cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Acute promyelocytic leukaemia presenting as necrotising fasciitis of the perineum (Fournier gangrene)

We present a case of an unusual presentation of acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APML), which presented with Fournier gangrene (FG). A 38-year-old man presented with malaise, groin swelling, anal bleeding, fever and was found to have FG. Initial workup revealed pancytopaenia, borderline low fibrinogen, prolonged international normalized ratio (INR), which raised the suspicion for leukaemia. The peripheral blood differential revealed leucopaenia with absolute neutropaenia and a 5% abnormal promyelocytes but no blasts, suspicious for APML. Bone marrow biopsy was performed and fluorescence in situ hydridization (FISH), karyotype and PCR confirmed a t(15;17) translocation, establishing a diagnosis of APML. After 1 month of therapy for intermediate risk APML with All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and arsenic trioxide (ATO), repeat chromosomal analysis and repeat bone marrow biopsy revealed no evidence of residual APML. After the consolidation phase was started with ATRA and ATO regimen, the wound healed after 2 months and the patient achieved complete remission.
How common are experimental designs in medical education? Findings from a bibliometric analysis of recent dissertations and theses

Background: There has been a recent influx of researchers in the field of medical education coming from medical and health science backgrounds. Researchers from health fields often misunderstand that studies involving experimental designs are relatively rare throughout educational research. Experts in education research note that experimental designs largely are incompatible with educational studies due to various contextual, legal, and ethical issues. Purpose: We sought to investigate the frequency with which experimental designs have been utilized in recent medical education dissertations and theses. Methods: A bibliometric analysis of dissertations and theses completed in the field of medical education between 2011 and 2016. Results: Fewer than 10% of doctoral dissertations and master's theses involved some type of experimental design. Only 6.12% of all dissertation and master's projects involved randomized experiments. Conclusions: Randomized experiments occur only slightly more frequently in medical education than other educational fields.
INFLUENCE OF FAULTING ON GROUNDWATER FLOW AND CONTAMINANT TRANSPORT

ABSTRACT It is possible through sensitivity analysis with a model to gain increased understanding of the factors influencing the isolation of high-level radioactive wastes in the subsurface. Here, we evaluate the importance of geological setting and vertical disruptive features (faults) on the pattern of groundwater flow and contaminant transport. The two-dimensional cross section considered in this study is representative of a layered sequence of sedimentary rocks in which a low-conductivity disposal unit occurs. Patterns of groundwater flow and contaminant spread are influenced differently depending upon whether a high- or low-conductivity disruptive zone is added to the downstream end of the flow system. In the situation of a high-conductivity zone, there is little change compared to the unfaulted situation. Only when a repository is located within or immediately adjacent to the disruptive zone is the confining character of the disposal horizon diminished. In the situation of the low-conductivity zone, there are marked changes in flow and transport. With a slight decrease in hydraulic conductivity of the disruptive zone, the confining character of the disposal unit is enhanced. However, as hydraulic conductivity is reduced further, the disposal unit has diminished confining capabilities. All of these results call attention to the possible importance of small changes in the hydraulic conductivity distribution on groundwater flow and contaminant transport.
A neural basis of the serial bottleneck in visual word recognition.

Written language is a hallmark of cultural and technological development. The ability to read written language is a testament to the effects of learning on human behavior and brain function. However, even highly practiced readers exhibit fundamental neural constraints. The fact that you are unable to read the collection of words comprising this text all at once, as desirable as that may be, draws attention to a defining property of the human brain: its limited information-processing capacity. A study by White et al. (1) published in PNAS highlights an extreme case of capacity-limited visual information processing—our inability to read more than one word at a time—and reveals the neural basis of this limitation using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants in White et al.’s (1) study performed a semantic categorization task while viewing pairs of words presented simultaneously to the right and left of fixation. On each trial, participants viewed two briefly displayed words (nouns), one displayed to the left of fixation, and the other to the right of fixation, and categorized one of the words as either living or nonliving. In a “focal cue” condition, participants performed the task on either the left or the right word, according to a precue. In a “distributed cue” condition, participants paid attention to both words and subsequently reported the semantic category of one of the words, but without knowing which in advance. The authors, in a previous behavioral study (2), used a similar task to show that even highly skilled readers are able to recognize only one word at a time. In the current study, participants performed the task during fMRI scanning, which measures blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals with millimeter-level spatial resolution. Due to the neural architecture of the human visual … [↵][1]1Email: lars{at}unr.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
Is More Active Always Better for Teaching Introductory Programming

Introduction to programming is usually taught using a wide range of instructional techniques. Some common techniques among them are mini-lectures, live-coding and in-class coding. Each of these three techniques require varying level of student activity. In this study, we taught programming to a group of students using these three techniques. We collected data in the form of a survey to understand the students' perceptions on these three instructional techniques. The results suggest that students like techniques that require a moderate level of student activity (e.g., live-coding) more when compared to techniques that require a great deal of student activity (e.g., in-class coding). We believe that our work has the potential to help instructors design their instructional techniques using a student-centric approach.
Hybrid III-Nitride Tunnel Junctions for Low Excess Voltage Blue LEDs and UVC LEDs

