cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Role of Placental Carbonyl Reducing Enzymes in Biotransformation of Bupropion and 4-methylnitrosamino-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone.

BACKGROUND Bupropion (BUP) has a potential to be an effective pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation during pregnancy. Smoking during pregnancy stimulates placental carbonyl reductases that catalyze the biotransformation of BUP. 4-methylnitrosamino-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) is a potent carcinogen of cigarette smoke. Carbonyl reduction of NNK into 4- methylnitrosamino-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL) constitutes a major step in NNK detoxification. Thus, placentas of pregnant smokers on BUP therapy can become a site of drug-drug interaction. Therefore, we investigated the effect of continuous exposure to BUP and cigarette smoke on the activity of placental carbonyl reductases in the formation of NNAL from NNK. METHODS The reductive metabolism of NNK was determined using microsomal and cytosolic subcellular fractions of placentas obtained from non-smoking women treated with BUP for depression, and women not exposed to BUP: non-smokers (control) and smokers. The effect of BUP and its metabolites on the reductive metabolism of NNK was investigated using subcellular fractions of control placentas. RESULTS The formation of NNAL from NNK by placental cytosolic fractions of heavy smokers (≥20 cigarettes per day) was lower than that of control (12.1±3.5 nmol.mgP-1 vs 16.5±6.0 nmol.mgP-1, P<0.05). While being exposed to BUP, the activity of placental carbonyl reductases remained unaffected, the formation of NNAL in the placental cytosolic fraction decreased only in the presence of high concentrations of BUP metabolites. CONCLUSION Smoking during pregnancy decreases the detoxifying capacity of soluble carbonyl reductases towards NNK. Given the experimental conditions, exposure to BUP and its metabolites should not impede the reductive metabolism of NNK by placenta in vivo.
New Facts about Firm Risk across Countries and over the Business Cycle

The characteristics of firm‐level risk over the cycle and across countries are studied in this paper. Low idiosyncratic firm‐level risk is found to be a feature of highly developed, stable economies, whereas the countercyclicality of firm‐level risk is associated with flexible as well as stable economies. These facts are uncovered with the help of a theoretical model where small, risk‐averse firms display procyclical risk, whereas larger, risk‐neutral firms have countercyclical risk patterns that depend on the rigidity of the business environment. The predictions of the model are then confirmed by the data using a large international firm‐level database (ORBIS) together with the World Bank Doing Business Database, during the “Great Recession” across 55 countries. The findings are critical for the growing literature of uncertainty driven business cycles, and show that firm‐level uncertainty cannot be treated as an exogenous parameter. (JEL D21, D22, E32, F44, L11, L25)
Dominant and sensitive control of oxidative flux by the ATP-ADP carrier in human skeletal muscle mitochondria: Effect of lysine acetylation.

Abstract The adenine nucleotide translocase (ANT) of the mitochondrial inner membrane exchanges ADP for ATP. Mitochondria were isolated from human vastus lateralis muscle (n = 9). Carboxyatractyloside titration of O2 consumption rate (Jo) at clamped [ADP] of 21 μM gave ANT abundance of 0.97 ± 0.14 nmol ANT/mg and a flux control coefficient of 82% ± 6%. Flux control fell to 1% ± 1% at saturating (2 mM) [ADP]. The KmADP for Jo was 32.4 ± 1.8 μM. In terms of the free (−3) ADP anion this KmADP was 12.0 ± 0.7 μM. A novel luciferase-based assay for ATP production gave KmADP of 13.1 ± 1.9 μM in the absence of ATP competition. The free anion KmADP in this case was 2.0 ± 0.3 μM. Targeted proteomic analyses showed significant acetylation of ANT Lysine23 and that ANT1 was the most abundant isoform. Acetylation of Lysine23 correlated positively with KmADP, r = 0.74, P = 0.022. The findings underscore the central role played by ANT in the control of oxidative phosphorylation, particularly at the energy phosphate levels associated with low ATP demand. As predicted by molecular dynamic modeling, ANT Lysine23 acetylation decreased the apparent affinity of ADP for ANT binding.
Introduction to the Technical Committee on Noise

Noise presents both a health hazard and a societal hazard. Health hazards due to noise have been around since the development of metal forging and forming. As modern society has developed, community noise has affected where and how we interact with the soundscapes where we live. The United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Noise Abatement and Control was responsible for noise regulations that rate the production and reduction of noise until it was defunded. Federal agencies such as the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the Mine Safety and Health Administration have conducted research to develop regulations for occupational noise exposures. Recent community noise issues have focused on windfarms and the low-frequency noise that nearby residents might experience. This presentation will cover a wide range of noise-related topics and highlight efforts in standards for noise assessment and noise control.Noise presents both a health hazard and a societal hazard. Health hazards due to noise have been around since the development of metal forging and forming. As modern society has developed, community noise has affected where and how we interact with the soundscapes where we live. The United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Noise Abatement and Control was responsible for noise regulations that rate the production and reduction of noise until it was defunded. Federal agencies such as the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the Mine Safety and Health Administration have conducted research to develop regulations for occupational noise exposures. Recent community noise issues have focused on windfarms and the low-frequency noise that nearby residents might experience. This presentation will cover a wide range of noise-related topics and highlight efforts in standards for noise assessment and noise control.
Fractal Measures of Heterogeneity and Correlation

