cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Proximal Humerus: Surgical Approaches

Proximal humeral fractures can be addressed with different approaches, depending on the type of fracture, surgical technique, bone quality, patient’s needs, and surgeon’s preference. The standard deltopectoral approach is extremely versatile and makes it possible to achieve fracture reduction and fixation and to implant a prosthesis if necessary. By extending the traditional approach, some proximal humerus fractures requiring a more posterior route can be treated. The lateral approaches through the deltoid fibers are utilized to fix the humeral head and metadiaphyseal fractures and to treat concomitant rotator cuff tears. These approaches require the longitudinal splitting of the deltoid muscle. The axillary nerve must be protected when establishing these approaches. Posterior approaches to the shoulder often require the osteotomy of the acromion or the detachment of the deltoid. The osteotomy of the acromion at the level of the origin of the spine of the scapula provides a better access to the superior aspect of the shoulder. These routes are rather invasive and create some difficulties in reconstructing the anatomy. The axillary approach provides a good exposure of the shoulder for anterior stabilization and capsular release. It is relatively noninvasive. However, it is rarely used because it requires the isolation of major neurovascular structures.
The Ten Commandments of Statistical Inference

(1977). The Ten Commandments of Statistical Inference. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 84, No. 8, pp. 628-628.
Clinical Utility of Rapid EGFR Genotyping in Advanced Lung Cancer

PurposeTargeted therapy is the cornerstone of treatment of advanced EGFR-mutant non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Next-generation sequencing (NGS), the preferred method for genotyping, typically requires several weeks. Here, we assessed workflows designed to rapidly identify patients with actionable EGFR mutations and reduce time to initiation (TTI) of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)–directed therapy.Patients and MethodsWe performed rapid testing for EGFR L858R mutations and exon 19 deletions on paraffin-embedded or frozen section biopsy specimens from newly diagnosed patients with metastatic NSCLC by using an EGFR-specific assay (rapid test). To determine clinical utility, we assessed concordance with NGS results, turnaround time, and TTI of EGFR therapy, and we evaluated reimbursement data.ResultsBetween January 2015 and September 2017, we performed 243 rapid EGFR tests and identified EGFR mutations in 43 patients (18%). With NGS results as a reference, sensitivity and specificity of the rapid...
Weaker land-climate feedbacks from nutrient uptake during photosynthesis-inactive periods

Terrestrial carbon–climate feedbacks depend on two large and opposing fluxes—soil organic matter decomposition and photosynthesis—that are tightly regulated by nutrients1,2. Earth system models (ESMs) participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 represented nutrient dynamics poorly1,3, rendering predictions of twenty-first century carbon–climate feedbacks highly uncertain. Here, we use a new land model to quantify the effects of observed plant nutrient uptake mechanisms missing in most other ESMs. In particular, we estimate the global role of root nutrient competition with microbes and abiotic processes during periods without photosynthesis. Nitrogen and phosphorus uptake during these periods account for 45 and 43%, respectively, of annual uptake, with large latitudinal variation. Globally, night-time nutrient uptake dominates this signal. Simulations show that ignoring this plant uptake, as is done when applying an instantaneous relative demand approach, leads to large positive biases in annual nitrogen leaching (96%) and N2O emissions (44%). This N2O emission bias has a GWP equivalent of ~2.4 PgCO2 yr−1, which is substantial compared to the current terrestrial CO2 sink. Such large biases will lead to predictions of overly open terrestrial nutrient cycles and lower carbon sequestration capacity. Both factors imply over-prediction of positive terrestrial feedbacks with climate in current ESMs. During periods of photosynthetic inactivity, roots compete for nutrients with microbes and abiotic processes. Most ESMs neglect this competition, leading to large positive biases in annual N leaching and N2O emissions estimates.
Geospatial estimation of noise levels between sparsely distributed sensor nodes using machine learning

Monitoring noise levels over large areas is typically limited by the number of sensor nodes. While previous studies have been able to accurately estimate noise levels using densely distributed sensors in confined spaces, such as along roads in urban areas, estimating noise levels with relatively few sensors spaced over a large area remains a challenging problem. Point sampling of noise levels due to single noise events is also limited by the models used to estimate between sensor locations and their inherent assumptions. To address these limitations we propose nonlinear, adaptive, and robust tools to estimate levels between sensor nodes based on machine learning. Random forests, support vector machines, and Gaussian processes are explored along with conventional geostatistical methods such as ordinary kriging. These methods are trained and evaluated on data from both measurement and simulation of blast noise on military testing and training ranges. The performance of the methods is evaluated using cross validation and root-mean-square-error.
Efficacy of Donor and ‘Third Party’ (Tabelecleucel) EBV-Specific T Cells for Treatment of Central Nervous System (CNS) EBV-PTLD