The use of III-nitride tunnel junction (TJ) diodes in light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes (LDs) has attracted much attention. However, there are concerns about using III-nitride tunnel junctions, especially in commercial devices, primarily due to the excess voltage needed to allow for tunneling. On the other hand, ultra-violet (UV) LEDs suffer from low light extraction efficiency (LEE). The use of tunnel junctions in UV LEDs can potentially double the LEE by allowing the use of highly reflective mirrors and eliminating the need for absorption p-GaN.
Recursive Least Squares for Real-Time Implementation [Lecture Notes]

Recursive least squares (RLS) is a technique used for minimizing a quadratic cost function, where the minimizer is updated at each step as new data become available. RLS is more computationally efficient than batch least squares, and it is extensively used for system identification and adaptive control. This article derives RLS and emphasizes its real-time implementation in terms of the availability of the data as well as the time needed for the computation.
Digestive tract microbiota of beef cattle that differed in feed efficiency

We hypothesized cattle that differed in BW gain had different digestive tract microbiota. Two experiments were conducted. In both experiments, steers received a diet that consisted of 8.0% chopped alfalfa hay, 20% wet distillers grain with solubles, 67.75% dry-rolled corn, and 4.25% vitamin/mineral mix (including monensin) on a dry matter basis. Steers had ad libitum access to feed and water. In experiment 1, 144 steers (age = 310 ± 1.5 d; BW = 503 ± 37.2 kg) were individually fed for 105 d. Ruminal digesta samples were collected from eight steers with the greatest (1.96 ± 0.02 kg/d) and eight steers with the least ADG (1.57 ± 0.02 kg/d) that were within ±0.32 SD of the mean (10.1 ± 0.05 kg/d) dry matter. In experiment 2, 66 steers (age = 396 ± 1 d; BW = 456 ± 5 kg) were individually fed for 84 d. Rumen, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, cecum, and colon digesta samples were collected from eight steers with the greatest (2.39 ± 0.06 kg/d) and eight steers with the least ADG (1.85 ± 0.06 kg/d) that were within ±0.55 SD of the mean dry matter intake (11.9 ± 0.1 kg/d). In both studies, DNA was isolated and the V1 to V3 regions of the 16S rRNA gene were sequenced. Operational taxonomic units were classified using 0.03 dissimilarity and identified using the Greengenes 16S rRNA gene database. In experiment 1, there were no differences in the Chao1, Shannon, Simpson, and InvSimpson diversity indexes or the permutation multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA; P = 0.57). The hierarchical test returned six clades as being differentially abundant between steer classifications (P 0.05) for the rumen, duodenum, ileum, cecum, and colon. In the jejunum, there tended to be a difference in the Chao1 (P = 0.09) and Simpson diversity (P = 0.09) indexes between steer classifications, but there was no difference in the Shannon (P = 0.14) and InvSimpson (P = 0.14) diversity indexes. Classification groups for the jejunum differed (P = 0.006) in the PERMANOVA. The hierarchical dependence false discovery rate procedure returned 11 clades as being differentially abundant between steer classifications in the jejunum (P < 0.05). The majority of the OTU were in the Families Corynebacteriaceae and Coriobacteriaceae. This study suggests that intestinal differences in the microbiota of ruminants may be associated with animal performance.
Too Big to Sell? A Computational Analysis of Network and Content Characteristics among Mega and Micro Beauty and Fashion Social Media Influencers

Fashion and beauty brands leverage social media influencers to shape purchasing decisions, improve cost effectiveness, and reach wider audiences. New conventional wisdom has brands moving away from...
Dietary treatment to lower cholesterol and triglyceride and reduce cardiovascular risk

Purpose of review To provide an update on dietary measures to lower levels of LDL-C and triglyceride and reduce cardiovascular (CVD) outcomes. Recent findings Fifty-year follow-up in the Seven Countries Study confirmed that cholesterol levels correlate with saturated fat intake and all-cause mortality and age at death. In the PURE study, refined carbohydrate increased CVD risk whereas saturated fat did not despite increasing LDL-C levels; limitations are discussed. Reports on CVD risk with eggs provide conflicting results. Plant-based diets with healthful complex carbohydrates reduced CVD. The REDUCE-IT trial lowered triglyceride 21.6% and reduced CVD events 26.1% with an omega-3 fatty acid, An omega-3 fatty acid index at least 4% with EPA and docosahexaenoic acid prevented coronary plaque progression. A clinician guide to counsel patients on nutrition and heart healthy diets was recently published. Summary Based on the evidence, individuals should continue to minimize saturated fats and refined carbohydrates, eliminate trans-fat and increase fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and fish or other omega-3 fatty acids. Adhering to a Mediterranean diet is strongly recommended because of lowering CVD and total mortality. High-dose omega-3 fatty acids lower triglyceride, reduce CVD and prevent coronary plaque progression.
Genomic signatures of the unjamming transition in compressed human bronchial epithelial cells