If anything is characteristic of biological signals it is that they fluctuate. Yet, like the staggering progress of science, there is direction and correlation. We often need to characterize correlations, that is, the degree and extent of similarity of a measured property as it varies in space and time. The use of the normal curve assumes the fluctuations are independent, not correlated. However, in nature these fluctuations are more structured. For example, structured correlations occur in the variation in density of water in a cloud, the variation in regional blood flow, and local receptor densities in an organ.
An Interactive Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Workshop for First-Year Medical Students.

Introduction There is a call to incorporate quality improvement and patient safety (QI/PS) content into undergraduate medical education, though limited literature exists on optimal teaching strateg...
Quality of life and psychological distress in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

154Background: Older patients with AML face difficult treatment decisions as they can be treated either with multi-drug ‘intensive’ chemotherapy requiring a prolonged hospitalization, or ‘non-inten...
Certified Athletic Trainers’ Experiences With and Perceptions of Sport Psychology Services for Student-Athletes

Nine (5 female, 4 male) certified athletic trainers (ATs) from a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I institution participated in semistructured interviews about their experiences wi...
Studies of the tumorigenic effect in feeding of nitrosamino acids and of low doses of amines and nitrite to rats.

Three nitrosamino acids, nitrosoproline, nitrosohydroxyproline and nitrosopipecolic acid were not tumorigenic by chronic administration at 0.015% in drinking water to MRC rats for 75 weeks. Similar administration for 75 weeks of mixtures of sodium nitritc (0.05%) with each of five secondary amines (0.025%), pyrrolidine, piperidine, piperazine, morpholine and heptamethyleneimine was not tumorigenic; neither was feeding of piperidine (0.1%) + sodium nitrite (0.2%). It is deduced that formation of nitrosamines in vivo from the free amines and nitrite in these conditions was insufficient to give rise to tumors.
Families as Mentors: Preparing Teachers to Partner with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families

This chapter describes one university’s experiential model for family-centered personnel preparation, which supports pre-service teachers to partner with families from diverse backgrounds and empowers diverse families of individuals with disabilities. One of the unique features of the Families as Mentors program was that families of individuals with disabilities from diverse backgrounds served as mentors for pre-service teachers and were positioned as experienced and knowledgeable guides. Pre-service teachers spent time with their mentor families, in the Mentor Family’s home and community, over 9 months, meeting at least five times. Impact of this program indicated that prolonged engagement with Family Mentors resulted in pre-service teachers developing more family-centered, culturally responsive philosophies, as well as demonstrating greater understanding of how diverse families of children with disabilities navigated life in and outside the school system. Additionally, Family Mentors demonstrated increased feelings of competence and empowerment. Graduates of the program described participation in the Families as Mentors program shaping their beliefs and practices around scheduling meetings with families, selecting a location for these meetings (e.g., school, home, or in the community), and the feasibility of interventions in the home or community.
Sites of relation and “tout-monde”: Reflections on glissant’s late work

AbstractThis essay tracks the movement in Edouard Glissant’s work from thinking relationality as creolisation to Relation as such, to a globalised sense of cultural contact and transformation he calls tout-monde. This movement is informed by the critical meaning of the Caribbean as a historical and memorial experience, figured as the archipelago, and governed by chaotic mixture. Chaotic mixture, which is Glissant’s preoccupation from his earliest work forward, is generated by the Caribbean as a crossroads of the world; the slave trade, then colonialism, brought irreconcilable yet fecund cultural dynamics to the archipelago and produced creolised forms of culture. What is the significance of these forms of culture? What theoretical lessons are borne by these forms? In the late work, Glissant extends his conception of creolisation, which is initially an internal characteristic of the Caribbean, into the thought of tout-monde. Tout-monde names an aggressive, future-oriented imperative to put global cultures ...
Multi-Stakeholder Resilient Infrastructure Decision Support Under Dynamic Environmental and Adaptive Adversarial Settings