Background EBV+PTLD is a life-threatening complication after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) and solid organ transplantation (SOT). Introduction of EBV-specific T-cells (EBV+CTLs) as second line treatment after rituximab has reduced overall EBV+PTLD related mortality. Due to limited efficacy of rituximab for EBV+PTLD disease involving the CNS there remains a clear clinical need. We studied the ability of EBV+CTLs to mediate responses in CNS EBV+PTLD. Methods Patients with CNS EBV+PTLD, with or without systemic disease, after HCT or SOT were eligible to receive either donor-derived or ‘third party' Tabelecleucel between 1996 and 2016 on two IRB approved MSKCC protocols (95-024: NCT00002663 and 11-130: NCT01498484). Donor EBV+CTLs were generated from EBV seropositive HCT-donors, while Tabelecleucel were selected from a bank of 330 lines from volunteer HCT donors. Selection of Tabelecleucel lines was based on matching for > 2/10 recipient alleles and HLA restriction by at least one HLA allele shared by the patient's tumor. Patients received 3 weekly infusions of ∼1-2 × 106 T cells/kg. Responses were assessed 21-35 days after the start of each cycle of EBV+CTLs based on Lugano criteria with CNS disease being assessed by MRI, CSF (EBV-PCR) or thalium scan. Patients not achieving a complete response (CR) to an initial cycle of EBV+CTLs were eligible to receive a subsequent cycle. Main outcome of interest was response to EBV+CTLs. Other outcomes of interest were 1-year overall survival (OS) and infusion-related toxicities. Results Nineteen patients were treated: 12 after HCT (T-cell depletion 6, cord blood 3, T-replete 3) and 7 after SOT (renal 4, heart 1, liver 1, heart/liver 1). 7 patients received EBV+CTLs from their primary donor, 11 from a third-party donor and 1 from both donor types. Ten were treated for had isolated-CNS disease while 9 had CNS and systemic disease. All of these patients had received prior therapy including rituximab (N = 17), radiation therapy (N = 6), and/or systemic chemotherapy (N = 9). The overall response rate was 63% and the one-year OS was 60% (70% for isolated-CNS, 56% for combined). Two patients with combined disease had simultaneous radiation therapy and achieved response, and thus, the CNS specific response could not be attributed to cell therapy alone. Toxicities associated with infusions were limited; 8 patients experienced ≥ grade 3 events with one patient experiencing a possibly related grade 3 event. Interpretation This study demonstrates clear responses and promising survival among patients with otherwise refractory and lethal CNS EBV+PTLD. Adoptive therapy with EBV directed cellular therapy (either primary donor or third party derived Tabelecleucel is a promising treatment modality for CNS EBV+PTLD.
BIOLOGIC AND GENETIC CHARACTERIZATION OF AN INFLUENZA A VIRUS ASSOCIATED WITH EPIZOOTIC PNEUMONIA IN SEALS

I. ABSTRACT An influenza A virus antigenically similar to A/FPV/ Dutch/27 (Hav1Neq1) was isolated from harbor seals ( Phoca vitulina ) that had died of acute hemorrhagic pneumonia on Cape Cod Peninsula, USA, in the winter of 1979-1980. High titers of virus were obtained from the lungs and lower titers from the brains of the seals. Antigenic and genetic analyses of the seal isolates showed that all of the genes and gene products were closely related to different avian influenza viruses; however, biologically, the virus behaved more like a mammalian strain. The seal virus replicated and produced pneumonia in experimentally infected harbor seals, but the clinical course and pathology were less severe than in the natural infection. The virus also replicated in ferrets, cats and pigs but produced no disease. In avian species, the seal influenza virus replicated poorly, produced no disease signs and was not shed in the feces. During studies with experimentally and naturally infected seals, several individuals experienced conjunctivitis and high titers of seal virus were recovered from the eye of one individual, indicating that this virus can infect the human eye. The A/Seal/Mass/1/80 influenza virus provides the first evidence suggesting that a strain deriving all of its genes from one or more avian influenza viruses can be associated with severe disease in a mammalian population in nature. Whether this breach of species specificity represents a unique event in influenza evolution remains to be determined, but raises the possibility that human or animal influenza viruses may be derived directly from avian strains.
Non-Canonical Binding of a Small Molecule to Sortilin Alters Cellular Trafficking of ApoB and PCSK9 in Liver Derived Cells

ABSTRACT Sortilin regulates hepatic exocytosis and endocytosis of ApoB containing lipoproteins (ApoB-Lp) and mediates the secretion of the subtilase PCSK9. To elucidate connections between these pathways, we previously identified a small molecule (cpd984) that binds to a non-canonical site on Sortilin. In hepatic cells cpd984 augments ApoB-Lp secretion, increases cellular PCSK9 levels, and reduces LDLR expression indicative of reduced secretion of PCSK9. We have shown that insulin-induced ApoB-Lp degradation occurs through Vps34-dependent autophagy. Here we show that the specific Vps34 inhibitor PIK-III enhances ApoB-100 secretion, reducing cellular levels of PCSK9 and Sortilin resulting in reduced LDLR expression, which implicates a role for autophagy in PCSK9 secretion. Results suggest that Sortilin is central to both PCSK9 and ApoB-100 secretion. Finally, we found that cpd984 in yeast blocks CPY secretion while increasing vacuolar homotypic fusion in a Vps10-dependent manner, indicating an evolutionarily conserved mechanism required for lysosomal protease trafficking.
Practical Considerations of excluding Conduct Disordered Students: An Empirical Analysis:

A representative sample of 224 students identified as seriously emotionally disturbed was rated by 40 teachers on measures of behavioral problems, temperament characteristics, and classroom compete...
Influence factors about safely and regionally transporting critically ill children by T-piece

Objective To investigate the influence factors about safely and regionally transporting critically ill children by T-piece. Methods The clinical data of 8 702 critically ill children transported to our hospital by T-piece from July, 2010 to October, 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. And the factors influencing the safety were analyzed. Results The were statistical difference in the successful rate of transportation between children with different ages, body weights, or transcutaneous oxygen saturations and between those with and without pulmonary hemorrhage (all P 0.05) . Conclusions If the children are less than 1 year old and not heavier than 10 kg and have no lung bleeding complications, their ranscutaneous oxygen saturations are over 85%, and the one-way transport distance is within 400 km, the successful referral rate is above 95% and transporting critically ill children by T-piece is recommended. Key words: T-piece; Transport; Influence factors; Children
Implementation of the Los Angeles Tiered Dispatch System is associated with an increase in telecommunicator-assisted CPR.

Abstract Background In 2015, the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) replaced the Medical Priority Dispatch System® (MPDS) with a new, homegrown Los Angeles Tiered Dispatch System (LA-TDS). The objective of this study was to assess the impact of this new dispatch system on telecommunicator-assisted CPR (T-CPR). Methods This was an interrupted time series study of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) cases where resuscitation was attempted with LAFD 9-1-1 telecommunicators using either MPDS® (January 1, 2014 to March 31, 2014) or LA-TDS (January 1, 2015 to March 31, 2015). Trained non-LAFD abstractors listened to all 9-1-1 calls and recorded if T-CPR was initiated, and the elapsed time from the start of the call until key events. The primary outcome was prevalence of T-CPR. Results Of 1027 calls during the study period, 597 9-1-1 calls met study inclusion/exclusion criteria (including 289 in MPDS cohort, 308 in LA-TDS cohort). The prevalence of T-CPR was significantly greater using LA-TDS (57%) vs. MPDS (43%) (OR 1.86, 95% CI 1.3–2.6). The LA-TDS cohort demonstrated a significant decrease (p Conclusion Implementation of the new Los Angeles Tiered Dispatch System was associated with decreased time to recognition of cardiac arrest and an increased rate of T-CPR compared to the previously used Medical Priority Dispatch System®.
Smart snacks in universities: possibilities for university vending.

Background: The study goal was to evaluate the nutritional impact of a healthy snack intervention on a southern university campus. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted during the fall 2017 semester weekly for 14 weeks in a large southern U.S. university. For the intervention, half of vending snacks in four campus residential halls (housing from 216 to 361 students) were substituted with snacks complying with federal Smart Snacks in School nutrition standards for K-12 schools. For analysis, data from the Nutrition Facts labels of 14 vending machines or from manufacturer’s websites was collected by trained graduate and undergraduate researchers. Results: On average, for each Smart Snack sold, there was a statistically significant reduction of 99.38 calories (CI=42.32, 156.43), 4 g saturated fat (CI = 2.23, 5.75), and 10.06 g of sugar(CI=2.92, 17.20). An average reduction of 41.88 mg in sodium and an increase of 0.81g in fiber was also found, but was not statistically significant. There was a significant difference (t(16)=3.02, P < 0.025, 95% CI = 10.77, 55.79) between the Quality Score of Smart Snacks (M=59.13,SD= ± 36.50) and that of non-compliant snacks (M=25.85, SD= ± 24.72). Conclusion: The nutritional impact with even a 50% Smart Snack replacement is promising. Many available comparable snacks mimic the mouthfeel, taste, and appearance of their original full-fat, full-sodium, and full-sugar counterparts. Including healthier snack choices in vending machines may be a viable option for universities to transform the campus eating environment.
Stress cardiomyopathy induced during dobutamine stress echocardiography.

Background Catecholamines play a central role in pathogenesis of stress cardiomyopathy (SC). We aimed to review the clinical characteristics, procedural details and outcomes of patients with SC during dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE). Methods/results A total of 20 adults [age 64±15 years, 80% women, 67% hypertension, 20% diabetes, 33% hypercholesterolemia, 19% chronic kidney disease, 13% known anxiety disorder] with SC during DSE were identified from local digital archives of our laboratory (n=3) or reports in English literature (n=17). Indication for DSE was suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) in all patients. Left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction was normal at baseline. SC developed at a blood pressure of 154±47/86±24 mmHg, heart rate of 130±17 bpm (88±10% predicted maximum) and peak rate-pressure product of 20559±3898 mmHg*bpm. ST segment elevation was seen in 65%. SC occurred at peak dobutamine infusion rate of 38±6 μg/kg/min in 85% and during recovery in 15%. Atropine [0.7±0.6 (0.25-2) mg] was given to 7 patients. LV ejection fraction dropped to 30±6% with apical (40%), apical and mid (45%) or basal and mid (10%) circumferential LV ballooning. One patient (5%) had a mixed pattern of wall motion abnormality. LV outflow tract obstruction developed in 15%. Major adverse cardiac events occurred in 7 (35%) and included death (n=1), congestive heart failure (n=2), hypotension (n=3) and atrial fibrillation with heart failure (n=1). At a mean follow up duration of 19±19 days, complete or partial recovery of LV wall motion abnormality was seen in 18 and 1 patient, respectively. Conclusion SC uncommonly occurs during DSE. However, death and other adverse events (hypotension, heart failure and atrial fibrillation) may occur and require urgent attention. Once managed, complete recovery is expected in most patients.
Aortopulmonary window, left coronary artery aneurysm, and redundant aortic valve leaflet in a calf: the use of multimodal imaging to diagnose congenital heart disease.