Abstract Epithelial tissue has the capacity to switch from a collective phase that is quiescent, solidlike and non-migratory to one that is dynamic, fluid-like and migratory. In certain physiological and pathophysiological contexts this phenotypic switch has been attributed not to the well-known epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, EMT, but rather to the recently discovered unjamming transition, UJT. UJT has been characterized thus far mainly at functional and morphological levels whereas underlying genome-wide molecular events remain largely unexplored. Using primary human bronchial epithelial cells and one well-defined trigger of UJT –mechanical compression– here we combine temporal RNA-Seq data and Protein-Protein Interaction networks to provide the first genome-wide analysis of UJT. Our results show that compression induces a multiphasic transcriptional response characterized by an early activation of genes regulating the membrane and actomyosin structure, and a delayed activation of genes regulating the extracellular matrix and cellmatrix interactions. This biphasic response is mediated by a cascade of signaling processes that promotes actin polymerization through the recruitment of integrin-ECM adhesive complexes and promotes increased cellular motility through activation of AP-1 transcription factors via ERK and JNK pathways. These findings, taken together, show that the UJT program is not the result of any single signaling pathway but rather comprises a coordinated interplay of downstream pathways including development, fate selection, energy metabolism, cytoskeletal reorganization, and adhesive interaction with extracellular matrix.
Human placental mesenchymal stem cells improve stroke outcomes via extracellular vesicles-mediated preservation of cerebral blood flow

Abstract Background Besides long-term trans-differentiation into neural cells, benefits of stem cell therapy (SCT) in ischemic stroke may include secretion of protective factors, which partly reflects extracellular vesicle (EVs) released by stem cell. However, the mechanism(s) by which stem cells/EVs limit stroke injury have yet to be fully defined. Methods We evaluated the protection effect of human placenta mesenchymal stem cells (hPMSC) as a potential form of SCT in experimental ischemic stroke ‘transient middle cerebral artery occusion (MCAO)/reperfusion’ mice model. Findings We found for the first time that intraperitoneal administration of hPMSCs or intravenous hPMSC-derived EVs, given at the time of reperfusion, significantly protected the ipsilateral hemisphere from ischemic injury. This protection was associated with significant restoration of normal blood flow to the post-MCAO brain. More importantly, EVs derived from hPMSC promote paracrine-based protection of SCT in the MCAO model in a cholesterol/lipid-dependent manner. Interpretation Together, our results demonstrated beneficial effects of hPMSC/EVs in experimental stroke models which could permit the rapid “translation” of these cells into clinical trials in the near-term.
36. Safety and Reactogenicity of the Adjuvanted Recombinant Zoster Vaccine after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Background Herpes zoster (HZ) is common after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) and associated with high morbidity. While antiviral prophylaxis reduces incidence, increased risk remains after discontinuation and vaccination strategies are needed. A non-live adjuvanted recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) has been developed but not yet studied in this population.
Agreement and Reliability of Median Neurodynamic Test 1 and Resting Scapular Position.

Abstract Objective The purposes of this study were to determine whether there are differences between the dominant and nondominant arms for the Median Neurodynamic Test 1 (MNT 1); whether there are differences between men and women on the MNT 1; the reliability of an assessment of resting scapular position; the reliability of the MNT 1; and the frequency and percentage of sensory responses that are present during the MNT 1 in the asymptomatic population. Methods This was a reliability and agreement study. It included asymptomatic students enrolled in the college of health professions and the college of nursing at a university. The Mann–Whitney U was used to determine whether there were any differences between the dominant and nondominant sides and between sexes for elbow extension range of motion and for sensory responses on the numeric pain rating scale when performing the MNT 1. A χ2 analysis was used to determine whether there were any differences between sexes and between dominant and nondominant upper extremities for sensory-response location, sensory-response type, and structural differentiation for raters 1 and 2. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC2,3) was used to determine the intertester and intratester reliability for the degrees of elbow extension attained during testing. Results Reliability for degrees of elbow extension and strength of the sensory response was excellent (ICC2,3 ˃ 0.75) and substantial (κ ≥ 0.68), respectively. Resting scapular position and all other components of the MNT 1 demonstrated statistically significant side-to-side differences and κ values ranging from 0.23 to 0.88. Conclusion Elbow extension and magnitude of sensory response are reliable components of the MNT 1 that are not different between the dominant and nondominant sides in the asymptomatic population.
International global health education for doctor of physical therapy students: a scoping review

The topic of international global health (IGH) education for Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students in the United States (US) has become more popular in recent years. Despite the expanding inter...
The Process of Playful Learning in Higher Education: A Phenomenological Study

