cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The artificial Urinary Sphincter; Review and progress.

Urinary incontinence, the inability to retain urine, creates a misery that cannot be overestimated. The foul odor emanating from the patient repels family and friends to such an extent that it affects the social life of the sufferer. Total incontinence, that is, the continuous loss of urine as opposed to the loss associated with coughing or sneezing, is the most severe type of the malady. For such individuals, the artificial sphincter offers hope for a new life. Incidences of total urinary incontinence as a result of radical prostatectomy in the treatment of carcinoma of the prostate have been reported in the range of 5-50%. Incontinence may occur as a result of injury to the proximal urethra, and it is usually present to some extent in patients with neurogenic bladder dysfunction caused by spinal cord injury, myelomeningocele, or other conditions that affect the micturition centers of the nervous system. Some patients whose urinary tract is completely obstructed and who are therefore unable to urinate, as for example individuals who sustain traumatic complete transection of the urethra with resulting obstructive fibrosis of the urethra, or those patients whose neurogenic spastic sphincter inhibits satisfactory voiding, may benefit from reconstructive surgery or ablation of their pathologic sphincter in order to restore urination. Rehabilitation of such patients can then be complete with implantation of an artificial sphincter to provide urinary control. The alternatives for management include diapers, the placement of external collecting or occlusive devices, or major surgery in which the intestinal tract is used either for conducting the urine to an abdominal collecting bag or as a bladder substitute that is periodically emptied by catheterization.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Heparin protein interactions

To exert their various biological activities, glycosaminoglycans such as heparin often bind to specific proteins; over the years, a number of heparin-binding proteins have been identified. In Table 1, we have listed some of the heparin-binding proteins. These are grouped according to the functions they perform. For example, the heparin-binding growth factors presumably have a common function, e.g. all act as mitogens and have very similar sequences. The matrix proteins fibronectin, laminin, vitronectin, and thrombospondin have very different structures, but all can mediate the substrate adhesion of eucaryotic cells.
Mental Stress Induced Mental Injury Under the Louisiana Workers' Compensation Law: Striking a Right Social Policy Balance

The Louisiana State workers’ compensation law strives to balance the interests of employers and their employees for the benefit of the larger society. On the one hand, employers must be encouraged to be in business by protecting them from injured employees’ lawsuits that could bankrupt them. On the other hand, the employees must be guaranteed some measure of compensation for injury or illness they suffer in the workplace. Both outcomes are beneficial social policy goals. However, the balance is more delicate in cases of mental stress induced mental injury or illness without any physical injury (i.e. mental/mental injury) partly because it can be easily feigned. To guard against feigned mental/mental injury while supposedly allowing genuine mental/mental injury claim, the Louisiana law raises the standard for recovery in this kind of claims too high. A representative survey of these claims shows a disproportionately high rate of denial than recovery even in genuine mental/mental injury cases, raising the question of whether a right balance is being struck between the interests of employers and employees in ways supportive of the social policy goals of the workers’ compensation scheme. While the one case examined in which recovery was allowed had a third party element, it is unlikely that this could begin a trend in more recovery for genuine mental/mental injury claims. Therefore, the Louisiana legislature should revisit the standard along the lines suggested in this article to create a right balance in light of the beneficial social policy goals.
The Significance of the Veins in the Determination of Cerebral Blood Volume in Clinical Cases

The changes in the intracranial blood volume (ICBV) and the cerebral blood flow (CBF) caused by decompression were monitored in clinical cases. The methods for decompression were the intravenous injection of glycerol and the lowering of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure by ventricular drainage. Changes in the ICBV were monitored in 11 patients by continuous extracranial recording of gamma activity, while monitoring CSF pressure, after the intravenous administration of 99m Tc-labelled red blood cells. The CBF was measured in 6 cases by the 133Xe inhalation method. Using these methods the changes in the ICBV were not conclusive in 3 cases of CSF drainage and 6 cases with glycerol infusion. In the other cases, the ICBV increased as a result of CSF drainage and was decreased by glycerol infusion. This indicated that there was resistance to flow distal to the vascular bed which was diminished probably by the removal of extravascular fluid after glycerol infusion, and was not diminished by simple decompression following CSF drainage. The CBF generally increased following both methods of decompression. However, glycerol infusion increased the CBF much more than CSF drainage, despite the fact that the former decreased CSF pressure less than the latter. This greater increase in the CBF following glycerol infusion also suggested the occurrence of a decrease in resistance on the venous side. The presence of such a resistance indicates that veins may have an important role in the mechanism for the determination of the ICBV in clinical cases.
Medical Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus.