The 2017 U.S. National Security Strategy indicates a need to reduce risk and build resilience against targeted and natural hazards. Simultaneously, these targeted and natural hazards pose a risk beyond the immediate system for which they are impacting due to the interconnectivity of our social, cyber, and infrastructure networks. Each stakeholder-including, but not limited to, policy makers and system operators-have competing and cooperative interests for the ultimate functionality of the individual and overarching system. These multi-criteria and multi-stakeholder problems require a risk assessment and resource allocation tool that is generalizable for multiple stakeholders in order to inform optimal decision making practices in an effort to prepare for any given hazard. This research aims to incorporate resilience alternatives alongside risk assessment metrics using an optimization based decision making framework based upon a multiple-criteria decision making (MCDM) methodology. It will demonstrate a Resilient Infrastructure Decision Support (RIDS) toolset with a top-down decision analysis and bottom-up risk assessment. Through the use of combined simulated and truth-grounded data, infrastructure asset and portfolio-level resource allocation will be determined and multi-stakeholder decision making patterns will be evaluated. Boston Logan Airport and Port Authority will be used as a case study to inform and evaluate the toolset and results can be grounded based upon stakeholder buy-in and historical event inter-comparison. Results intend to be informative to a game theoretical framework.
Communication About Communication in Love Letters: Addressing and Avoiding Failures, Mistakes, and Errors in Written Communication

How do people build a relationship when communicating via love letters? Communicative failures, mistakes, and errors can occur in any relationship. Written communication is more at risk of failures, mistakes, and errors than face-to-face communication because it lacks the nonverbal information of face-to-face interaction and the opportunity available in face-to-face interaction for immediate clarifying exchanges about potential or actual failures, mistakes, and errors. What goes on in love letter exchanges to shelter the couple relationship from the challenges inherent in communicating, particularly in written communicating?
Sleep disturbances after pediatric traumatic brain injury: a systematic review of prevalence, risk factors, and association with recovery

Study objectives Sleep is vital for brain development and healing after injury, placing children with sleep-wake disturbances (SWD) after traumatic brain injury (TBI) at risk for worse outcomes. We conducted a systematic review to quantify SWD after pediatric TBI including prevalence, phenotypes, and risk factors. We also evaluated interventions for SWD and the association between SWD and other posttraumatic outcomes. Methods Systematic searches were conducted in MEDLINE, PsychINFO, and reference lists for English language articles published from 1999 to 2019 evaluating sleep or fatigue in children hospitalized for mild complicated, moderate, or severe TBI. Two independent reviewers assessed eligibility, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias using the Newcastle-Ottowa Score for observational studies. Results Among 966 articles identified in the search, 126 full-text articles were reviewed, and 24 studies were included (11 prospective, 9 cross-sectional, and 4 case studies). Marked heterogeneity was found in study populations, measures defining SWD, and time from injury to evaluation. Studies showed at least 20% of children with TBI had trouble falling or staying asleep, fatigue, daytime sleepiness, and nightmares. SWD are negatively correlated with posttraumatic cognitive, behavioral, and quality of life outcomes. No comparative intervention studies were identified. The risk of bias was moderate-high for all studies often related to lack of validated or objective SWD measures and small sample size. Heterogeneity precluded meta-analyses. Conclusions SWD are important morbidities after pediatric TBI, though current data are limited. SWD have implications for TBI recovery and may represent a modifiable target for improving outcomes after pediatric TBI.
SMART on FHIR in spine: integrating clinical prediction models into electronic health records for precision medicine at the point of care.

Abstract Recent applications of artificial intelligence have shown great promise for improving the quality and efficiency of clinical care. Numerous clinical decision support tools exist in today's electronic health records (EHRs) such as medication dosing support, order facilitators (eg, procedure specific order sets), and point of care alerts. However, less has been done to integrate artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled risk predictors into EHRs despite wide availability of validated risk prediction tools. An interoperability standard known as SMART on FHIR (substitutable medical applications and reusable technologies on fast health interoperability resources) offers a promising path forward, enabling digital innovations to be seamlessly integrated with the EHR with regard to the user interface and patient data. For the next step in progress towards the goal of learning healthcare and informatics-enabled spine surgery, we propose the application of SMART on FHIR to integrate existing and new risk predictions tools in spine surgery through an EHR add-on-application.
Cold-weld Sealing in Argon Atmosphere for High Precision Carbon Isotope Analysis of Co-processed Bio-fuels Using a Continuous-flow Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer

Stable isotopes are a powerful tool for tracking biogenic carbon in bio-fuel petroleum co-processing. High-precision determination of δ13C and δ15N values in bio-oils and co-processed bio-fuels by ...
Theorizing Beyond “The Code of Capital”: A Reply

In this reply, I respond to and elaborate on the critique of my book “The Code of Capital” published in this special issue. The common thread of the critiques is the call for more theorizing of the themes the book addresses, especially the conception of state power, of resources, social relations and questions of knowledge and access to knowledge about the law, or epistemology. This reply is only a first response to issues that do require further analysis and I am hoping to follow suit on at least some of them in the near future.
The Effectiveness of Gain and Loss Frames in News Subscription Appeals

Subscriptions are an increasingly vital part of newsrooms’ business models as the industry experiences sharp declines in advertising revenue. To date, research has not examined how digital subscrip...
Clearing up “implicit knowledge”: Implications for Knowledge Management, information science, psychology, and social epistemology: Research Articles