Higher education faculty strive to adopt pedagogical approaches that generate student engagement, motivation, and quality learning experiences. The literature on play has much to offer higher education. However, playful pedagogy remains an uncommon approach in education and is often represented in the literature as a practice utilized for a singular purpose and not as an underlying teaching philosophy. This phenomenological study examines the meaning of students’ experiences of play as a foundation to learning. The themes that emerge are: 1) play is underutilized and devalued in higher education, 2) play cultivates relational safety and a warm classroom environment, 3) play removes barriers to learning, 4) play awakens students’ positive affect and motivation, and 5) play ignites an open and engaged learning stance to enhance learning.
Thinking Theoretically about the Kurds

Thinking theoretically about three important and recent events affecting the Kurds can help us to understand better their political experiences.1 These events include (1) The breakdown of the Turki...
Context-aware Transformer transducer for speech recognition

End-to-end (E2E) automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems often have difficulty recognizing uncommon words, that appear infrequently in the training data. One promising method, to improve the recognition accuracy on such rare words, is to latch onto personalized/contextual information at inference. In this work, we present a novel context-aware transformer transducer (CATT) network that improves the state-of-the-art transformer-based ASR system by taking advantage of such contextual signals. Specifically, we propose a multi-head attention-based context-biasing network, which is jointly trained with the rest of the ASR sub-networks. We explore different techniques to encode contextual data and to create the final attention context vectors. We also leverage both BLSTM and pretrained BERT based models to encode contextual data and guide the network training. Using an in-house far-field dataset, we show that CATT, using a BERT based context encoder, improves the word error rate of the baseline transformer transducer and outperforms an existing deep contextual model by 24.2% and 19.4% respectively.
Novel Aspects of Aspirin Action

Aspirin acetylates and irreversibly inhibits the enzyme cyclooxygenase (Roth and Majerus, 1975). Recent studies (Patrignani et al., 1982; FitzGerald et al., 1983; Weksler et al., 1983) have clarified the dose-response relationships between aspirin and the production of prostacyclin (PGl2) and thromboxane (Tx)A2, the predominant cyclooxygenase products formed by vascular endothelium and platelets, respectively and indicate that doses of aspirin less than 100 mg have a more pronounced effect on Tx formation both in vivo (Patrignani et al., 1982; FitzGerald et al., 1983) and ex vivo (Weksler et al., 1983). Possible explanations for such “biochemical selectivity” have included differential tissue sensitivity to enzyme inhibition by aspirin and/or accelerated recovery of PGl2 formation by nucleated endothelial cells, a phenomenon demonstrable in culture (Jaffe and Weksler, 1979). To address the possibility that pharmacokinetic variables might also contribute to such dose-related pharmacodynamic effects of aspirin, we have characterized the dose-related kinetics of aspirin and identified a selective mode of drug delivery that relies on platelet acetylation in the presystemic circulation, sparing systemic vascular endothelium from drug exposure.
Stretching the comfort zone

Bruce C. Gibb is organizing a workshop for two groups of scientists that study a similar topic, but rarely get together. The different perspectives they bring and the unusual set up of the meeting will hopefully lead to new ideas, but, as he suggests, they will also lead to the attendees leaving their comfort zones.
Genetics of Plant Pathogenic Coryneform Bacteria

Among Gram-positive bacteria of phytopathogenic interest, including members of the genera Bacillus, Clavibacter, Clostridium, Corynebacterium, Nocardia and Streptomyces, there is little information on genetics, particularly on genetic transfer mechanisms. The coryneform bacteria in the genera Clavibacter and Corynebacterium comprise the major members of Gram-positive phytopathogenic bacteria. Several important developments in genetics have occurred in the coryneform group of bacteria since this topic was last reviewed (10). Most of the advances have been reported within the last year. These include the discovery of a conjugal transfer system for phytopathogenic corynebacteria (3) and transformation of non-phytopathogenic Brevibacterium lactofermentum (18), Corynebacterium callunae (7) and C. glutamicum (6, 11). In addition, cloning vectors, including shuttle vectors for cloning in Escherichia coli (6,7) or Bacillus subtilis (11) have been reported. Thus, there are now a number of genetic systems which offer promise of analyzing the structure and function of genes of interest to plant bacteriologists. However, the usefulness of the vectors for phytopathogens remains to be determined.
Cellular Mechanisms Underlying Behavior*—Neuroethology

Publisher Summary There are many attractions in principle to the use of insects in the study of neural mechanisms underlying behavior-availability, simplicity of neural organization, small numbers of nerve cells, short life cycle, and so forth. Because insects are largely terrestrial and have invaded a very wide variety of environments, they have also evolved many complex behavior patterns. Instinctive behavior is not at all well understood in higher animals, nor is the mechanism of learning, and they must eventually be understood at the cellular level before real progress in neurophysiological understanding of behavior can be achieved. Both have been amply demonstrated to occur in a number of insects and, therefore, insects might be able to play a significant role in fundamental studies on them, just as did Drosophila in genetics. The problem is that research in insect neurobiology proceeds by happenstance, not plan; the whims of investigators, current fashions, and the influence of immediate “key” figures, guide an army consisting entirely of captains—no men, no generals. The most-investigated insect, both neurophysiologically and otherwise, at the present time, is the locust Schistocerca gregaria. Comparable experiments in the case of terrestrial insects are being attempted in the study of locomotion, both of flight and walking, and of singing in crickets. The extent to which these experiments are being successful is considered in this chapter.
Chronic liver disease after acute non-A, non-B viral hepatitis.