In the United States, 57.9% of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) have at least 1 diabetes-related complication and 14.3% of patients with diabetes have 3 or more diabetes-related complications.[1][1] Achieving glycemic control in patients with DM reduces the development and progression of
Stereoselective cyclotetramerization of a 3-(Hydroxymethyl)salicylaldehyde

Both 3-(hydroxymethyl)-5-methylsalicylaldehyde and its acetonide condense in the presence of hydrogen chloride in ether to form macrocyclic S4-symmetric tetraacetal 2. The reaction is completely oligo- and stereoselective, forming only the tetramer and only the achiral (R,S,R,S)-stereoisomer. Acid-catalyzed equilibration studies and molecular mechanics calculations indicate that the stereoselectivity is thermodynamic in origin. In the crystal the saddle-shaped molecules of 2 form coaxial stacks reminiscent of the packing of Pringles potato chips.
Non-covalent NRF2 Activation Confers Greater Cellular Protection than Covalent Activation

Summary The transcription factor NRF2 confers cellular protection by maintaining cellular redox homeostasis and proteostasis. Basal NRF2 levels are normally low due to KEAP1-mediated ubiquitylation and subsequent proteasomal degradation. KEAP1, a substrate adaptor protein of a KEAP1-CUL3-RBX1 E3 ubiquitin ligase complex, contains a critical cysteine (C151) that is modified by electrophiles or oxidants, resulting in inactivation of the E3 ligase and inhibition of NRF2 degradation. Currently, nearly all NRF2 inducers are electrophilic molecules that possess unwanted off-target effects due to their reactive nature. Here, we report a group of NRF2 inducers, ent-kaurane diterpenoid geopyxins, with and without C151 reactive electrophilic moieties. Among 16 geopyxins, geopyxin F, a non-electrophilic NRF2 activator, showed enhanced cellular protection relative to an electrophilic NRF2 activator, geopyxin C. To our knowledge, this is the first detailed structure-activity relationship study of covalent versus non-covalent NRF2 activators, showing the promise of non-covalent NRF2 activators as potential therapeutic compounds.
Relapse Rate and Long-Term Survival of AL Amyloidosis Patients Treated with High-Dose Melphalan and Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation (HDM/SCT).

Abstract AL amyloidosis is a plasma cell dyscrasia in which clonal immunoglobulin light chains misfold and are deposited in tissues, leading to organ failure in untreated patients, with median survival of only ~1 year. Oral melphalan and prednisone is minimally effective for the disease, with an increase in median survival to ~1.5 years, and a low rate of hematologic complete responses (CRs). Twelve years ago, we began treating patients with AL amyloidosis with HDM/SCT. In the plasma cell malignancy multiple myeloma, this approach produces hematologic CRs and improves survival, but is not curative, as all patients eventually relapse. In AL amyloidosis, the relapse rate and long-term survival have not been studied, but early results are promising, with most centers reporting CR rates of ~40% and excellent survival in responding patients. To address the durability and long-term results of treatment with HDM/SCT, here we report on the outcome for AL amyloidosis patients treated at Boston Medical Center with HDM/SCT >10 years ago. The first autologous transplant took place on July 18, 1994 in two years, by July 18, 1996, 43 patients with AL amyloidosis without myeloma or other hematologic disease had been treated with HDM/SCT, receiving 100–200 mg/m2 melphalan depending upon age and protocol. Of the 43 patients treated in this 2 yr period, 76% of the patients were male, 81% had a lambda monoclonal disease, and their median age was 52 (range, 29–71). In these first 43 patients, the 100 day peri-transplant mortality rate was 16%. Nineteen of the 43 patients (44%) achieved a hematologic CR after treatment. In annual followup, 4 of 19 patients (21%) eventually relapsed. Fourteen of 43 patients (33%) are still alive; 12 of 19 patients who achieved a CR (63%) are still alive, while only 2 of 34 patients who did not (6%) are still alive. Although there were fewer (8) patients with kappa clonal disease, they had a better outcome, with an 87% CR rate vs. 34% for lambda (P=0.006); 75% of the kappa patients are still alive, vs. 23% of the lambda patients (P=0.005). The median survival of all 43 patients is 4.7 years. Thus, treatment of AL amyloidosis patients with HDM/SCT produces a high CR rate that is durable and is associated with excellent 10 year survival, particularly for those patients achieving a hematologic CR and for patients with kappa clonal disease. Ongoing clinical trials of HDM/SCT, along with strategies to reduce morbidity and mortality and to improve the CR rate, incorporating additional cycles of HDM/SCT or new anti-plasma cell agents, appear to be well-justified by these results.
Charting a Course Through Uncertain Environments: SEA Uses Past Problems to Avoid Future Failures