“Implicit knowledge” and “tacit knowledge” in Knowledge Management (KM) are important, often synonymous, terms. In KM they often refer to private or personal knowledge that needs to be made public. The original reference of “tacit knowledge” is to the work of the late scientist and philosopher, Michael Polanyi (Polanyi, 1969), but there is substantial evidence that the KM discourse has poorly understood Polanyi's term. Two theoretical problems in Knowledge Management's notion of “implicit knowledge,” which undermine empirical work in this area, are examined. The first problem involves understanding the term “knowledge” according to a folk-psychology of mental representation to model expression. The second is epistemological and social: understanding Polanyi's term, tacit knowing as a psychological concept instead of as an epistemological problem, in general, and one of social epistemology and of the epistemology of the sciences, in particular. Further, exploring Polanyi's notion of tacit knowing in more detail yields important insights into the role of knowledge in science, including empirical work in information science. This article has two parts: first, there is a discussion of the folk-psychology model of representation and the need to replace this with a more expressionist model. In the second part, Polanyi's concept of tacit knowledge in relation to the role of analogical thought in expertise is examined. The works of philosophers, particularly Harre and Wittgenstein, are brought to bear on these problems. Conceptual methods play several roles in information science that cannot satisfactorily be performed empirically at all or alone. Among these roles, such methods may examine historical issues, they may critically engage foundational assumptions, and they may deploy new concepts. In this article the last two roles are examined. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Integrative Survival Analysis of Breast Cancer with Gene Expression and DNA Methylation Data.

Motivation Integrative multi-feature fusion analysis on biomedical data has gained much attention recently. In breast cancer, existing studies have demonstrated that combining genomic mRNA data and DNA methylation data can better stratify can-cer patients with distinct prognosis than using single signature. However, those ex-isting methods are simply combining these gene features in series and have ignored the correlations between separate omics dimensions over time. Results In the present study, we propose an adaptive multi-task learning method, which combines the Cox loss task with the ordinal loss task, for survival prediction of breast cancer patients using multi-modal learning instead of performing survival analysis on each feature data set. First, we use local maximum quasi-clique merging (lmQCM) algorithm to reduce the mRNA and methylation feature dimensions and extract cluster eigengenes respectively. Then, we add an auxiliary ordinal loss to the original Cox model to improve the ability to optimize the learning process in training and regularization. The auxiliary loss helps to reduce the vanishing gradient problem for earlier layers and helps to decrease the loss of the primary task. Meanwhile, we use an adaptive weights ap-proach to multi-task learning which weighs multiple loss functions by considering the homoscedas-tic uncertainty of each task. Finally, we build an ordinal cox hazards model for survival analysis and use long short-term memory (LSTM) method to predict patients' survival risk. We use the cross-validation method and the concordance index (C-index) for assessing the prediction effect. Strin-gent cross-verification testing processes for the benchmark data set and two additional datasets demonstrate that the developed approach is effective, achieving very competitive performance with existing approaches. Availability and implementation https://github.com/bhioswego/ML_ordCOX. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Experimental Dopamine Reuptake Inhibitors in Parkinson’s Disease: A Review of the Evidence

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most chronic neurodegenerative disorder worldwide. Deficit of monoamines, particularly dopamine, causes an individually varying compilation of motor and non-motor features. Constraint of presynaptic uptake extends monoamine stay in the synaptic cleft. This review discusses possible benefits of dopamine reuptake inhibition for the treatment of PD. Translation of this pharmacologic principle into positive clinical study results failed to date. Past clinical trial designs did not consider a mandatory, concomitant stable inhibition of glial monoamine turnover, i.e. with monoamine oxidase B inhibitors. These studies focused on improvement of motor behavior and levodopa associated motor complications, which are fluctuations of motor and non-motor behavior. Future clinical investigations in early, levodopa- and dopamine agonist naive patients shall also aim on alleviation of non-motor symptoms, like fatigue, apathy or cognitive slowing. Oral levodopa/dopa decarboxylase inhibitor application is inevitably necessary with advance of PD. Monoamine reuptake (MRT) inhibition improves the efficacy of levodopa, the blood brain barrier crossing metabolic precursor of dopamine. The pulsatile brain delivery pattern of orally administered levodopa containing formulations results in synaptic dopamine variability. Ups and downs of dopamine counteract the physiologic principle of continuous neurotransmission, particularly in nigrostriatal, respectively mesocorticolimbic pathways, both of which regulate motor respectively non-motor behavior. Thus synaptic dopamine pulsatility overwhelms the existing buffering capacity. Onset of motor and non-motor complications occurs. Future MRT inhibitor studies shall focus on a stabilizing and preventive effect on levodopa related fluctuations of motor and non-motor behavior. Their long-term study designs in advanced levodopa treated patients shall allow a cautious adaptation of oral l-dopa therapy combined with a mandatory inhibition of glial monoamine turnover. Then the evidence for a preventive and beneficial, symptomatic effect of MRT inhibition on motor and non-motor complications will become more likely.
Design and Optimal Clearing Model of Inter-Regional and Inter-Provincial Power Trading Mechanism Considering Network Constraints

