and promise to revolutionize treatment of human diseases. In almost all scientific breakthroughs since time of Newton, mathematical modeling has played a prominent role. Regulatory networks emerged as preferred descriptors of how abundances of molecular species depend on each other. However, the central question on how cellular phenotypes emerge from dynamics of these network remains elusive. The principal reason is that differential equation models in the field of biology (while so successful in areas of physics and physical chemistry), do not arise from first principles, and these models suffer from lack of proper parameterization. In response to these challenges, discrete time models based on Boolean networks have been developed. In this review, we discuss an emerging modeling paradigm that combines ideas from differential equations and Boolean models, and has been developed independently within dynamical systems and computer science communities. The result is an approach that can associate a range of potential dynamical behaviors to a network, arrange the descriptors of the dynamics in a searchable database, and allows for multi-parameter exploration of the dynamics akin to bifurcation theory. Since this approach is computationally accessible for moderately sized networks, it allows, perhaps for the first time, to rationally compare different network topologies based on their dynamics.
Reducing Legislative Polarization: Top-Two and Open Primaries Are Associated with More Moderate Legislators

Reducing Legislative Polarization: Top-Two and Open Primaries Are Associated with More Moderate Legislators
The Political Limits of Economics

We economists do not apply economic tools to analyze our own discipline. If we were to do so, we would discover that we have self-motivated explanations for why political systems fail, explanations that entitle us to impose our views on elected representatives. We would also discover that we have preferences not aligned with the rest of the population, we can be captured, and we suffer of groupthink. I propose some remedies our profession can adopt to reduce these problems, including becoming less clubbish and more inclusive.
The “fixed” SPECT MPI defect: Where are we and where should we be going?

This brief review focuses on reasons why myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) SPECT defects may appear "fixed" (rest vs stress). A combination of technical and physiology factors are responsible in most cases and are discussed. Perhaps the major reason defects will appear fixed is that there is no absolute quantitative measurement of myocardial blood flow (MBF, rest and stress) with which to assess the magnitude and potential direction of change in the defect vs reference zone with stress. Cardiac PET MPI provides absolute measurements of MBF required to understand the clinical significance of the SPECT "fixed" defect and are highlighted. Emphasis is given to use of the actual MBF measurements though indexing stress MBF to that of truly normal subjects (RFR or FFRPET) will prove useful in recognition of multi-vessel CAD. The availability of 18F flurpiridaz for clinical use is likely to encourage more widespread adoption of cardiac PET MPI for evaluation of patients with known or suspected CAD.
Self‐reported diabetes, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia among older persons in Malaysia

Aim The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of self-reported diabetes, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia among older persons in Malaysia and their associated factors. Methods The study used data from the National Health and Morbidity Survey in 2018. It was a cross-sectional study with two-staged stratified cluster sampling design. In total, 3977 adults aged ≥60 years were selected for this study. Respondents were interviewed face to face using a structured questionnaire. Self-reported diabetes, hypertension or hypercholesterolemia was defined as having ever been told they have these diseases by a medical doctor or paramedic. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25. The multiple logistic regression model was used to examine the factors associated with the prevalence of self-reporting. Results The prevalence of self-reported diabetes, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia among older persons in Malaysia were 27.7%, 51.1% and 41.8% respectively. Presence of other comorbidities and being obese showed higher odds for all three diseases. Indians, unemployed, inactive had higher odds for diabetes. Other Bumiputras, unemployed, non-smoker, obese and inactive had higher odds for hypertension. Non-smoker had higher odds for hypercholesterolemia. Conclusions Health promotion, vigilance, attention and services targeting on the associated factors should be strengthened for older persons in Malaysia to ensure healthy aging. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2020; 20: 79-84.
Anhydrous Biology & Glass Transitions