A common problem for developers is applications exhibiting new bugs after deployment. Many of these bugs can be traced to unexpected network, operating system, and file system differences that cause program executions that were successful in a development environment to fail once deployed. Preventing these bugs is difficult because it is impractical to test an application in every environment. Enter Simulating Environmental Anomalies (SEA), a technique that utilizes evidence of one application's failure in a given environment to generate tests that can be applied to other applications, to see whether they suffer from analogous faults. In SEA, models of unusual properties extracted from interactions between an application, A, and its environment guide simulations of another application, B, running in the anomalous environment. This reveals faults B may experience in this environment without the expense of deployment. By accumulating these anomalies, applications can be tested against an increasing set of problematic conditions. We implemented a tool called CrashSimulator, which uses SEA, and evaluated it against Linux applications selected from coreutils and the Debian popularity contest. Our tests found a total of 63 bugs in 31 applications with effects including hangs, crashes, data loss, and remote denial of service conditions.
Chirality and Surface Bonding Correlation in Atomically Precise Metal Nanoclusters

Chirality is ubiquitous in nature and occurs at all length scales. The development of applications for chiral nanostructures is rising rapidly. With the recent achievements of atomically precise nanochemistry, total structures of ligand-protected Au and other metal nanoclusters (NCs) are successfully obtained, and the origins of chirality are discovered to be associated with different parts of the cluster, including the surface ligands (e.g., swirl patterns), the organic-inorganic interface (e.g., helical stripes), and the kernel. Herein, a unified picture of metal-ligand surface bonding-induced chirality for the nanoclusters is proposed. The different bonding modes of M-X (where M = metal and X = the binding atom of ligand) lead to different surface structures on nanoclusters, which in turn give rise to various characteristic features of chirality. A comparison of Au-thiolate NCs with Au-phosphine ones further reveals the important roles of surface bonding. Compared to the Au-thiolate NCs, the Ag/Cu/Cd-thiolate systems exhibit different coordination modes between the metal and the thiolate. Other than thiolate and phosphine ligands, alkynyls are also briefly discussed. Several methods of obtaining chiroptically active nanoclusters are introduced, such as enantioseparation by high-performance liquid chromatography and enantioselective synthesis. Future perspectives on chiral NCs are also proposed.
On Decision Making In Human-Machine Networks

Human behavior while decision making is quite complex and uncertain. There are fundamental differences between traditional decision making systems based on sensor data and systems where the agents in the decision making process include humans. The modeling and analysis of human-machine collaborative decision making has become an important research area due to the potential applications in a variety of complex autonomous systems. Incorporating human inputs with physical sensors can be advantageous in enhancing situational assessment for certain situations, and at the same time, brings in technical challenges such as how to characterize the human decision making behavior. In this paper, we discuss some aspects of human-machine networks by focusing on three schemes that include collaborative human decision making with random local thresholds, decision fusion in integrated human-machine networks and binary decision making under cognitive biases. In each case, we aim to optimize the system performance based on appropriate modeling of the human behavior. We also provide a summary of current challenges and research directions related to this problem domain.
The impact of uncorrected mild aortic insufficiency at the time of left ventricular assist device implantation.