Abstract A 2-month-old male Holstein calf was presented for evaluation of a continuous systolic murmur. A grade V/VI left basilar continuous murmur and a grade IV/VI right basilar continuous murmur was auscultated upon evaluation with increased respiratory effort, wheezes, and crackles. Multimodality diagnostics were performed on this patient for further workup and included transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography, fluoroscopy guided angiography, and gross necropsy with histopathology. An aortopulmonary window with continuous left-to-right shunting was identified at the level of the left aortic sinus of Valsalva with a severely dilated left coronary artery and left-sided congestive heart failure. This case report outlines the diagnostic workup of a rare congenital heart defect and secondary cardiac abnormalities not previously identified in veterinary literature.
Direct evidence of ferromagnetism in MnSb 2 Te 4

The compound MnSb${}_{2}$Te${}_{4}$ is a close relative of the intrinsic antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi${}_{2}$Te${}_{4}$. Density functional theory predicts that a Weyl semimetal phase exists in ferromagnetic MnBi${}_{2}$Te${}_{4}$. Here, the authors fill in gaps in the magnetic imaging of MnSb${}_{2}$Te${}_{4}$ and confirm long-range ferromagnetic order in single crystals of ferromagnetic MnSb${}_{2}$Te${}_{4}$ using cryogenic magnetic force microscopy. The direct evidence of ferromagnetism in MnSb${}_{2}$Te${}_{4}$ paves the way for realizing the ferromagnetic Weyl semimetal phase in the family of Mn(Bi, Sb)${}_{2}$Te${}_{4}$.
Performance Implications of Problem Decomposition Approaches for SDN Pipelines

Software defined networking (SDN) allows organizations to modify networks programmatically to implement custom forwarding behavior and to react to changing conditions. While there are many approaches available to implement SDN those that leverage forwarding table abstractions such as OpenFlow and P4 require developers to decompose problems into one or more tables associated with a definable pipeline. This paper explores tradeoffs between table depth and pipeline length associated with different problem decomposition options by analyzing the performance impact on hardware and software data planes including software data planes leveraging hardware acceleration through the use of SmartNICs.
Interseeding cover crops in sugar beet

Abstract Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) production leaves very little residue to protect the soil from erosion during late fall and early spring. Biomass from interseeded cover crops provides an opportunity to protect soils from erosion during the fallow period. A three-year field study was conducted to assess cover crop interseeding in sugar beet production systems under rainfed conditions in Ada, MN, USA. Specifically, the impact of cover crop interseeding time, early (mid-June) vs. late (late June or early July), and four species, winter pea (Pisum sativum L.), rye (Secale cereale L.), winter camelina [Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz], and brown mustard (Brassica juncea L.), on cover crop biomass and sugar beet root yield, sucrose concentration, and recoverable sucrose yield. Cover crop biomass accumulation in sugar beet varied across years depending on distribution of rainfall after interseeding. Considering all three years, above ground biomass of cover crops ranged between 28 kg ha−1 to 2347 kg ha−1 at sugar beet harvest. Early interseeded cover crops produced threefold greater cover crop biomass than late interseeded cover crops. Across years, mean aboveground biomass produced by species was from highest to lowest, winter pea > rye > brown mustard > winter camelina. The highest recoverable sucrose yield was observed with early-interseeded brown mustard (13.8 Mg ha-1), late-interseeded winter camelina (11.2 Mg ha-1), and late-interseeded rye (10.46 Mg ha-1) in 2018, 2019, and 2020 growing seasons, respectively. Three years of results have shown that sugar beet grown with interseeded cover crops will produce root yields comparable to the control with no cover crops. Cover crops had no negative impact on root yield and sucrose concentration, but the selection of species and planting time affected growth and cover provided by the cover crops. This study provides evidence that interseeded cover crops offer a good option for protecting the soil during fallow periods in sugar beet production systems, without negatively affecting sugar beet yield or quality.
International Cooperation in the Age of Populism

For much of the post-World War Two period, the world seemed on a path of ever-greater collaboration among the principal economic centers. In the past decade, economic and political trends have called this upward tendency into question. Within both advanced industrial and developing nations, there has been an upsurge in “populist” sentiment with an economically nationalistic tenor and an explicit hostility to “globalist” approaches to economic cooperation. What is the future of international economic cooperation in a world in which domestic political pressures appear to be pushing the major powers apart, rather than together?
What makes a material bendable? A thickness-dependent metric for bendability, malleability, ductility