The physical and chemical mechanisms by which anhydrobiotic organisms, such as plant seeds, pollen, bacteria, fungi, and others, tolerate extreme desiccation for long periods of time are still unknown. In desiccation intolerant organisms, dehydration causes irreversible events, such as disruption of cellular and intracellular membranes, denaturation of enzymes, and increase of solutes concentration, possibly with increased rates of destructive chemical reactions. We can assume that biological tolerance to dehydration will be achieved principally by adaptations in structural organization of cytoplasm and cytoplasmic components. We have examined the hypothesis that the cytoplasm of anhydrobiotic organisms exists in a glassy state even at physiological temperatures. A glassy state could represent an useful mechanism to trap residual water molecules and to prevent damaging interactions between cell components.1 In addition, the resulting highly viscous phase can be easily melted upon addition of water, thus restoring the possibility for metabolic activities. Preliminary evidence for the existence of a hydration-dependent glass-like transition at physiological temperatures occurring in the cytoplasm of maize seeds has been gained by calorimetric studies.2 Here we report on spin-probe electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements of cytoplasmic microviscosity and on thermal depolarization studies accomplished to detect the onset of a vitrified state in soybean seeds.
Is There a Synergistic Effect of Topical Plus Intravenous Tranexamic Acid Versus Intravenous Administration Alone on Blood Loss and Transfusions in Primary Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasties

Abstract Background The optimal route and dosing regimen of tranexamic acid (TXA) in primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) remain unclear. As such, we sought to analyze if there was a synergistic effect of intravenous (IV) and topical TXA on blood loss and transfusions. Methods We retrospectively analyzed 6720 primary TKAs and 6559 THAs performed from February 1, 2016 to December 31, 2019 at a single institution in patients who received a double IV dose (6159 TKAs and 6276 THAs) compared with a combined single IV and topical dose (561 TKAs and 283 THAs) of TXA. Multivariate logistic regression models, adjusting for age, body mass index, American Society of Anesthesiologists class, preoperative hemoglobin, and TXA administration, were performed for significant variables from a univariate analysis. Results In the TKA cohort, the mean total blood loss was statistically similar for double IV (305 mL, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 301-310 mL) TXA compared with combined TXA (310 mL, 95% CI = 299-321 mL) (P = .43). Furthermore, there was no difference in the rate of transfusion (odds ratio = 1.23, 95% CI = 0.57-2.67, P = .598). In the THA cohort, there was statistically higher blood loss with double IV (328 mL, 95% CI = 323-333 mL) TXA than in the combined group (295 mL, 95% CI = 280-310 mL) (P Conclusions A double IV TXA dose and a combined single IV and topical TXA dose were equally effective in minimizing blood transfusions (~2%) at primary TKA and THA. We did not find a synergistic effect when combining a systemic IV TXA with a topical TXA. Level of Evidence Level III.
Decentralized Inertial Best-Response with Voluntary and Limited Communication in Random Communication Networks.

Multiple autonomous agents interact over a random communication network to maximize their individual utility functions which depend on the actions of other agents. We consider decentralized best-response with inertia type algorithms in which agents form beliefs about the future actions of other players based on local information, and take an action that maximizes their expected utility computed with respect to these beliefs or continue to take their previous action. We show convergence of these types of algorithms to a Nash equilibrium in weakly acyclic games under the condition that the belief update and information exchange protocols successfully learn the actions of other players with positive probability in finite time given a static environment, i.e., when other agents' actions do not change. We design a decentralized fictitious play algorithm with voluntary and limited communication (DFP-VL) protocols that satisfy this condition. In the voluntary communication protocol, each agent decides whom to exchange information with by assessing the novelty of its information and the potential effect of its information on others' assessments of their utility functions. The limited communication protocol entails agents sending only their most frequent action to agents that they decide to communicate with. Numerical experiments on a target assignment game demonstrate that the voluntary and limited communication protocol can more than halve the number of communication attempts while retaining the same convergence rate as DFP in which agents constantly attempt to communicate.
Stem Cell Based Modelling of Glioblastoma

Glioblastomas (GBMs) are aggressive and devastating tumors, and are exceedingly difficult to clinically manage. There are many reasons that these tumors are difficult to treat, one of which is the presence of a cancer stem cell (CSC), or alternatively called glioblastoma cancer stem cell (GSC), subpopulation within these tumors. GSCs are resistant to both chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which are the standard of care for GBM patients. Not only do these cells evade current treatments, they also have the ability to self-renew and lead to recurrence in almost all GBM patients. Clearly, any curative treatment will need to inclusively target GSCs, so it is vital that this subpopulation can be isolated and studied. This chapter will cover how GSCs are identified, expanded, and ultimately how they are used to determine if a new treatment is able to target this highly malignant cell subpopulation.
Food web restructuring across an urban estuarine gradient.