Abstract We have analyzed the frequency of chronicity and its distribution according to epidemiologic background following acute non-A, non-B hepatitis. Eighteen of 45 cases (40%) developed chronic liver disease. The incidence of chronicity was significantly higher following transfusion and among drug addicts (54% and 58%) than among patients without obvious source of infection (20%). Chronic active hepatitis developed in 4 of 13 patients (31%) with posttransfusion hepatitis. This lesion was not observed among the addicts or the patients without obvious source for the acute hepatitis.
Rule-based intelligent control with embedded microcontrollers

Fuzzy logic control is being increasingly applied to solve control problems in areas where system complexity, development time and cost are the major issues. In the absence of a system mathematical model, a fuzzy system model is described which is analogous to a human operator's behavior, based on approximate reasoning bound by a minimum set of rules. A set of linguistic fuzzy control rules are set up which are conditional linguistic statements which establish the relationships between the inputs and the outputs. The motor speed is controlled by controlling the armature voltage Va. This technique is used by the author as a fundamental basis for the fuzzy controller synthesis. To comply with the torque demand requirements, the armature current and field currents are maintained at a constant level for motor speeds less than the base speed and the speed is controlled by varying the armature voltage. The field current can be varied to control the speed by maintaining the armature voltage at a constant level for motor speeds higher than the base speed. But, field current is not varied here, since speed control is below the base speed. The armature is supplied with different voltages with the shunt field of the motor permanently connected to a constant exciting voltage. The main supply is ac which is converted to dc by using a bridge circuit. Silicon controlled rectifiers (SCR) are used to vary the mean voltage supplied to the de motor by firing the SCR at varying angles of the input sine wave. The speed of the motor is more or less proportional to the varying supply voltages.
DLPKH - distributed logical public-key hierarchy

Decentralized group key management schemes for supporting secure group communication systems have been studied in the two flavors of contributory key agreement and decentralized key distribution. However, the primary focus has been on the former because the latter have been criticized for additional overheads of establishing secure channels and for the possibility of weak keys produced by the generating entity. In this work we develop a novel decentralized key distribution that uses public-key trees to eliminate the overheads of establishing secure channels and employs a practical approach of partial contribution to minimize the possibility of weak keys. The result is a simple and secure scheme whose performance is significantly better than previous schemes that involve contribution or distribution.
Map of the Galactic Nucleus at 10 µm

The galactic nucleus was mapped at 10 microns with a resolution of a few arc seconds. Four discrete sources were resolved superimposed on an extended background.
Vanilloid-Sensitive Afferents Activate Neurons with Prominent A-Type Potassium Currents in Nucleus Tractus Solitarius

Cranial visceral afferents innervate second-order nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) neurons via myelinated (A-type) and unmyelinated (C-type) axons in the solitary tract (ST). A- and C-type afferents often evoke reflexes with distinct performance differences, especially with regard to their frequency-dependent properties. In horizontal brainstem slices, we used the vanilloid receptor 1 agonist capsaicin (CAP; 100 nm) to identify CAP-sensitive and CAP-resistant ST afferent pathways to second-order NTS neurons and tested whether these two groups of neurons had similar intrinsic potassium currents. ST stimulation evoked monosynaptic EPSCs identified by minimal synaptic jitter (<150 μsec) and divided into two groups: CAP-sensitive ( n = 37) and CAP-resistant ( n = 22). EPSCs in CAP-sensitive neurons had longer latencies (5.1 ± 0.3 vs 3.6 ± 0.3 msec; p = 0.001) but similar jitter ( p = 0.57) compared with CAP-resistant neurons, respectively. Transient outward currents (TOCs) were significantly greater in CAP-sensitive than in CAP-resistant neurons. Steady-state currents were similar in both groups. 4-Aminopyridine or depolarized conditioning blocked the TOC, but tetraethylammonium had no effect. Voltage-dependent activation and inactivation of TOC were consistent with an A-type K+ current, I KA. In current clamp, the activation of I KA reduced neuronal excitability and action potential responses to ST transmission. Our results suggest that the potassium-channel differences of second-order NTS neurons contribute to the differential processing of A- and C-type cranial visceral afferents beginning as early as this first central neuron. I KA can act as a frequency transmission filter and may represent a key target for the modulation of temporal processing of reflex responsiveness such as within the baroreflex arc.
Multicultural Assessment: Principles, Applications, and Examples