ABSTRACT Objective To investigate the progression of uncorrected mild aortic insufficiency (AI) and its impact on survival and functional status following left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. Methods We retrospectively reviewed 694 consecutive patients who underwent implantation of continuous-flow LVAD between January 2006 and March 2018. Pre-LVAD transthoracic echocardiography identified 111 patients with mild AI and 493 with trace or no AI. To adjust for differences in preoperative factors propensity score matching was used, resulting in 101 matched patients in each of the Mild AI and No AI groups. Results Although both groups showed similar survival rates (p = 0.58), the Mild AI group experienced higher incidence of readmission caused by heart failure (Hazard ratio = 2.62, 95% CI: 1.42-4.69, p Conclusions Patients with uncorrected mild AI had a higher risk of progression to moderate or greater AI after LVAD implantation with worse functional status and higher incidence of readmission caused by heart failure compared to patients without AI. Further investigations into the safety and efficacy of concomitant aortic valve procedures for mild AI at the time of LVAD implant are warranted in order to improve patients’ quality of life, considering the longer LVAD use as destination therapy and bridge to transplant with the new US heart allocation system.
The role of synergy and antagonism in designing multidrug adaptive chemotherapy schedules

Chemotherapeutic resistance via the mechanism of competitive release of resistant tumor cell subpopulations is a major problem associated with cancer treatments and one of the main causes of tumor recurrence. Often, chemoresistance is mitigated by using multidrug schedules (two or more combination therapies) that can act synergistically, additively, or antagonistically on the heterogeneous population of cells as they evolve. In this paper, we develop a three-component evolutionary game theory model to design two-drug adaptive schedules (timing and dose levels associated with C1(t) and C2(t)) that mitigate chemoresistance and delay tumor recurrence in an evolving collection of tumor cells with two resistant subpopulations: R1 (resistant to drug 1), and R2 (resistant to drug 2). A key parameter, e, takes us from synergistic (e>0), to additive (e=0), to antagonistic (e
Interacting particle systems as stochastic social dynamics

arXiv:1309.6766v1 [math.ST] 26 Sep 2013 Bernoulli 19(4), 2013, 1122–1149 DOI: 10.3150/12-BEJSP04 Interacting particle systems as stochastic social dynamics DAVID ALDOUS Statistics Dept., U.C. Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. E-mail: aldous@stat.berkeley.edu; url: www.stat.berkeley.edu/˜aldous/ The style of mathematical models known to probabilists as Interacting Particle Systems and exemplified by the Voter, Exclusion and Contact processes have found use in many academic disciplines. In many such disciplines the underlying conceptual picture is of a social network, where individuals meet pairwise and update their “state” (opinion, activity etc) in a way de- pending on the two previous states. This picture motivates a precise general setup we call Finite Markov Information Exchange (FMIE) processes. We briefly describe a few less familiar mod- els (Averaging, Compulsive Gambler, Deference, Fashionista) suggested by the social network picture, as well as a few familiar ones. Keywords: epidemic; interacting particle system; Markov chain; social network; voter model 1. Introduction What is the most broad-ranging currently active field of applied probability? Measur- ing breadth by the number of different academic disciplines where it appears, it seems hard to beat a field appearing in Physics, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, Economics and Finance, Psychology and Sociology, Population Genetics and Epidemi- ology and Ecology. Curiously, the field has no good name, though readers of Bernoulli will most likely know it, under the continuing influence of Liggett’s 1985 book [37], as Interacting Particle Systems. It turns out that mathematically similar toy models of different real-world entities have been repeatedly re-invented in the different disciplines mentioned above, and literally thousands of papers have been written since 2000 on discipline-dependent variant models intended as more realistic. Rather than attempting a brief overview of the whole field as it stands today (on which I am certainly not an expert), let me take an opposite approach, imagining starting with a blank slate. I will set out in the next section a particular conceptual setting – what sorts of things are we trying to model? – then a particular technical setup, and then indicate what sort of mathematical results one might seek. Given this manifesto, the rest of the article describes some basic models, gives pointers to the existing literature and presents This is an electronic reprint of the original article published by the ISI/BS in Bernoulli, 2013, Vol. 19, No. 4, 1122–1149. This reprint differs from the original in pagination and typographic detail. c 2013 ISI/BS
Establishment and Maintenance of Epithelial Polarization