Food webs in urban estuaries support valuable ecosystem services that are subject to a wide range of stressors that can degrade the structure of trophic networks. Multiple trophic pathways stabilize food webs by providing complementary diet resources for consumers but the consequences of urbanization on estuarine food webs are relatively unknown. In estuarine creeks across an urban-to-suburban gradient, we demonstrate trophic decoupling of benthic and pelagic pathways, trophic niche contraction, and increasing human health risk arising with the same factors that are associated with ecological degradation. This suggests an urban estuarine paradox—human activities often create larger volumes of deep water habitat, yet human activities also render much of this area unproductive with measurable opportunity costs to food webs. Our findings emphasize the shared consequences of environmental degradation for the ecological integrity of urban estuaries and the health of urban communities that rely on estuaries for sustenance.
A Compile-Time Memory-Reuse Scheme for Concurrent Logic Programs

As large amounts of garbage are generated in concurrent logic programs, it becomes necessary to salvage used memory frequently and efficiently, with a garbage collector. Another approach is to detect when a data structure becomes garbage and reuse it. In concurrent languages it is particularly difficult to determine when a data structure is garbage and suitable for destructive update. Dynamic schemes, such as reference counting, incur space and time overheads that can be unacceptable. In contrast, static-analysis techniques identify data objects whose storage may be reused. Information from static analysis can be used by the compiler in generating appropriate instructions for reuse, incurring little or no runtime overhead. In this paper we present a new static-analysis technique for reuse detection. We present empirical performance measurements comparing the new scheme against binary reference counting (MRB). It is shown that, a simple static analysis can achieve most of the benefits of MRB and improve the execution time.
Exploring the Interaction between Java's Implicitly Thrown Exceptions and Instruction Scheduling

The frequent occurrence of implicitly thrown exceptions poses one of the challenges present in a Java compiler. Not only do these implicitly thrown exceptions directly affect the performance by requiring explicit checks, they also indirectly impact the performance by restricting code movement in order to satisfy the precise exception model in Java. In particular, instruction scheduling is one transformation that is restricted by implicitly thrown exceptions due to the heavy reliance on reordering instructions to exploit maximum hardware performance. The goal of this study is two-fold: first, investigate the degree to which implicitly thrown exceptions in Java hinder instruction scheduling, and second, find new techniques for allowing more efficient execution of Java programs containing implicitly thrown exceptions. Experimental results show that with aggressive scheduling techniques, such as superblock scheduling, the negative performance impact can be greatly reduced.
MCC-1: a standard leach test for nuclear waste forms

A Materials Characterization Center (MCC) has been established by the U.S. Department of Energy at the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL). Five proposed standard leach tests and typical results usi...
Firearm counseling by physicians: coverage under medical liability insurance policies.

BACKGROUND: Physicians who offer firearms counseling may increase their legal liability, depending on the attitudes of their medical malpractice insurance carriers. METHODS: A survey was mailed to the 100 largest medical malpractice insurers. Requested data included their experience with claims involving allegations of negligent firearm counseling by physicians, their opinion regarding whether firearm counseling by physicians would be covered under their medical malpractice policies, and their prediction of how their insurance group or company would handle such claims. RESULTS: Fourteen surveys were returned. No respondents reported having dealt with a case involving an allegation of negligent firearm counseling by a physician. Eight respondents (57%) thought that such counseling would not be covered under their medical malpractice policy, whereas six respondents (43%) said that it would. CONCLUSION: A majority of responding insurers thought that physician firearm counseling would not be covered under their medical malpractice policies. Physicians wishing to counsel their patients about the risks and benefits of owning and using firearms are advised to seek assurance of medical malpractice insurance coverage from their insurers or the annexation of a rider to their current policies.
The sites of origin brain stem neurotensin and serotonin projections to the rodent nucleus raphe magnus