The current inter-regional and inter-provincial power trading is organized by transaction path, and the buyers and sellers are the two regions or provinces through the transaction path, and the bidding range is small, which cannot optimize the allocation of resources in inter-provincial power trading, and it is difficult to break the provincial and regional barriers, therefore, this paper proposes the inter-regional and inter-provincial power market Therefore, this paper proposes an optimal clearing model for inter-regional and inter-provincial power market, which can expand the scope and scale of trading, realize sufficient market competition, give full play to the role of inter-regional and inter-provincial power trading, and realize the optimal allocation of energy resources in a larger scale, taking into account the network constraints.
External Senses II

Having treated the cognition of the sentient part of the soul and of the external senses considered ‘in communi’ (CDA disp. 5–6), in CDA disp. 7 Suarez embarks on the large subject matter of the particular sensory modalities. Unlike the two preceding disputations, CDA disp. 7 also extends its thematic focus to natural sciences, such as optics and anatomy. Despite the scientific catch of this disputation Suarez’s bent remains philosophical. A large part of disp. 7 engages in philosophical topics concerning the issues of nature, subject, cause and kinds of the particular proper sensibles and the media in which these sensibles are spread. This is not surprising considering that Suarez individuates and differentiates the senses especially through reference to their objects. Considerable space in CDA, disp. 7 is also devoted to the topic of the sensible species of the particular sensory modalities and their multiplication in medio. One of the crucial questions raised in this disputation involves the relation of the sensibles’ intentional and natural actions and affections of the media and organs. A significant part of the disputation is dedicated also to Suarez’s denial of Aristotle’s general claim about the necessary existence of a medium interposed between the organ and the objects. This denial brings Suarez close to a theory of tactile introception, namely to a view according to which touch can sense not only the first qualities of external objects but also the internal states of one’s own body called dolorogenic qualities. In general, this disputation zooms in on the particulars and fleshes out what had been presented earlier in the more general disputations.
Early Diagnosis of Prediabetes among Pregnant Women that Develop Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Its Influence on Perinatal Outcomes.

OBJECTIVE Purpose of this study was to determine whether early identification of impaired glucose tolerance consistent with prediabetes among pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in the first trimester impacts maternal and neonatal outcomes. STUDY DESIGN This was a retrospective cohort study of patients who were screened for pregestational diabetes in early pregnancy at a large academic tertiary care center from October 1, 2017, to January 31, 2021, and who subsequently developed GDM. Demographic and perinatal outcomes were compared among women with GDM with a positive early diabetes screen consistent with prediabetes to women who screened negative in the first trimester. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to adjust for baseline demographic differences. RESULTS During the study period, 260 women screened had negative first trimester diabetes screening and subsequently developed GDM, while 696 screened positive for prediabetes and developed GDM. Women with prediabetes were more likely to require insulin treatment for their GDM compared with those that screened negative (79.5 vs. 45.4%, p < 0.001), while those who screened negative were more likely to take an oral medication of metformin or glyburide for GDM management than those with prediabetes (41.5 vs. 16.4%, p < 0.001). Infants born to mothers who screened positive for prediabetes were more likely to require neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission compared with those who screened negative even when adjusted for type of GDM treatment used (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 8.5, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.5-49.9). CONCLUSION Women identified as having early impaired glucose tolerance consistent with prediabetes that subsequently develop GDM are more likely to be prescribed insulin treatment and may be at increased risk of adverse neonatal outcomes leading to NICU admission than women with negative first trimester diabetes screening. Future studies should focus on whether different methods of early treatment and/or intervention improve perinatal outcomes. KEY POINTS · Prediabetes in early pregnancy is associated with higher rates of insulin treatment for GDM.. · Prediabetes in pregnancy increases the risk of developing GDM.. · Prediabetes in early pregnancy is associated with higher rates of NICU admission..
Swelling and trismus after third molar removal

Abstract The lingual split technique is associated with less external swelling than a method of mandibular third molar removal confined to a buccal approach.
Integrated Optical Detectors

Detectors for use in integrated-optic applications must have high sensitivity, short response time, large quantum efficiency and low power consumption [15.1]. In this chapter, a number of different detector structures having these performance characteristics are discussed.
Impact of race and ethnicity on features and outcome of ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast

BACKGROUND: The impact of race and ethnicity on the biologic features and outcome variables of women who are diagnosed with preinvasive breast cancer—ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)—has not been addressed widely in the published literature. METHODS: Patient demographic, clinical, and pathologic features and outcome variables were analyzed with respect to the patient's initial self-reported race/ethnicity among women who received treatment for a diagnosis of pure DCIS from 1996 to 2009. RESULTS: Of 1902 patients, 1411 were white (74.2%), 214 were African American (11.3%), 175 were Hispanic (9.1%), and 102 were Asian/Pacific Islander (5.4%). The majority of patients were between ages 41 and 70 years (83%). Patients of Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander descent were significantly younger than white and African American patients (P 70 years and Hispanic patients aged <50 years were significantly more likely to have estrogen receptor-positive DCIS than patients of other races in the same age categories (P < .001). Adjuvant radiotherapy and tamoxifen were received significantly less often by white women (P < .001). At a median follow-up of 4.8 years (range, 1-14 years), recurrence rates and the development of contralateral breast cancer did not differ significantly among racial/ethnic groups when stratified by treatments received. CONCLUSIONS: There was variation in age at presentation, biologic features, and treatment of DCIS among the different ethnic groups. Additional studies with larger numbers of ethnic minority patients are needed to confirm whether the consistent application of evidence-based treatment practices presents an opportunity for reducing disparities in patients with DCIS. Cancer 2013. © 2012 American Cancer Society.
Vascular Graft Prosthesis

The system of blood vessels in the body is crucial to transport cells, oxygen, and nutrients to the vital organs. When injured by diseases, such as atherosclerosis, the blood vessels may become occluded, leading to decreased blood flow and organ damage, or may be weakened and rupture due to aneurysmal dilatation. One method of treatment is to use surgery to bypass diseased blood vessels by using an artificial blood vessel substitute, or vascular graft prosthesis. Materials currently used in vascular graft prostheses include polyethylene terephthalate (Dacron) and expanded polytetrafluoroethyelene (ePTFE). These devices successfully function as vascular grafts in larger diameter applications, but suitable materials for small diameter prostheses (<5 mm) are still being developed. Current trends in the development of small diameter prostheses include surface modification to prevent thrombosis, incorporation of endothelial cells, and a tissue engineering approach with the development of a biological blood vessel based upon a biodegradable material scaffold. Keywords: graft; prosthesis; blood vessel; atherosclerosis; artery; occlusion
Detection of Helicobacter pylori by using the polymerase chain reaction.

A 1.9-kb cloned fragment of chromosomal DNA randomly selected from a Helicobacter pylori cloned library was evaluated as a potential probe. The probe detected 19 of 19 H. pylori strains and yielded a specificity of 98.7% when tested against 306 other bacterial strains representing 32 different species. False-positive results with non-H. pylori strains were due to the presence of contaminating vector sequences. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was developed by using 20-base oligonucleotide primers homologous to a portion of the 1.9-kb fragment. The PCR assay amplified a 203-nucleotide-pair product which was analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis and Southern hybridization by using a third 20-base 32P-labeled oligonucleotide complementary to a region of DNA between the primers. The PCR assay was 100% sensitive, detecting all 35 H. pylori strains tested, and did not amplify sequences in several closely related species. The assay was sensitive for as little as one copy of the cloned plasmid DNA or 100 H. pylori bacterial cells. To evaluate the PCR assay for clinical samples, gastric biopsy and aspirate specimens were tested by PCR, and the results were compared with those of microbiologic culture and histologic examination. In fresh biopsy specimens, H. pylori sequences were detected by PCR in 13 of 14 (93%) positive tissues and 0 of 19 negative tissues. In gastric aspirate specimens, 11 of 13 (85%) positive tissues were positive by PCR. H. pylori DNA was detected in 1 of 14 aspirate specimens negative by culture, histology, and PCR of the accompanying biopsy tissue. PCR is a rapid, accurate, and sensitive method for the detection of H. pylori. Images
The Halting Probability via Wang Tiles

Using work of Hao Wang, we exhibit a tiling characterization of the bits of the halting probability.
Modern Obesity Pharmacotherapy: Weighing Cardiovascular Risk and Benefit

Obesity is a major correlate of cardiovascular disease. Weight loss improves cardiovascular risk factors and has the potential to improve outcomes. Two drugs, phentermine plus topiramate and lorcaserin, have recently been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the indication of obesity; a third, bupropion plus naltrexone, is under consideration for approval. In clinical trials, these drugs cause weight loss and improve glucose tolerance, lipid profile, and, with the exception of bupropion plus naltrexone, blood pressure. However, their effect on cardiovascular outcomes is unknown. In defining appropriate roles for these drugs in preventive cardiology, it is important to remember the checkered history of drugs for obesity. New weight-loss drugs share the serotonergic and sympathomimetic mechanisms that proved harmful in the cases of Fen-Phen and sibutramine, respectively, albeit with significant differences. Given these risks, randomized cardiovascular outcomes trials are needed to establish the safety, and potential benefit, of these drugs. This review will discuss the history of pharmacotherapy for obesity, existing efficacy and safety data for the novel weight-loss drugs, and issues in the design of postapproval clinical trials.
Seller-Focused Algorithms for Online Auctioning