The requirement for materials that can bend is proliferating with the growing interest in flexible electronics and devices. The terms bending and flexing are often used interchangeably even though flexing is usually meant to be elastic while bending often involves plastic deformation. Materials can be compared with a simple “bendability figure-of-merit” through the fracture strain—that is, how much a material can be bent plastically once before breaking—for a given thickness of material, which is similar to the way that yield strain serves as a figure-of-merit for flexibility.
The Most Widespread Phage in Animals: Genomics and Taxonomic Classification of Phage WO

Wolbachia are the most common obligate, intracellular bacteria in animals. They exist worldwide in arthropod and nematode hosts in which they commonly act as reproductive parasites or mutualists, respectively. Bacteriophage WO, the largest of Wolbachia9s mobile elements, includes reproductive parasitism genes, serves as a hotspot for genetic divergence and genomic rearrangement of the bacterial chromosome, and uniquely encodes a Eukaryotic Association Module with eukaryotic-like genes and an ensemble of putative host interaction genes. Despite WO9s relevance to genome evolution, selfish genetics, and symbiotic applications, relatively little is known about its origin, host range, diversification, and taxonomic classification. Here we analyze the most comprehensive set of 150 Wolbachia and phage WO assemblies to provide a framework for discretely organizing and naming integrated phage WO genomes. We demonstrate that WO is principally in arthropod Wolbachia with relatives in diverse endosymbionts and metagenomes, organized into four variants related by gene synteny, often oriented opposite the origin of replication in the Wolbachia chromosome, and the large serine recombinase is an ideal typing tool to assign taxonomic classification of the four variants. We identify a novel, putative lytic cassette and WO9s association with a conserved eleven gene island, termed Undecim Cluster, that is enriched with virulence-like genes. Finally, we evaluate WO-like Islands in the Wolbachia genome and discuss a new model in which Octomom, a notable WO-like Island, arose from a split with WO. Together, these findings establish the first comprehensive Linnaean taxonomic classification of endosymbiont phages that includes distinguishable genera of phage WO, a family of non-Wolbachia phages from aquatic environments, and an order that captures the collective relatedness of these viruses.
Toward a First-Bestconservation Policy: Cyclic Demand, Externalities, and Political Failure

Normative analyses of the properties of alternative regulations should take account of political as well as economic factors. Economic approaches that neglect how political constraints affect prospects for adoption and implementation will support regulations that tend to fail in practice, because the political equilibrium generated by the new regulations shifts policy from one Pareto-excessive or -deficient level to another. The paper uses an illustration from conservation regulation to illustrate how such politically informed policy recommendations differ from purely economic ones. Some approaches to demand-side management are politically as well as economically better than others, because some policies are more likely to generate an efficiency-supporting political equilibrium than others.
Design and analysis of a multistage fuzzy PID controller

Classical PID controllers remain one of the simplest, most effective, robust, and easily certifiable control strategies. However, this simplicity comes with a price. Design tradeoffs between integral and derivative gain in a linear PID controller often make it difficult to achieve optimal performance. For example, increasing the integral term to reduce steady-state error causes undesired behavior during the transient phase of the system response. Intuitively, the integral term should only be active during the steady-state portion of the response to either reduce or eliminate the steady-state error. This can be achieved by implementing a switching multistage PID controller that consists of a first stage PD controller followed by a second stage PI controller. Difficulty arises in designing the switching circuit to appropriately engage the integral controller without jeopardizing stability. It has been shown that a fuzzy logic PD controller is able to reduce the steady-state error while maintaining the speed and damping of the system. However, like the classical counterpart, a fuzzy PD controller can not completely eliminate the error. To eliminate this error, the design of a multistage fuzzy PID controller is presented in this paper. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the fuzzy PID controller in removing the steady-state error while maintaining the speed and stability of the system. Finally, fuzzy control systems have not been widely accepted by the control community due to lack of systematic stability analysis. To address this concern, this paper demonstrates some preliminary work, using simulation aided formal analysis to derive the global stability region of fuzzy based Hybrid System.
Performance of a low-complexity downlink channel estimator for long-code CDMA systems

Recently, a blind downlink channel estimator was proposed for long-code CDMA systems based on a covariance matching idea. By modeling long spreading codes as random codes and pre-computing some code-dependent quantities, the algorithm shows extremely low complexity. Due to inaccuracy of estimated data covariance from finite number of received data samples, its asymptotic performance depends on the sample size. In this paper, it is further analyzed in terms of the covariance and mean-square-error of the estimated channel vector.
The oxidation of ascorbic acid and its reduction in vitro and in vivo

The outstanding chemical property of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is that it is a reducing agent. The suggestion is obvious that its physiological function may be associated with this property, and, if it is oxidized reversibly, with its behavior in an oxidation-reduction system. It is desirable therefore to know the oxidation-reduction potential of ascorbic acid.
Paradigmatic Distinctions between Instructionally Relevant Measurement Models