The combined horseradish peroxidase retrograde transport-peroxidase-antiperoxidase immunohistochemical procedure was utilized in the present study to ascertain the sites of origin of serotonin and neurotensin projections to the rodent nucleus raphe magnus. The major serotonin inputs to the raphe magnus arise from the B-8 and B-9 groups of Dahlstrom and Fuxe (Dahlstrom, A., and K. Fuxe (1964) Acta Physiol. Scand. Suppl. 232 62: 1-55), the nucleus reticularis paragigantocellularis, and the nucleus reticularis gigantocellularis pars alpha. Neurotensinergic projections to the raphe magnus originate predominantly from the periaqueductal gray, the nucleus solitarius, the dorsal and ventral parabrachial nuclei, and the nucleus cuneiformis. The periaqueductal gray and the nucleus paragigantocellularis were found to provide both a neurotensin and a serotonin projection to this raphe nucleus. The present results indicate that several brain stem nuclei, which have been implicated previously in endogenous analgesia mechanisms, provide serotonergic and neurotensinergic input to the nucleus raphe magnus.
Transnational Public Policy: Does it Function from Arbitrability to Enforcement?

Globalization of investment, commerce, transnational disputes and specifically, the concern of harmonizing international arbitration has appeared to raise transnational public policy, a fascinating, however not straightforward topic in international commercial arbitration. Subsequently, the concept’s intellectually appealing characteristic encouraged scholars and somewhat practitioners to cope with it in the last few decades and still interesting hot debates are developing surrounding this issue today. What is transnational public policy? What are its content and sources? Does it play the same function in every stage of the arbitral process? Is a case with such subject-matter arbitrable? Should the arbitrator consider this issue in the award? Should the judge respect such norms in the enforcement stage? And what may the consequences or impacts of such a concept be on the governing law of the contract are some related questions that may arise when one is confronted with transnational public policy and its application in international arbitration. This article offers a survey on the current literature and opinions regarding transnational public policy in international arbitration. However finally it suggests that in order to harmonize the decisions made on this issue in tribunals and courts, although judges are not required applying the notion, they should respect it too. Section one is an introduction and some preliminary issues are covered. The arbitrability test is covered in the second section. In the third section, considerations of transnational public policy and its function before an international arbitrator for rendering an award have been expressed. Forth section is all about the recognition and enforcement stage, where the award containing a transnational public policy issue is before a judge.
Constraint reasoning over strings

This paper discusses an approach to representing and reasoning about constraints over strings. We discuss how string domains can often be concisely represented using regular languages, and how constraints over strings, and domain operations on sets of strings, can be carried out using this representation.
The Interaction between Baseball Attendance and Winning Percentage: A VAR Analysis

This study examines the importance of team success for attendance for Major League Baseball teams. Winning and attendance go together for most baseball teams, but the direction of causation is not obvious. Winning could lead to greater attendance as fans want to see a winner; an increase in attendance could lead to greater winning as teams have greater resources to spend on salaries. This study finds that the direction of causation runs from team success to greater attendance, and that a sudden increase in fans does not lead to additional winning in the future. A secondary result suggests that exogenous shocks to attendance have replicating effects on attendance as well.
Changes of intracellular and externally bound cations accompanying serum stimulation of mouse BALB/c 3T3 cells.

Abstract Serum stimulation of DNA synthesis in quiescent mouse BALB/c 3T3 cells is accompanied by changes in total and intracellular Na+, K+, Mg2+ and Ca2+ content and in externally bound divalent cations. A sharp increase in the rate of [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA occurred after 10 h incubation following stimulation with 20% calf serum. This increase in DNA synthesis was accompanied by a decrease in intracellular Ca2+, little change in K+ and an increase in Mg2+ which reached 15% after 17 h. Incubation of confluent cultures for 17 h in media containing various serum concentrations caused the rate of DNA synthesis to increase rectilinearly with concentration, being 30-fold greater at 20 than at 0% serum. Concomitantly, intracellular cation changes occurred, levels at 20% serum as compared with 0%, being Na2+, 91%; K+, 103%; Mg+, 114%; and Ca2+, 41%. Externally bound divalent cations exhibited substantial serum dependence, bound Mg2+ at 20% serum decreasing to 45%, and Ca2+ to 22% of values at 0% serum. Results suggest that serum exerts its effects on cell growth at least in part by perturbing the plasma membrane, causing displacement of membrane divalent cations with a resultant change in membrane permeability and subsequently in cellular ion content. Although various cations including Na+, K+ and Ca2+ may be of significance in the regulation of cellular growth, our data from this and previous studies support the concept that intracellular Mg2+ is of primary importance in the control of cellular metabolism and growth.
Influence of Inter- and Intraband Transitions to Electron Temperature Decay in Noble Metals After Short-Pulsed Laser Heating