For the movement of solutes across epithelial layers to be effective, it must have the potential to be vectorial, which in turn means that epithelial layers must be polarized in the apical-basolateral axis. Of course, this is indeed the case—most ion channels and transporters localize specifically to either the apical or the basal membrane domains. The polarized distribution of membrane components is the result of a finely balanced developmental program, involving an antagonistic relationship between two apical protein complexes, PAR and CRUMBS, and a basolateral protein complex, SCRIBBLE. Their interactions specify the position of the adherens and tight junctions, and thereby the boundary between the apical and basolateral membrane domains. The three complexes also interact to shape the epithelial cell’s microfilament and microtubule cytoskeletons, and in doing so control the polarized delivery of cargo to specific membrane domains. The effects of the complexes on the cytoskeleton are heavily dependent upon the activities of atypical protein kinase C (aPKC), and on small GTPases of the Rho family. In combination these proteins mediate many of the effects of the complexes upon the cytoskeleton, through phosphorylation of cytoskeletal components, or through activation of cytoskeletal remodeling proteins such as N-WASP. Emphasizing the importance of epithelial polarization in pathophysiology, the three components of the SCRIBBLE complex, the Scribble, Dlg, and Lgl proteins, are all known tumor suppressors. Their antagonism of oncogenesis in part reflects the importance of the basal and lateral membranes for the prevention of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, a common feature of metastasis.
PET/CT Gating Workflow Efficiency Improvements using Continuous Bed Motion Imaging Techniques.

2628 Objectives Continuous Bed Motion (CBM) technology has created a new way of running PET/CT scans. There are many workflow improvements using CBM compared to tradiational Step and Shoot (SS) imaging. One key improvement is reduced time for gated protocol setup and imaging enabling more routine use of respiratory motion correction. This study assesses the impact of improvements using CBM vs. traditional SS techniques. Methods Protocols were setup and all patients imaged using a Siemens Biograph mCT with FlowMotion CBM technology. To evaluate improvements in gating, 2 respiratory gated protocols of the lungs were created, one using SS and one CBM. The total scan time for each PET protocol were recorded and compared. Technologists were asked to set up a respiratory gated protocol using SS and CBM protocols. Protocol setup time was recorded and the number of mouse clicks counted during set up. Results Total scan time for CBM respiratory gated protocols were less than those for similar SS protocols. The average reduction of scan time when using CBM compared to SS was 23% and was statistically significant (p 0.05). Average scan time and setup savings of 2.54 minutes was observed when using CBM. Conclusions CBM respiratory gated protocols are more efficient than SS respiratory gated protocols. When using CBM to create a gated respiratory image an exact range size can be selected to cover the area of interest instead of being limited to ranges of multiples of beds, which reduces the scan time of the gated image allowing more routine use. Patient Protocol setup times are decreased by using CBM vs. SS. The timely manner of CBM gating allows for disease specific imaging without interfering with clinical workflow. Research Support Funding for this research was provided by departmental funds of the Molecular Imaging and Translationals Research Program in the Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Tennessee.
The Rise of Molecular Glues

2021 marks the 30th anniversary of the revelation that cyclosporin A and FK506 act in a way previously not seen—as “molecular glues” that induce neo-protein–protein associations. As a torrent of new molecular-glue probes and medicines are fueling interest in this field, I explore the arc of this story.
Mechanical exfoliation of large area 2D materials from vdW crystals

Abstract Monolayer two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), provide a versatile platform for exploring novel physical phenomena at the 2D limit, and show great promise for next-generation electronic, optoelectronic, and quantum devices. To overcome the weak van der Waals interaction in the bulk layered crystal and achieve high quality single-crystal monolayers is a crucial task in top-down mechanical exfoliation. Tape exfoliation has long been the dominant approach to obtain single-crystal monolayers with high quality. More recently, there has been a fast development of using metals as an intermediate to enhance monolayer area and exfoliation yield. This review will provide a survey of mechanical exfoliation strategies of tape and metal-assisted exfoliations, particularly for the most popular graphene and TMDC materials. The interfacial interaction and lateral strain between monolayer and other materials such as oxides and metals play a crucial role in monolayer selectivity and yield. The challenges and opportunities will be highlighted for future development of exfoliating procedures to achieve large-area and high-quality 2D material monolayers and artificial stacks.
Cannabis sativa as a Treatment for Obesity: From Anti-Inflammatory Indirect Support to a Promising Metabolic Re-Establishment Target