In this paper we provide an algorithmic approach to the study of online auctioning. From the perspective of the seller we formalize the auctioning problem as that of designing an algorithmic strategy that fairly maximizes the revenue earned by selling n identical items to bidders who submit bids online. We give a randomized online algorithm that is O(logB)-competitive against an oblivious adversary, where the bid values vary between 1 and B per item. We show that this algorithm is optimal in the worst-case and that it performs significantly better than any worst-case bounds achievable via deterministic strategies. Additionally we present experimental evidence to show that our algorithm outperforms conventional heuristic methods in practice. And finally we explore ways of modifying the conventional model of online algorithms to improve competitiveness of other types of auctioning scenarios while still maintaining fairness.
Hough transform based peak detection: computer-assisted resonance assignments in NMR spectroscopy (protein study)

A Hough-transform-based method for locating peaks in NMR spectra is described. This method has been applied to four 2-D slices of the 3D-NMR spectrum. The program was able to identify all the peaks. This procedure is more robust than simple peak picking of local maxima since there is no false peak identification; however, there is a problem of multiple detection of peaks within the range of peak width. >
Once Again—The “Center” of the Old Testament

The search for the “middle” of the Old Testament is ongoing, as it were a quest for the holy grail. Two more solutions have been proposed recently: Shekinah, a post-biblical term for divine dwellin...
The Mechanical Design of Large Turbogenerators

Experience shows that the reliability of large turbogenerators depends substantially on the quality of detail design, particularly the quality of the mechanical design. In addition to the design pr...
Social support transactions between professional and nonprofessional women and their mothers

A theoretical model predicting professional and nonprofessional women's perceptions of social support transactions with their mothers was tested. A sample of 210 professional women and 165 nonprofessional women answered mailed questionnaires. LISREL VI was used to evaluate the quality of the measurement model and generate a revised model. Social support was greatest when employed women were professional, had positive filial responsibility attitudes, lived near their mothers, visited them frequently, and when mothers were not married. These findings provide a beginning theoretical model that can serve as a basis for nursing practice and research when working with intergenerational families. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Res Nurs Health 23:447–460, 2000.
Developmental and other characteristics of lysine uptake by rat brain synaptosomes

Abstract Synaptosomes isolated from adult or newborn rat cerebrum take up l -lysine by two saturable systems, one with a high affinity low capacity and the other with a low affinity high capacity. Initial rate of uptake for low lysine concentrations is more rapid in newborn, but for high concentrations the rate is greater in adult tissue. Analysis of kinetic data indicates that synaptosomes of the newborn have a higher V max than those of the adult for high affinity system but adult synaptosomes have a higher V max than newborn for low affinity system. At a physiological lysine concentration of 0.5 mM, the calculated contributions of two systems indicate that the adult uptake occurs for about 71% by low affinity system but the newborn utilizes both systems to the same extent. The uptake is sodium independent but pH dependent. Lysine uptake is inhibited by other dibasic amino acids, arginine and ornithine but not cystine. Kinetic analysis indicates that arginine specifically inhibits the high affinity, low K m system for lysine uptake.
High-performance liquid chromatographic on-line flow-through radioactivity detector system for analyzing amino acids and metabolites labeled with nitrogen-13

Abstract A flow-through radioactivity detector was used for the high-performance liquid chromatographic determination of amino acids and other nitrogenous substances labeled with 13N, a short-lived (t 1 2 9.96 min) positron-emitting radionuclide. 13N-Labeled compounds were analyzed using cation, anion and amino columns, or as the o-phthaldialdehyde derivative on an ODS column. Use of column-switching valves and a high-performance liquid chromatographic system with a quaternary eluting capability permits two to three 20-min analyses of labeled samples from a single 13N experiment to be carried out on different columns using a binary or a single mobile phase. Radioactivity in liver metabolites was quantified using an on-line flow-through monitor with data processing capability for integrating peaks and correcting for radioactivity decay. As an example, 1 min following an l -[13N]glutamate injection via the hepatic portal vein, 77% of the label in the liver was in a metabolized form; at least ten labeled products were formed.
Separation of afterload reduction and a direct beneficial cardiac effect of nifedipine in congestive cardiomyopathy.