This work examines the effects of photonically induced interband excitations from the d-band to states at the Fermi energy on the electron temperature decay in noble metals. The change in the electron population in the d-band and the conduction band causes a change in electron heat capacity and electron-phonon coupling factor. In noble metals, due to the large d-band to Fermi energy separation, the contributions to electron heat capacity and electron-phonon coupling factor of intra- and interband transitions can be separated. The two temperature model describing electron-phonon heat transfer after short-pulsed laser heating is solved using the expressions for heat capacity and electron-phonon coupling factor after intra- and interband excitations, and the predicted electron temperature change of the intra- and interband excited electrons are examined. A critical fluence value is defined that represents the absorbed fluence needed to fill all available states at a given photon energy above the Fermi level. At high absorbed laser fluences and pulse energies greater than the interband transition threshold, the interband and intraband contributions to thermophysical properties differ and are shown to affect temporal electron temperature profiles.
Effect of bimodularity of mechanical properties of planar-random fiber composites

Abstract Because of their ease of high-volume production relative to other kinds of composites, planar-random fiber composites are of great interest for such high-volume applications as automobile components. Consequently, there is a rapidly growing body of literature on this kind of composite. The present paper addresses a topic which has hitherto been neglected in random-fiber composites: the effect of bimodularity on the mechanical properties. This bimodularity (different moduli in tension and compression) can arise from several causes: fiber curvature (especially important for relatively long and twisted fibers) and fiber microshear crimping (especially important for Aramid fibers). The bimodularity effect is considered for two kinds of fiber-orientation distribution: (1) uniform up to ±θ max and (2) cosinusoidal. Numerical results are presented for various typical fiber and matrix materials and the design implications are discussed in detail.
US pressure on China: Silver flows, deflation, and the 1934 Shanghai credit crunch

Abstract US pressure for Chinese currency appreciation in the face of a weakening dollar was initially resisted in the post-2003 period. No such option was available in the 1930s, however, when dollar weakness was accompanied by silver purchases that automatically drove up the value of China's old silver-based currency. New empirical evidence suggests a significant link between the policy-induced driving up of US silver prices and Chinese exchange rate appreciation and price deflation. Moreover, the reversal of the silver flow into Shanghai as large-scale US purchases began in 1934 appears to have been met by a credit crunch in that city—as evidenced by bank failures, and real estate and stock market declines. The silver flow from the interior to Shanghai had previously insulated the financial center from the credit shortages faced elsewhere in China after deflation first emerged in 1932–1933.
Quantification of procedures and resuscitations in an emergency medicine residency

Abstract Currently, there are no data that govern the number of procedures that are necessary to promote competence during emergency medicine (EM) training. Nonetheless, the Residency Review Committee requires each program to report the average number of procedures and resuscitations performed by its residents. For 7 years, we have used a computer database to track resuscitation and procedure experience for 42 residents. We have documented resident experience both in our 36,000-visit Level I Trauma Center emergency department and during off-service rotations in our 400-bed university teaching hospital. We report data from four graduating classes (n = 24). We estimate that residents have recorded 60% of the actual procedures performed. The 24 residents documented 11,947 procedures, averaging 498 per resident (range 264–1055), and participated in 3432 resuscitations, or 143 per resident (range 64–379). Mean and standard deviations are reported for 20 specific EM procedures and 4 types of resuscitations. EM residents perform a large number of procedures, but there is wide inter-resident variability. There is no documentation that some residents perform even one of some rare but critical procedures. This tracking system suggests, then, that procedure simulations, or cadaver and animal models, must be developed and used to enhance experience. This program can be modified to track resident experience in any specialty, as well as to document supervision by faculty and support credentialling inquiries.
Variants of canonical formalism

Abstract Canonical formalism is presented in invariant notation as one of a family of solutions of the problem of finding infinite-dimensional subgroups of the group of all time-independent flows of points in a real n-dimensional space. When the problem is restricted to a local study with the flows restricted to such as are specified by a flow vector field with analytic components, and a geometry in the first-order neighborhood of each point specified by a real irreducible Lie group of n by n matrices is required to be preserved by the motions, then a limited number of classes of solutions appear (theorems of E. A. Ruh and Y. Matsushima). Ordinary canonical formalism is produced from one of these classes by an extra assumption of flatness. It is shown that, if the flatness assumption is replaced by one of maximum twist, no motions at all are possible.
Coherent free space optics communications over the maritime atmosphere with use of adaptive optics for beam wavefront correction