Introduction: Obesity is defined as an excess of accumulation of fat that can be harmful to health. Storage of excess fat in the adipose tissue triggers an inflammatory process, which makes obesity a low-grade chronic inflammatory disease. Obesity is considered a complex and multifactorial disease; hence, no intervention strategy appears to be an ideal treatment for all individuals. Therefore, new therapeutic alternatives are often studied for the treatment of this disease. Currently, herbal medicines are gaining ground in the treatment of obesity and its comorbidities. In this context, much attention is being paid to Cannabis sativa derivatives, and their therapeutic functions are being widely studied, including in treating obesity. Objective: Highlight the pharmacological properties of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), Δ9-tetrahydrocannabidinol (THC), and cannabidiol (CBD), the predominant isolated components of Cannabis sativa, as well as its therapeutic potential in the treatment of obesity. Methods: This is a narrative review that shows the existing scientific evidence on the clinical application of Cannabis sativa as a possible treatment for obesity. Data collection was performed in the PubMed electronic database. The following word combinations were used: Cannabis and obesity, Cannabis sativa and obesity, THCV and obesity, THC and obesity, CBD and obesity, and Cannabis sativa and inflammation. Results: Evidence shows that Cannabis sativa derivatives have therapeutic potential due to their anti-inflammatory properties. In addition, people who use cannabis have a lower body mass index than those who do not, making the plant an option to reduce and reverse inflammation and comorbidities in obesity. Conclusion: It is concluded that phytocannabinoids derived from Cannabis sativa have therapeutic potential due to its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and neuroprotective properties, making the plant a study option to reduce and reverse inflammation and comorbidities associated with obesity.
Sonographic Imaging of Surgically Transpositioned Ovaries in the Treatment of Rectal Carcinoma

Pelvic radiation therapy in patients with advanced rectal carcinoma improves oncological outcomes, but often raises infertility concerns in reproductive-age patients. Laparoscopic ovarian transposi...
Wide area control for improving stability of a power system with plug-in electric vehicles

The integration of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) to power systems has impacts on the stability characteristics of the integrated systems. Wide area controllers (WACs) are used in power systems to provide auxiliary control signals to the generators or other devices in order to improve the stability of the system. The necessity of WACs becomes more relevant during grid-to-vehicle (G2V) or vehicle-to-grid (V2G) power transactions, that is, charging and discharging cycles of the PEVs respectively. The design of a WAC for providing damping to three generators in a 12-bus power system with PEVs is presented in this study. Each WAC signal is obtained based on the aggregation of modulated local and remote power system stabilisers' signals. The modulation indices associated with those signals are tuned using the particle swarm optimisation technique to provide the maximum damping to the three generators. The 12-bus power system with the PEVs and WAC has been implemented on the real-time digital simulator (RTDS). Typical results have been presented to show the improvement in the stability of the power system when PEVs are integrated using transient simulations and Prony analysis.
Ultrastructural studies of renal peritubular amyloid experimentally induced in guinea pigs. 3. Blood and lymphatic capillaries.

Abstract The fine structure of renal peritubular blood and lymphatic capillaries was studied in amyloidotic and control guinea pigs. The majority of peritubular blood capillaries possessed a “fenestrated endothelium,” but “continuous capillaries” were also occasionally found in this area. Lymphatic capillaries had a “continuous endothelium” but “discontinuous basement membrane,” and were associated with “lymphatic anchoring filaments” as usual. The frequency of amyloid deposits was comparable in both the blood (either fenestrated or continuous) and lymphatic capillaries. The approximation of the amyloid deposits to the cells and the seemingly intimate ultrastructural relationship between cells and the tufts of well-oriented amyloid fibrils suggested that the capillary endothelial cells and even more particularly the pericytes might contribute to the formation of amyloid fibrils. In addition, the ultrastructural similarities and differences that exist amongst amyloid fibrils, lymphatic anchoring filaments, and a variety of connective tissue microfibrils were discussed.
Predictors of locally advanced and metastatic disease in patients with small renal masses