In this article, we delineate essential commonalities and distinctions between two approaches to measurement for instructional decision making. Specific subskill mastery measurement is explained using a case study, and salient features of this predominant model are described. Then, a major contrasting approach, the general outcome measurement model, is explained; a curriculum-based measurement case study is provided to illustrate general outcome measurement; and the essential features of this alternative model are reviewed. Finally, we describe how general outcome measurement represents an innovative approach to assessment by bridging traditional and contemporary paradigms.
Investigation of the Stability of Yeast rad52 Mutant Proteins Uncovers Post-translational and Transcriptional Regulation of Rad52p

We investigated the stability of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Rad52 protein to learn how a cell controls its quantity and longevity. We measured the cellular levels of wild-type and mutant forms of Rad52p when expressed from the RAD52 promoter and the half-lives of the various forms of Rad52p when expressed from the GAL1 promoter. The wild-type protein has a half-life of 15 min. rad52 mutations variably affect the cellular levels of the protein products, and these levels correlate with the measured half-lives. While missense mutations in the N terminus of the protein drastically reduce the cellular levels of the mutant proteins, two mutations--one a deletion of amino acids 210-327 and the other a missense mutation of residue 235--increase the cellular level and half-life more than twofold. These results suggest that Rad52p is subject to post-translational regulation. Proteasomal mutations have no effect on Rad52p half-life but increase the amount of RAD52 message. In contrast to Rad52p, the half-life of Rad51p is >2 hr, and RAD51 expression is unaffected by proteasomal mutations. These differences between Rad52p and Rad51p suggest differential regulation of two proteins that interact in recombinational repair.
Motivations for running and eating attitudes in obligatory versus nonobligatory runners

Objective This study examined the association between motivations to run and eating disturbances in a sample of obligatory and nonobligatory runners. Method: 240 males and 84 females were evaluated for running habits, motivations for running, and eating and weight concerns. 26.2% of the men and 25% of the women were classified as obligatory runners. Results: Obligatory runners were more motivated to run by negative factors such as guilt for stopping, scored significantly higher on the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT), and had lower weights. These effects were strongest in women. Discussion: The results suggest that female obligatory runners may be at increased risk for eating disorders. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 23:267–275, 1998.
Testosterone threshold-does one size fit all?

Numerous studies have sought to examine the relationship between hypogonadal symptoms and total serum testosterone levels in men in order to identify a threshold at which symptoms occur and at which treatment is beneficial. However, the search for a discrete threshold may be futile given emerging evidence. Recent studies suggest that testosterone threshold varies by symptoms and among individuals. In addition, thresholds may vary between young and old men. Therefore, initiation of treatment should rely more on symptoms and less on a discrete numerical threshold.
Is an Algorithmic Approach to the Treatment of Recurrent Dislocation After THA Effective

Background The indications for surgical techniques for treatment of recurrent hip dislocation after THA differ, and their rates of achievement of stability may not be similar.
Genetic variation in social influence on mate preferences

Patterns of phenotypic variation arise in part from plasticity owing to social interactions, and these patterns contribute, in turn, to the form of selection that shapes the variation we observe in natural populations. This proximate–ultimate dynamic brings genetic variation in social environments to the forefront of evolutionary theory. However, the extent of this variation remains largely unknown. Here, we use a member of the Enchenopa binotata species complex of treehoppers (Hemiptera: Membracidae) to assess how mate preferences are influenced by genetic variation in the social environment. We used full-sibling split-families as ‘treatment’ social environments, and reared focal females alongside each treatment family, describing the mate preferences of the focal females. With this method, we detected substantial genetic variation in social influence on mate preferences. The mate preferences of focal females varied according to the treatment families along with which they grew up. We discuss the evolutionary implications of the presence of such genetic variation in social influence on mate preferences, including potential contributions to the maintenance of genetic variation, the promotion of divergence, and the adaptive evolution of social effects on fitness-related traits.
In your Facebook: Examining Facebook usage as misbehavior on perceived teacher credibility

Teachers sometimes do things that negatively impact their own credibility in classroom settings. One way instructors maintain credibility among students is by keeping a veil between their personal and professional personas. The advent of Facebook presents new challenges for instructors seeking to keep their personal lives private in order to maintain credibility among students. In educational settings, Facebook communications can blur the personal and professional boundaries that students and professors are accustomed to. As such, instructors in higher education sometimes struggle with the implications of `friending' students in the context of social networking. The purpose of this study was to examine whether or not educator usage of Facebook had any impact on student perceptions of instructor credibility. Facebook presence was examined in the context of teacher `misbehaviors' (that is, actions by educators that negatively impact their credibility). A modified version of Teven and McCroskey's (1997) Source Credibility Instrument was given to a sample of college students (N?=?187) to compare instructors that use Facebook with those who do not. While students appear to be generally accepting of instructor usage of the social tool, some findings suggest that there are probably ways to abuse it in a manner that could lead to negative perceptions of credibility. Ultimately, results from this study indicated that there were no significant differences among student perceptions of instructor credibility based on whether or not an educator used Facebook.
The Premenstrual Syndrome: New Views