We evaluate the performance of the coherent free space optics (FSO) employing quadrature array phase-shift keying (QPSK) modulation over the maritime atmosphere with atmospheric turbulence compensated by use of adaptive optics (AO). We have established a comprehensive FSO channel model for maritime conditions and also made a comprehensive comparison of performance between the maritime and terrestrial atmospheric links. The FSO links are modeled based on the intensity attenuation resulting from scattering and absorption effects, the log-amplitude fluctuations, and the phase distortions induced by turbulence. The obtained results show that the FSO system performance measured by the bit-error-rate (BER) can be significantly improved when the optimization of the AO system is achieved. Also, we find that the higher BER is observed in the maritime FSO channel with atmospheric turbulence, as compared to the terrestrial FSO systems if they experience the same turbulence strength.
Chromatin-mediated cortical granule redistribution is responsible for the formation of the cortical granule-free domain in mouse eggs

A cortical granule-free domain (CGFD) overlies the metaphase chromatin in fully mature mouse eggs. Although a chromatin-induced localized release of cortical granules (CG) during maturation is thought to be a major contributing factor to its formation, there are indications that CG redistribution may also be involved in generating the CGFD. We performed experiments to determine the relative contributions of CG exocytosis and redistribution in generating the CGFD. We found that the CGFD-inducing activity was not specific to female germ cell chromatin and was heat stable but sensitive to DNase and protease treatment. Surprisingly, chelation of egg intracellular Ca(2+) levels did not prevent CGFD formation in response to microinjection of exogenous chromatin, suggesting that development of the CGFD was not a result of CG exocytosis. This finding was confirmed by the lack of CG exudate on the plasma membrane surface of the injected eggs and the absence of conversion of ZP2 to ZP2(f) during formation of the new CGFD. Moreover, clamping intracellular Ca(2+) did not prevent the formation of the CGFD during oocyte maturation, but did inhibit the maturation-associated release of CGs between metaphase I and II. Results of these experiments suggest that CG redistribution is the dominant factor in formation of the CGFD.
Characterization of an epidermal phosphatase specific for filaggrin phosphorylated by casein kinase II.

During cellular remodeling that accompanies cornification of epidermal cells, the highly phosphorylated protein, profilaggrin, is dephosphorylated and proteolytically cleaved to filaggrin, the keratin matrix protein. Using rat filaggrin phosphorylated by bovine casein kinase II (CR II) as a substrate, we have partially purified a phosphatase from rat epidermis which dephosphorylates rat profilaggrin in vitro. Anion exchange, hydroxylapatite, and gel filtration chromatography yielded a 100-fold purification of phosphatase from a low-salt extract. Further purification led to loss of activity; therefore, only the partially purified phosphatase was characterized. Two forms of the phosphatase, with molecular weights of approximately 170 and 40 kDa, were resolved during gel filtration. The 170-kDa form could be converted to the 40-kDa form in the presence of dithiothreitol. Both forms had pH optima of 6.6, and were strongly inhibited by NaCl (50% inhibition at 35-40 mM). Neither form hydrolyzed para-nitrophenylphosphate or dephosphorylated casein or the synthetic peptide arg3-glu3-thr-glu3, which were phosphorylated by casein kinase II. The two forms were similarly inhibited by known inorganic phosphatase inhibitors, with 22%-36% inhibition by 0.1 mM Na+/K+ tartrate, 55%-60% inhibition by 0.1 mM NaF, and 75% inhibition by 0.1 mM Na pyrophosphate. Para-chloromercuribenzoate also inhibited the activity, suggesting that reduced thiols may be important in catalysis. One mM calcium chloride altered the activity in a complex manner depending on the pH, suggesting a possible role for calcium in regulating enzyme activity.
Coding of inhibition in visual cortical spike streams