Contents: Preface. Part I: A Framework for Multicultural Assessment Training. Standard and Multicultural Assessment. Cultural Differences in Belief Systems. Assessment Bias and Cultural Competence. Multicultural Assessment Practice. Part II: Multicultural Interpretation. Multicultural Interpretation: Orientation and Information Resources. Rorschach and the Rorschach Comprehensive System. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. Thematic Apperception Test. Part III: Practice Examples. G. Wuts, A Singaporean Assessee (MMPI-2). J. Tiemann, A Hispanic-American Assessee (Spanish and English TAT/Rorschach CS Versions). A. Aguilar-Kitibutr, A Filipino-American Assessee. S. Daraglou, Greek Assessees (Rorschach CS).
A Practical Review of the Use of Stents for the Maintenance of Hemodialysis Access

At the end of 2012, more than 402,000 end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients in the United States were receiving hemodialysis (HD) therapy.1 By current estimates, more than 700,000 Americans will have ESRD by 2015.2 HD vascular access dysfunction is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in this population, and results in a significant component of the overall health care cost in the United States.3 4 Arteriovenous (AV) fistula use in HD patients has surpassed alternative access options during the past decade as a result of the National Vascular Access Improvement Initiative, or Fistula First program.5 6 Fistulas are associated with better clinical outcomes and decreased morbidity, including lower infection rates and shorter lengths of hospitalization, compared with AV grafts. However, both AV fistulas and grafts are prone to dysfunction and eventual failure.7 8 Neointimal hyperplasia associated with HD access causes significant morbidity such as disruption of adequate flow rates for HD, suboptimal HD, arm swelling, prolonged bleeding after the removal of dialysis sheaths, extremity swelling caused by diversion of flow, pseudoaneurysms, and frank thrombosis.9 Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) is a standard, first-line treatment for venous stenosis and is known to prolong the lifespan of HD access, but indications such as occlusions, frequent or early restenosis, and PTA-induced rupture have resulted in the frequent use of stents to supplement or replace PTA. Several retrospective series and multicenter, randomized, prospective trials10 11 12 have examined the effectiveness of PTA, bare metal stents (BMS), and stent grafts (SGs) for a variety of indications related to the maintenance of HD access. This article provides guidance on the use of stents to preserve HD access from the perspective of our busy academic practice, as well as an updated review of the relevant published literature.
Whole-procedural radiological accuracy for delivering multi-session gamma knife radiosurgery with a relocatable frame system.

A newly developed Gamma Knife relocatable eXtend frame system has enabled the delivery of multi-session Gamma Knife radiosurgery without the use of skull pin fixation frame system. In this study, we investigate and report for the first time the whole procedural radiological accuracy for administering such treatments. To quantify the radiological alignment, the commonly used Winston-Lutz test was modified and used to determine the device accuracy of the eXtend frame system. Patient setup uncertainties relative to the device were further measured for a series of treatment sessions (n = 58), and then incorporated with the Winston-Lutz test results from individual patient-specific eXtend frame systems. The whole-procedure mean 3D radiological setup uncertainty was determined to be 0.69 ± 0.73 mm (1σ) from all the cases analyzed, and the mean 90% confidence level margins were found to be 0.55, 0.78 and 0.72 mm along the x-, y-, and z-axis, respectively. Our results therefore demonstrated that sub-millimetric radiological accuracy is clinically achievable for multi-session Gamma Knife radiosurgery treatments and a 1 mm margin along the major axes is sufficient for planning multi-session Gamma Knife radiosurgery treatments.
Formulation of a Laminated Shell Theory Incorporating Embedded Distributed Actuators

This paper will describe the formulation of embedded distributed actuators, i.e., shape memory alloy fibers or piezoelectric films. The theories consider the nonlinear strain-temperature-stress coupling for shape memory alloy actuators and the simplifications for analyzing piezoelectric actuators
Alliance A091103 a phase II study of the angiopoietin 1 and 2 peptibody trebananib for the treatment of angiosarcoma.

Introduction Angiosarcomas are rare malignant endothelial cell tumors which have up-regulation of the angiopoietin system [e.g., Tie2 and Angiopoietin 2 (Ang2)]. Trebananib is a novel agent targeting Angiopoietin 1 and Angiopoietin 2.
A theoretical analysis of stress wave propagation in the head under primary blast loading.