CASE PRESENTATION A 30-year-old married mother of four was referred to the National Institute of Mental Health for a cyclic mood disorder. She observed that over the preceding 7 years she experienced mood and somatic symptoms seemingly related to her menstrual cycle. Approximately 9 days before her menses, she would become sad and cry, want to be alone, and experience sensitivity to rejection, guilt, self-criticism, and occasional suicidal ideation. These symptoms were not responsive to expressed concern from others. Rather, she attempted to isolate herself because she became profoundly irritable around others and demonstrated anger, impatience, "meanness," overreactivity, and verbal outbursts. Her verbal loss of control caused problems at work and in her relationships with her family. Other symptoms included a decrease in her general level of interest and energy, an inability to initiate activities or to experience pleasure, fatigue, disturbed sleep, distractibility, indecisiveness, and increased appetite and food intake
Adolescents, sex, and the media: ooooo, baby, baby-a Q & A.

American media have arguably become the leading sex educator in the United States. By the time they reach adolescence today’s children have viewed a kaleidoscopic array of sex and sexuality on television in movies and on the Internet--casual sex promiscuity alternative sex pornography and just about every suggestive aspect of sex imaginable especially if they have watched “The Jerry Springer Show.” The average child sees nearly 15000 sexual references on television alone [4] and more than 80% of popular teen shows contain appreciable sexual content (Fig. 1) [5]. Missing from their viewing diets are the healthier aspects of human sexuality such as answers to questions about what it means to be a man or a woman when is sexual activity appropriate what a healthy body self-image is and how pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease can be prevented (Fig. 2). As one author sadly notes [6]: I’ve often wondered what it would be like if we taught young people swimming the same way we teach sexuality. If we told them that swimming was an important adult activity one they will all have to be skilled at when they grow up but we never talked with them about it. We never showed them the pool. We just allowed them to stand outside closed doors and listen to all the splashing. Occasionally they might catch a glimpse of partially clothed people going in and out of the door to the pool and maybe they’d find a hidden book on the art of swimming but when they asked a question about how swimming felt or what it was about they would be greeted with blank or embarrassed looks. Suddenly when they turn 18 we would fling open the doors to the swimming pool and they would jump in. Miraculously some might learn to tread water but many would drown. (excerpt)
Gold–copper alloyed nanorods for metal-catalyzed organic reactions: implication of surface ligands on nanoparticle-based heterogeneous catalysis

Abstract Recent advances in nanoparticle synthesis have created new potential avenues for aqueous catalysis of organic reactions. Morphological control of metal nanoparticles often involves the use of surface ligands, which in turn affect the catalytic activity of nanocatalysts. This Letter demonstrates that surface anchoring group, chain length, and configuration of the water-soluble, polymeric ligands influence the catalytic properties of alloyed AuCu 3 nanorods for metal-catalyzed organic reactions. Due to the binding affinity of the surface-anchoring groups, a thiol anchor was found to be detrimental the Au-catalyzed reduction of p -nitrophenol while the Cu-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition was severely inhibited by amine anchors. Furthermore, the catalytic activity of nanorods increased with increased dimension of the ligands with the same anchoring group due to the reduction of graft density. Elevated temperature facilitates the mobility of surface ligands in benzonitrile hydration to benzamide, resulting in the enhancement of catalytic activity. This work highlights the paramount importance of surface ligand selection in the design of nanocatalysts for catalytic organic reactions.
Mössbauer Spectrometry Study of Thermally-Activated Electronic Processes in LixFePO4

The solid solution phase of Li_xFePO_4 with different Li concentrations, x, was investigated by Mossbauer spectrometry at temperatures between 25 and 210 °C. The Mossbauer spectra show a temperature dependence of their isomer shifts (E_(IS)) and electric quadrupole splittings (E_Q), typical of thermally activated, electronic relaxation processes involving ^(57)Fe ions. The activation energies for the fluctuations of E_Q and E_(IS) for Fe^(3+) are nearly the same, 570 ± 9 meV, suggesting that both originate from charge hopping. For the Fe^(2+) components of the spectra, the fluctuations of E_Q occurred at lower temperatures than the fluctuations of E_(IS), with an activation energy of 512 ± 12 meV for E_Q and one of 551 ± 7 meV for E_(IS). The more facile fluctuations of E_Q for Fe^(2+) are evidence for local motions of neighboring Li^+ ions. It appears that the electron hopping frequency is lower than that of Li^+ ions. The activation energies of relaxation did not have a measurable dependence on the concentration of lithium, x.
Subgradient decomposition and differentiability of the recourse function of a two stage stochastic linear program

We characterize the differentiability of the recourse function of a two stage stochastic linear program in terms of a partition of the sample space. We illustrate that even in the presence of some continuous random variables, the recourse function may be nondifferentiable.
Digital halftoning by means of green-noise masks