UNLABELLED: Study Type - Prognosis (case series) Level of Evidence 4 What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? There is a small cohort of patients who have small renal masses with metastatic potential, yet risk factors for having this more aggressive disease are largely unknown. In a large sampling of the US population, older patients and men were more likely to have small renal masses at an advanced stage. OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence metastatic and locally advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in the US population with small renal masses (SRMs). To determine what patient and tumour characteristics predict having more advanced SRMs. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) registry, we identified 14, 962 patients who were diagnosed between 1988 and 2007 with RCC ≤ 3 cm in size. Patients were separated by stage into those with metastatic, locally advanced and localized disease. Differences in baseline characteristics between patients in these three groups were assessed. After controlling for age, sex, grade, tumour size and year of surgery, a logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the likelihood of having non-localized disease. RESULTS: In the SEER cohort, 13, 574 (90.7%) patients with RCC ≤ 3 cm in size were diagnosed with localized disease, 938 (6.3%) patients had invasion beyond the kidney into regional lymph nodes or nearby organs, and 450 (3.0%) patients had distant metastasis. Patients with metastasis were older (65.9 years) compared to those with localized disease (59.5 years) (P 70 years (odds ratio, OR, 2.42; 95% confidence interval, CI, 2.03-2.88), male sex (OR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.33-1.70) and tumour size >2.5 (OR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.25-1.58). CONCLUSIONS: A small subset (3%) of patients in the USA with RCC ≤ 3 cm in size have distant metastasis. Older patients, men and those with tumours 2.5-3.0 cm in size have a greater probability of presenting with non-localized disease . Clinicians should be aware that there is a risk of metastases in patients with SRMs and also familiarize themselves with the characteristics associated with advanced disease.
Managing dynamic services: a contract based approach to a conceptual architecture

This paper describes a novel contract based approach for defining, deploying, monitoring and enforcing service level agreements (SLA) in a dynamic e-business environment. The current trend in application service delivery is to move away from tightly coupled systems towards structures of loosely coupled, dynamically bound systems with long and short business relationships. It appears highly likely that the next generation of e-business systems will consist of an interconnection of services, each provided by a possibly different service provider, that are coupled together to offer an end to end service to a customer. Such an environment, which we call dynamic e-business (DeB), will be governed by dynamically negotiated electronic contracts between service providers and service customers. From a management viewpoint, this development poses new challenges, such as contract based provisioning of management systems, monitoring and violation detection of dynamically agreed upon QoS parameters, problem determination and resolution, according to the terms and conditions specified in the contract. This paper proposes a management architecture for specifying, deploying and monitoring service contracts in a DeB environment, with a view to providing a basis for SLA management.
Postperfusion syndrome: Report of four cases and review of the literature

Four cases are reported of a syndrome consisting of fever, splenomegaly, and atypicallymphocytes developing three to six weeks after use of extracorporeal circulation for open heart surgery. The course is self-limited with a duration of approximately three weeks. Spontaneous remission has occurred in all reported instances. The syndrome must be differentiated from more serious complications of open heart surgery such as bacterial endocarditis, hepatitis, postpericardiotomy syndrome and the hemolytic anemia syndrome.
The β→αTransformation in Poly crystalline SiC: III, The Thickening of α Plates

The final stages of the β→α polymorphic phase transformation in conventionally sintered and hot-pressed SiC were studied by optical and transmission electron microscopy. The interface between the α and β regions of partially transformed grains invariably contains thin α lamellae adjacent and parallel to coherent β twins (or β stacking faults). These planar defects serve as nucleation sites for the transformation, with growth of α occurring by the motion of partial dislocations nucleated at the intersection of coherent and incoherent twin boundaries. Various structural phenomena in SiC, including faulting, mi-crosyntaxy, and long-period polytypism, are discussed in terms of this transformation mechanism.
Stress corrosion cracking susceptibility of ultrafine grained AZ31

In this study, stress corrosion cracking (SCC) behavior of AZ31 magnesium alloy was carried out using slow strain rate testing (SSRT) technique in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution. The influence of microstructural scale on the stress corrosion behavior was investigated in AZ31 alloy with three different mean grain sizes. Single-pass and two-pass friction stir processing (FSP) was employed to obtain fine grain and ultrafine grain microstructures, respectively. For FSP, SSRT specimens were extracted from the processed region. SSRTs were carried out in air and solution at an initial strain rate of 10−6/s. A significant decrease in the ultimate tensile strength was observed for FSP specimens tested in chloride solution as compared to specimens tested in air. More than 75 % loss in total elongation was observed for the specimens tested in chloride solution as compared to the ones tested in air. In comparison with base material, lower time to failure was observed for processed samples. The higher SCC susceptibility of processed microstructure is attributed to increased hydrogen adsorption and favorable basal texture.
A Longitudinal Study of Complaining Customers' Evaluations of Multiple Service Failures and Recovery Efforts