Traumatic brain injury due to primary blast loading has become a signature injury in recent military conflicts. Efforts have been made to study the stress wave propagation in the head. However, the relationship of incident pressure, reflected pressure and intracranial pressure is still not clear, and the experimental findings reported in the literature are contradictory. In this article, an analytical model is developed to calculate the stress wave transfer through a multiple-layered structure which is used to mimic the head. The model predicts stress at the scalp-skull and skull-brain interfaces as the functions of reflected pressure, which is further dependent on incident pressure. A numerical model is used to corroborate the theoretical predictions. It is concluded that scalp has an amplification effect on intracranial pressure. If scalp is absent, there exists a critical incident pressure, defined as P cr at approximately 16 kPa. When peak incident pressure σ in is higher than 16 kPa, the pressure at the skull-brain interface is greater than σ in; otherwise, it is lower than σ in. Language: en
Genetic variation and task specialization in the desert leaf-cutter ant, Acromyrmex versicolor

The genetic diversity in social insect colonies that is generated by multiple mating or multiple queens has been hypothesized to promote worker task specialization and therefore facilitate division of labour. However, few studies have actually examined the mechanisms by which genotype may influence individual worker behaviour. In this study, we dissect possible genetic effects on worker task performance in the desert leaf-cutter ant. We hypothesize that genotype could affect worker behaviour via (1) the rate of age-related task switching (age polyethism schedule), (2) individual task preference, and/or (3) task performance rates. To discriminate among these possible mechanisms, we generated composite colonies of workers from different genetic sources and followed the behaviour of individually marked workers over their lifetimes. We found significant differences among matrilines (offspring of different queens) in overall task performance. In particular, we found a negative covariance in likelihood of foraging versus tending fungus inside the nest. Workers of different matrilines also varied in the age of transition from inside the nest to foraging, but did not vary in task performance rates. Our results suggest that division of labour in this system is affected by genetic influences on individual task preference and age-related task choice, but not on variation in activity level.
Fracture Propagation in Underwater Gas Pipelines

Two full-scale ductile fracture propagation experiments on segments of line pipe pressurized with nitrogen gas have been conducted underwater at a depth of 40 ft (12 m) to evaluate the ductile fracture phenomenon in underwater pipelines. The pipes were 22-in. (559-mm) diameter and 42-in. (1067-mm) diameter. Fracture velocities were measured and arrest conditions were observed. The overpressure in the water surrounding the pipe resulting from the release of the compressed nitrogen gas contained in the pipe was measured in both experiments. The overpressure in the water reduces the stress in the pipe wall and thus slows down the fracture. In addition, the water surrounding the pipe appears to be more effective than soil backfill in producing a slower fracture velocity. Both of these effects suggest a greater tendency toward arrest for a pipeline underwater than would be the case for the same pipeline buried in soil onshore. Further verification of this effect is planned and a modified version of the existing model for predicting ductile fracture in buried pipelines will be developed for underwater pipelines.
Cationic Dyes With Mitochondrial Specificity For Phototherapy Of Malignant Tumors

Photochemotherapy (PCT) is a form of cancer therapy that employs a drug called a photosensitizer, which binds to tumor and becomes cytotoxic by the absorption of radiant energy. In order for a photosensitizer to be clinically useful, it must be non-toxic to normal tissues, be selectively taken up and/or retained by malignant tissue, be activated by light that can penetrate deeply into both tumor and tumor involved normal tissues, and be photochemically efficient.
Induced population growth and induced technological progress: their interaction in the accelerating stage.

A simple model of Malthusian population growth combined with population‐induced technological progress generates accelerating growth. The model may be relevant for a first stage of growth in which natural resource limitations can be overcome through technological progress; it is not applicable to a later stage in which resource constraints are more resistant. Parameter values are roughly inferred from historical experience. Exogenously more rapid population growth initially depresses income, perhaps for up to several centuries, then raises it without limit. More rapid population growth is desirable only when the social discount rate is less than the ratio of the parameters for induced technical progress and static diminishing returns. Imposed population fluctuations cause inverse movements in incomes, so that induced progress is very difficult to detect empirically even for population fluctuations up to 500 years.
Intermediacy of an N-heterocyclic carbene complex in the catalytic C-H activation of a substituted benzimidazole.

An N-heterocyclic carbene complex was found to be the active catalyst in the Rh(I)-catalyzed intramolecular coupling of an alkenyl group to a C−H bond of a substituted benzimidazole. Kinetic studie...
Centromere pairing – tethering partner chromosomes in meiosis I

In meiosis, homologous chromosomes face the obstacle of finding, holding onto and segregating away from their partner chromosome. There is increasing evidence, in a diverse range of organisms, that centromere–centromere interactions that occur in late prophase are an important mechanism in ensuring segregation fidelity. Centromere pairing appears to initiate when homologous chromosomes synapse in meiotic prophase. Structural proteins of the synaptonemal complex have been shown to help mediate centromere pairing, but how the structure that maintains centromere pairing differs from the structure of the synaptonemal complex along the chromosomal arms remains unknown. When the synaptonemal complex proteins disassemble from the chromosome arms in late prophase, some of these synaptonemal complex components persist at the centromeres. In yeast and Drosophila these centromere-pairing behaviors promote the proper segregation of chromosome partners that have failed to become linked by chiasmata. Recent studies of mouse spermatocytes have described centromere pairing behaviors that are similar in several respects to what has been described in the fly and yeast systems. In humans, chromosomes that fail to experience crossovers in meiosis are error-prone and are a major source of aneuploidy. The finding that centromere pairing is a conserved phenomenon raises the possibility that it may play a role in promoting the segregation fidelity of non-exchange chromosome pairs in humans.
Management of organizational behavior