Modulation of cortical firing rate is a major factor in defining cortical filter properties. Active response suppression (inhibition) is seen whenever cortical cells are exposed to grating stimuli that are non-optimal, in either the domain of orientation or spatial frequency. Responses are also reduced by pre-exposure to gratings of high contrast. The first phenomenon is termed spatially dependent inhibition, the second contrast gain control. We have explored the physiological basis for these two phenomena in striate cortical cells of the anesthetized cat. Sequences of spikes in responses show bursts characterized by interspike intervals of 8 msec or less. Both burst frequency and burst length depend on average firing rate, but at a given firing rate burst length is lower for non-optimal orientations. Burst length is also shortened by local injection of GABA. Burst length modulation is not seen in the case of contrast gain control. These results support the existence of two independent mechanisms for modulating cortical responsiveness. A GABA-ergic mechanism that shortens spike bursts is invoked by presentation of spatially non-optimal stimuli. Response normalization after presentation of high contrasts does not affect burst length and is not affected by GABA.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Identification of faulty DTI-based sub-networks in autism using network regularized SVM

Neural imaging studies of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have consistently demonstrated deficits in connectivity. In this paper, we propose a new network regularized support vector machines (SVM) method to identify the faulty subnetworks associated with ASD using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). After constructing the bram connectivity network of each subject using DTI, the SVM-recursive feature elimination (RFE) algorithm is adopted to identify the faulty sub-networks in order to distinguish ASD from typical developing (TD) controls. Since connections in the network are not independent of each other, their topological proximities are incorporated as the network regulanzation of SVM-RFE by using the graph Laplacian to obtain robust sub-networks. Experiments on both simulated and clinical datasets showed a better performance of the proposed method in faulty sub-network identification, compared with the traditional SVM-RFE method.
Impact of sumatriptan on clinic utilization and costs of care in migraineurs.

Background.—Although migraine headaches affect a large segment of the population, no objective measure of therapeutic success is currently available. Comparing visit frequency and associated costs of care before and after introduction of a new therapy represents an important surrogatemeasure of success. Methods.—One hundred four patients regularly attending a headache clinic for migraines at a tertiary care hospital were instructed in the use of a new abortive migraine therapy. Medical appointment and financial systems were searched retrospectively for visit frequency and associated patient care and institutional costs. The number of visits and mean costs 18 months before and after initiation of therapy were compared using the signed rank test and paired t-test, respectively. Results.—The median number of visits made by study subjects to the headache clinic fell significantly following sumatriptan test dosing (P<0.001). Prior to the new treatment, mean total patient care and institutional costs were $228.59 and $112.81 per person, respectively, and fell to $135.93 and $78.16 (P<0.001) after therapy began. Conclusions.—These data suggest that many patients with migraine benefit from sumatriptan, seek medical attention in a headache clinic less often, and incur fewer costs following initiation of treatment with this drug.
Clinical Judgment in Case Conceptualization and Treatment Planning Across Mental Health Disciplines

This study compared clinical judgment on case conceptualization and treatment planning (TP) tasks among psychologists, mental health counselors, and social workers using Clinical Treatment Planning Simulations depicting anxiety and affective disorders. Orientation and work setting did not significantly influence judgment; experience exerted a “modest” curvilinear effect Mental health counselors scored higher than social workers and similar to psychologists on both tasks. The best predictors of TP scores for the anxiety disorder were interventions addressing stress management and family dynamics; strong predictors for the affective disorder included focus on family dynamics and the therapeutic relationship. Implications of findings for training are discussed.
The influence of some suspending agents on the release of a soluble medicament from solution.

A method for comparing the influence of suspending media on the dialysis of a soluble compound is described. Different suspending agents affected the rate at which the iodide ion dialyzes from solution, indicating that the nature of the agent is a variable which influences the release of the compound. It is demonstrated that the use of selected suspending agents makes possible the modification of release rates of certain soluble drugs from solution.
On the mechanism of production of superoxide radical by reaction mixtures containing NADH, phenazine methosulfate, and nitroblue tetrazolium

In aerobic reaction mixtures containing NADH, phenazine methosulfate, and nitroblue tetrazolium, O2- production is mediated by the tetrazolium, not the phenazine. Thus, superoxide dismutase inhibited reduction of the tetrazolium, but when ferricytochrome c was substituted for the tetrazolium its reduction was not affected by this enzyme. Furthermore, NADH plus the phenazine did not accelerate the oxidation of epinephrine to adrenochrome unless the tetrazolium was present, and under those circumstances superoxide dismutase did inhibit adrenochrome formation. When the tetrazolium and ferricytochrome c were present simultaneously, addition of superoxide dismutase was seen to accelerate the reduction of the cytochrome. This is explainable by the reduction of O2- by the reduced phenazine, which thus competes with cytochrome c for the available O2-. When the O2- was eliminated by superoxide dismutase, more of the reduced phenazine was available for the direct reduction of cytochrome c.
Atomic size effect on the formability of metallic glasses