We introduce a novel technique for generating green-noise halftones—stochastic dither patterns composed of homogeneously distributed pixel clusters. Although techniques employing error diffusion have been proposed previously, the technique here employs a dither array referred to as a green-noise mask, which greatly reduces the computational complexity formerly associated with green noise. Compared with those generated with blue-noise masks, halftones generated with green-noise masks are less susceptible to printer distortions. Because green noise constitutes patterns with widely varying cluster sizes and shapes, the technique introduced here for constructing these green-noise masks is tunable; that is, it allows for specific printer traits, with small clusters reserved for printers with low distortion and large clusters reserved for printers with high distortion. Given that blue noise is a limiting case of green noise, this new technique can even create blue-noise masks.
SU‐C‐301‐01: Methodological Improvements in Voxel‐Based Analysis of Diffusion Tensor Imaging: Applications to Study the Impact of APOE on White Matter Integrity

Purpose: We utilize the DTI indices of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) to investigate 14 normal subjects with the specific genes that increase (APOE e2) and that decrease (APOE e4) the age of onset of Alzhiemer's Disease. Methods: DTI acquisitions were performed in clinically acceptable scan times and thus had a low signal‐to‐noise ratio. The DTI data was denoised with a total variation regularization algorithm prior to affine and nonlinear registration to generate a common reference frame for the image volumes of all subjects. Region of interest (ROI), voxel‐based analysis (VBA), and tract based spatial statistics (TBSS) were performed on the aligned ADC and FA maps to identify differences in the cohorts segregated by these alleles as well as segregated by mean age of the group. Results: VBA on the denoised tensor data identified regions of reduced FA (primarily in the genu which was confirmed by ROI analysis) in the APOE e4 cohort compared to the APOE e2 cohort. The most consistent results were obtained for VBA using the denoised tensor and anisotropic smoothing prior to statistical testing. In contrast, isotropic smoothing identified regional differences for small filter sizes alone, emphasizing that this method introduces bias in FA values for higher smoothing kernel sizes. TBSS did not identify any regional differences in the white matter tracts and this may be related to the small localized area of change (found by VBA and ROI methods) that may not be detectable when analyzing voxels averaged normal to the tract. Conclusions: The current findings are consistent with the age trajectories of the transverse relaxation rate studies of APOE &#949;2 and &#949;4 cohorts. The relaxometry study confirms the current DTI study that the late myelinating regions such as the genu are more susceptible to age‐related myelin breakdown and this was associated with APOE status.
Spline confidence bands for variance functions

Asymptotically exact and conservative confidence bands are obtained for possibly heteroscedastic variance functions, using piecewise constant and piecewise linear spline estimation, respectively. The variance estimation is as efficient as an infeasible estimator when the conditional mean function is known, and the widths of the confidence bands are of optimal order. Simulation experiments provide strong evidence that corroborates the asymptotic theory while the computing is extremely fast. A slower bootstrap band is also proposed, with much higher accuracy. As illustrations, the bootstrap spline band has been applied to test for heteroscedasticity in fossil data and in motorcycle data.
Dependence and Aging Aspects of Multivariate Survival

Abstract The basic reliability concept of monotone failure rate is presented, and extensions to n variables are considered. We analyze Harris' multivariate extension of increasing failure rate, in particular his right corner set increasing property, which is a type of positive dependence. But we think that multivariate monotone failure rate need not involve dependence. Hence, increasing failure rate as extended in this article requires merely that the residual life of all subsets of a set of n survival times must be increasing. Decreasing failure rate is defined analogously and it is found that the multivariate exponential distribution forms the “boundary” between.
Boundary Layer Characteristics on the Buckets of a Large-Scale Turbine Stage: Part 1 — Profiles of Mean and Turbulent Velocity Vectors

Data have been obtained on details of the three-dimensional boundary layer flow on rotating turbine buckets using hot-wire anemometer and flow visualization techniques. Profiles of velocity magnitude and two angular directions are presented for both the mean and turbulent velocity vectors, as well as profiles of the three products of fluctuating velocities. The data were obtained along six flow paths covering the pressure and suction sides at three radial heights. A high degree of turbulence relative to the rotating buckets was found at all points in the boundary layer on both the pressure and suction sides. Also three-dimensional (radial flow) effects in the boundary layer were significant.Copyright © 1970 by ASME
Pedal 99mTc-Sulfur Colloid Lymphoscintigraphy in Primary Isolated Chylopericardium

Primary isolated chylopericardium is a rare disorder in which chylous fluid accumulates in the pericardial space. In this case report of a 61-year-old man with chylopericardium, pedal 99m Tc-sulfur colloid (SC) lymphoscintigraphy was performed after emergent pericardiocentesis, and when there was a recurrent massive pericardial effusion. The results showed that 99m Tc-SC lymphoscintigraphy can clearly reveal the lymphodynamics in patients with primary isolated chylopericardium. This noninvasive investigation is valuable and can be easily performed either before or after pericardiocentesis.
Tissue engineering of skin: human tonsil-derived mesenchymal cells can function as dermal fibroblasts

Purpose It is unclear whether dermal fibroblasts are indispensable key players for tissue engineering of dermo-epidermal skin analogs. In this experimental study, we wanted to test the hypothesis that tonsil-derived mesenchymal cells can assume the role of dermal fibroblasts when culturing pigmented skin analogs for transplantation.