To assess whether the calcium antagonist nifedipine has a specific, direct effect on left ventricular diastolic function separate from its vasodilatory action, we studied 10 patients with idiopathic congestive cardiomyopathy (ages 28-69, New York Heart Association Class III or IV) at 30 min, 2 h, and 6 h after administration of 10 mg of sublingual nifedipine. Hemodynamic parameters were assessed with Swan-Ganz catheter and two-dimensional echo images were processed with computer-assisted analysis (Quantic 1200) to obtain left ventricular chamber areas and an index of rapid diastolic filling. Indices of left ventricular systolic performance (cardiac index and left ventricular area change fraction) improved during the early (30 min and 2 h) observation periods as afterload (estimated by systolic blood pressure and systemic vascular resistance) was reduced (p less than .05 vs. baseline). Pulmonary capillary wedge pressure fell from 17 mmHg to 11 mmHg and rapid diastolic filling index increased from .28 (% area change/ms) to .37 (% area change/ms) (p less than .05 vs. baseline) during the early observation periods. Indices of left ventricular systolic performance and afterload had returned to baseline at the late (6 h) observation period. However, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure remained reduced significantly at 10 mmHg after 6 h (p less than .05 vs. baseline). Preload (estimated by left ventricular end-diastolic chamber area) did not vary throughout the study period. Reduction of pulmonary capillary wedge pressure at 6 h, despite return of afterload reduction to baseline and no change in preload, suggests improved left ventricular chamber compliance after sublingual nifedipine, not related to alteration of left ventricular loading conditions.
Conoscopic holography for image registration: A feasibility study

Preoperative image data can facilitate intrasurgical guidance by revealing interior features of opaque tissues, provided image data can be accurately registered to the physical patient. Registration is challenging in organs that are deformable and lack features suitable for use as alignment fiducials (e.g. liver, kidneys, etc.). However, provided intraoperative sensing of surface contours can be accomplished, a variety of rigid and deformable 3D surface registration techniques become applicable. In this paper, we evaluate the feasibility of conoscopic holography as a new method to sense organ surface shape. We also describe potential advantages of conoscopic holography, including the promise of replacing open surgery with a laparoscopic approach. Our feasibility study investigated use of a tracked off-the-shelf conoscopic holography unit to perform a surface scans on several types of biological and synthetic phantom tissues. After first exploring baseline accuracy and repeatability of distance measurements, we performed a number of surface scan experiments on the phantom and ex vivo tissues with a variety of surface properties and shapes. These indicate that conoscopic holography is capable of generating surface point clouds of at least comparable (and perhaps eventually improved) accuracy in comparison to published experimental laser triangulation-based surface scanning results.
Silent scream: the cost of crucifixion--working with a patient with an eating disorder.

In working with individuals who have experienced extreme depriva- tion in early relationships, the pain is often depicted silently and repetitively. There can be a tension between the need for validation and an avoidance of growth. The analyst, then, can find herself caught between her empathic reso- nance to the silent scream and the need to keep in mind the "cost of crucifixion." The latter has become my inner way of fixing in my own mind the type of di- lemma that ensues when the individual truly feels helpless and at the mercy of outside sources and also resents and fears the other's power. Marking (and often magnifying) the distress, then, becomes a way of inviting salvation. The dra- matic element lends an air of inauthenticity to what is, in fact, very real pain. If we are unable to note the air of dissonance with which we receive these distress calls, we miss a crucial healing element: that the self is paying a huge price for de- fining the other as a source of salvation, and that part of the distress ensues from the denial of the hostility expressed toward the object for being an insufficient savior. We find ourselves cast in the role of savior/persecutor, and must find some means for healing these splits so that we might become a deidealized sup- port for the other's emerging attempts toward constructing a more viable self. This is a dilemma we encounter when working with individuals who communicate protosymbolically, as is the case with eating disorders. In our work with those whose early relationships have been marked by trauma or depression, pain is often depicted silently and repetitively. These depictions can mark a distress that is both affirmed and ques- tioned, creating a terrible tension between the need for validation and the avoidance of growth. The analyst, then, finds herself caught between her empathic resonance to the "silent scream" and the need to keep in mind the "cost of crucifixion" for each member of the analytic pair, and also for the internal object relations that cannot be dichotomized in this way without hazarding the well-being of the subject herself. This "cost of crucifixion" has become a way of fixing in my own mind the type of dilemma that ensues when an individual truly feels helpless and at the mercy of outside sources but also invites, resents, and fears the other's
Hydraulic Model for Sedimentation in Storm-Water Detention Basins

Treatment of storm-water runoff may be necessary before discharge to surface waters. In urban areas, space constraints limit selection of conventional treatment systems, and alternative systems are needed. This research program involves design and laboratory testing of a small footprint nonproprietary detention basin which consists of pipes and box culvert sections with a specialized inlet and outlet system. This system can be placed below grade near the roadway section as part of the conventional drainage system and does not require additional right-of-way. A mathematical model, based entirely on hydraulic principles, is developed to estimate particle removal efficiency of the rectangular detention basin for the treatment of storm-water runoff by extending ideal horizontal tank theory under the condition in which water level is varied. A physical model was built in 1/5 scale to measure particle removal performance and validates the conceptual model. Experiments were performed for steady inflow conditions with different inflow rates, durations, and suspended sediment concentrations. Measured time series outflow suspended sediment concentrations and particle removal efficiency compare well with calculated results from the conceptual model. The outflow particle-size distribution can also be estimated using the conceptual model.