Abstract The minimum solute concentration in a binary alloy system necessary to obtain a stable amorphous phase by rapid quenching, C B min , collected from the published reports on glass formation of 66 systems, was found to be inversely correlated with the atomic volume mismatch, | (v b −v A v A | , where v A is the atomic volume of the matrix and v B is the atomic volume of the solute. The atomic scale elasticity theory was developed to calculate the atomic level stresses in solid solution, which led to the stress criteria for the topological instability of solid solution. It was found that C B min is closely correlated with the critical solute concentration for the topological instability of solid solution. This result indicates that the atomic size ratio between the constituent elements is the most important factor in the determination of value of C B min , and the amorphous alloys are stabilized partly because the solid solutions of the corresponding compositions are topologically unstable.
Necessary conditions for nonnegativity constrained spectral factorization

Abstract A set of necessary conditions involving the discrete autocorrelation samples is provided for checking into the existence of solution for the nonnegativity constrained spectral factorization problem.
Validation of enantiomeric separations by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography using synthetic chiral surfactants

Abstract The first report on the feasibility of method validation for the separation of enantiomeric mixtures by chiral micelle electrokinetic capillary chromatography is described. Method validation data elements were investigated according to U.S. Pharmacopeia protocol and are reported for the separation of ephedrine enantiomers using the synthetic chiral surfactants ( S )- and ( R )-N-dodecoxycarbonylvaline as buffer additives. Excellent linearity from 1–150% of the target concentration was obtained. A 1.0% limit of quantitation for an enantomeric impurity with acceptable precision is shown. Method robustness and ruggedness is also presented. Migration order reversal was used for the determination of a trace enantiomeric impurity, and to identify the enaniomeric compound in a multiple active ingredient formulation. The capability to reverse migration order is shown to be a valuable tool to satisfy the U.S. Pharmacopeia specificity requirement as well as improving detection and quantitation limits.
THE EFFECTS OF THE OCCURRENCE OF MILD BRONCHIOLITIS ON LUNG FUNCTION

Bronchiolitis requiring hospitalization during infancy is reported to result in decrements of lung function suggestive of small airways dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a history of mild bronchiolitis not requiring hospitalization in a group of children enrolled in day care and followed longitudinally from early infancy. Fifty-six black children (30 girls, 26 boys) had all illnesses documented clinically and etiologically, then were trained to perform spirometry at 2 1/2 years of age. Regression analyses were performed on MEFV parameters over the height range 90-130 cm using these measurements as dependent and height as independent variables. The FEF25-75% and Vmax50% in children who ever had bronchiolitis (n=27) were significantly reduced and about 300 ml/sec below the flows for children who had never had bronchiolitis but the slopes of the regressions were not different for the 2 groups; there were no differences in mean values or slopes for the regressions of FVC or FEV1 nor between girls and boys. These data demonstrate that black children who have had mild bronchiolitis have decrements in flow rates at low lung volumes as early as 3 years of age and that this change persists during early childhood. Since the flow rate decreases were constant over the height range studied, they may represent a fixed effect of acute injury or constitutional differences.
Effect of friction stir processing on fatigue behavior of A356 alloy

Abstract Cast A356 alloys prepared by friction stir processing (FSP) were subjected to fatigue investigation. FSP resulted in a significant improvement in fatigue life of A356. Fatigue life improvement was attributed to significant grain refinement, homogenization of the microstructure, and the elimination of porosity.
Computation sequence sets

A class of automata based upon generalized Petri nets is introduced and defined. The language which a Petri net generates during an execution is called a computation sequence set (CSS). The class of CSS languages is shown to be closed under union, intersection, concatenation, and concurrency. All regular languages and all bounded context-free languages are CSS, while all CSS are context-sensitive. Not all CSS languages are context-free, nor are all context-free languages CSS. Decidability problems for CSS hinge on the emptiness problem for CSS. This problem is equivalent to the reachability problem for vector addition systems, and is open.