The article presents a review of the book “Management of Organizational Behavior: Utilizing Human Resources,” by Paul Hersey and Kenneth H. Blanchard.
Sudden stratospheric warming event signatures in daytime ExB drift velocities in the Peruvian and Philippine longitude sectors for January 2003 and 2004

[1] This paper first describes the technique that has been developed to obtain realistic, daytime, vertical ExB drift velocities in the equatorial ionosphere using two ground-based magnetometers, one on the magnetic equator and the other located ±6°–9° away in latitude. This technique is then employed to study the unique ExB drift signatures associated with sudden stratospheric warming events (SSW) in both the Peruvian and Philippine longitude sectors, occurring in January 2003 and January 2004. It is found that the semidiurnal shaped signature first appears in the Peruvian sector and 3 days later appears in the Philippine sector. In both sectors, the ExB drift signature lasts for approximately 5 days.
KINETICS OF THE CHROMIUM(II) REDUCTIONS OF CHELATED AMINO ACIDO-BIS(ETHYLENE-DIAMINE)COBALT(III) COMPLEXES

Abstract The kinetics of Cr2+(aq) reductions of glycinato-, D,L-alanato, D,L-phenylalanato-, and D,L-leucinatobis-(ethylenediamine)cobalt(III) ions have been investigated. The rate law is of the form d(ln[Co(III)]/dt = k[Cr2+], where the rate constant k(M−1sec−1) and associated activation parameters δHδ(kcal mol−1 and δSδ (cal deg −1mol−1) in parentheses, are respectively 1.65 · 0.06 (9.7 · 0.1, -25 · 1), 0.367 · 0.008 (10.9 · 04,-24 ·1), 0.529 · 0.021 (11.2 · 0.4, -22 · 1); and 0.358 · 0.019 (11.5 · 0.3, -22 · 1) at 298·K and ·[CIO·] = 1.0 M. The reactions are all inner-sphere.
Management of care or management of face: Indirectness in Nurse Practitioner/patient interactions

Abstract This paper explores the use of indirect speech in medical encounters. Drawing on more recent definitions of indirect speech including discursive indirectness (Walker et al., 2011; Geis, 1995) and indirect addressivity (Lempert, 2010; Kiesling and Gosh Johnson, 2010), I examine indirect speech in medical visits between a Nurse Practitioner (NP) and patients who have been hospitalized with diabetes-related complications. I outline two ways in which indirectness functions in the data: the NP's indirect challenges of patients’ assertions regarding their ability to manage their disease and the NP's use of ventriloquism ( Tannen, 2010 ) to provide advice and medical directives to the patients. Indirectness on the part of the NP may be viewed not only as avoidance of face-threatening acts (i.e. for the benefit of the patients) but also as a second order indexicality, projecting her own identity as a competent Nurse Practitioner who engages in the patient-centered medical approach.
“Race” For America 2008: Breaking Through on a Different Track

Gwen Ifill’s The Breakthrough and Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson’s The Battle for America 2008 are among the most significant of the many journalistic accounts reflecting on the 2008 Presidential campaign. Irrespective of their different approaches to, and framing of, the presidential election, both Balz/Johnson and Ifill provide those critical elements scholars writing in a variety of qualitative traditions seek to provide most: thick description, context, perspective, insight, and ultimately a sense of meaning about the phenomenon being investigated. Balz/Johnson and Ifill organize their narrative accounts of Obama’s rise to prominence and eventual election in ways that differently highlight the complex terrain of today’s racial politics in the U.S. Balz/Johnson frame the election through the traditional eyes of a Washington insider; The “Battle,” accurately reflects this dominant narrative structure. Prior to delving into the book’s “main event”—the Obama campaign and its rise to dominance— the book begins providing an overview of the major players in both the Democratic and Republican Party primaries. In this brief prelude, entitled Take Off, the authors frame each candidate in relation to their respective opponents and to the battle itself. Obama, the calm, cool, observer; and McCain, the warrior, walking with the self-assured swagger of a battletested general. The third player briefly described in the book’s opening scene is, curiously, not Hillary Clinton, but George W. Bush. In Balz/Johnson’s view, Bush and his failed policies were what each of the candidates ran against. After this initial prelude comes a first set of three chapters, titled, “They’re Off.” Each chapter chronicles how the candidates arrived at a position where they were poised to compete for the American Presidency. Obama’s progress is portrayed as quick, influenced by a series of revelations about his presidential potential: an uncompetitive 2004 Senate Qual Sociol (2012) 35:229–235 DOI 10.1007/s11133-012-9221-9