Abstract The authors report a repeated measures field study that captures complaining customers’ perceptions of their overall satisfaction with the firm, likelihood of word-of-mouth recommendations, and repurchase intent during a 20-month span that includes two service failures and recovery attempts. The findings suggest that though satisfactory recoveries can produce a “recovery paradox” after one failure, they do not trigger such paradoxical increases after two failures. Furthermore, “double deviations” can occur following two consecutive unsatisfactory recoveries or following an unsatisfactory recovery in response to a second failure. The findings indicate that customers reporting an unsatisfactory recovery followed by a satisfactory recovery reported significantly higher ratings at the second postrecovery period than did customers reporting the opposite recovery sequence. The outcome of the second recovery also demonstrated a significant influence on customer ratings (positively if the recovery was sa...
DYNAMIC INDICATORS OF SELF-PERCEIVED CONSERVATISM

This study looks at the relationship between standard indicators of conservatism and self-labeling behavior. Many of the variables believed to be indicative of conservatism and liberalism are not the variables people use when labeling themselves conservative or liberal. It is proposed that many of the standard social and political variables tend to be period- and age-specific in terms of their relationship to self-labeling behavior. The variables are period-specific because at any point in time there are a number of issues that are particularly salient and divisive, and therefore tend to affect self-labeling behavior. The variables are age-specific because social networks greatly influence sociopolitical attitudes and affiliations and the makeup of social networks tend to vary over the course of one's life. To test for the period- and age-specific nature of selflabeling behavior the General Social Survey is used. Results suggest that some standard indicators of conservatism are strongly correlated with self-perceived conservatism but only for the youngest age group. Results also show that moral issues such as premarital sex, abortion, pornography and marijuana use are particularly strong correlates of self-labeling behavior for these respondents.
Tev Antineutrinos from Cygnus OB2

High energy cosmic ray experiments have identified an excess from the region of the Galactic Plane in a limited energy range around 1018eV (EeV). This is very suggestive of neutrons as candidate primaries, because the directional signal requires relatively-stable neutral primaries, and time-dilated neutrons can reach Earth from typical Galactic distances when the neutron energy exceeds an EeV. We here point out that if the Galactic messengers are neutrons, then those with energies below an EeV will decay in flight, providing a flux of cosmic antineutrinos above a TeV which is observable at a kilometer-scale neutrino observatory. The expected event rate per year above 1 TeV in a detector such as IceCube, for example, is 20 antineutrino showers (all flavors) and a 1° directional signal of events. A measurement of this flux can serve to identify the first extraterrestrial point source of TeV antineutrinos.
Deconstructing centrality: thinking locally and ranking globally in networks

We examine whether the prominence of individuals in different social networks is determined by their position in their local network or by how the community to which they belong relates to other communities. To this end, we introduce two new measures of centrality, both based on communities in the network: local and community centrality. Community centrality is a novel concept that we introduce to describe how central one's community is within the whole network. We introduce an algorithm to estimate the distance between communities and use it to find the centrality of communities. Using data from several social networks, we show that community centrality is able to capture the importance of communities in the whole network. We then conduct a detailed study of different social networks and determine how various global measures of prominence relate to structural centrality measures. Our measures deconstruct global centrality along local and community dimensions. In some cases, prominence is determined almost exclusively by local information, while in others a mix of local and community centrality matters. Our methodology is a step toward understanding of the processes that contribute to an actor's prominence in a network.
Antepartum and postpartum thrombomodulin levels in preeclamptic and normotensive pregnancies

TO determine whether changes in plasma levels of thrombomodulin from antepartum to postpartum reflect the postpartum regression of preeclampsia. Twenty-four preeclamptic women and 34 healthy, normotensive women with singleton pregnancies were studied in the third trimester. Plasma levels of thrombomodulin in the antepartum and postpartum periods were measured by a two-site immunoenzymatic assay. Two-tailed Student t test and paired-comparison t test were used for statistical analyses. The results were expressed as mean ± standard error. Antepartum plasma thrombomodulin levels in preeclampsia were significantly higher than postpartum levels (71.3 ± 8.5 versus 55.5 ±5.4 ng/mL; P =.006), which was not seen in the normotensive controls (49.9 ±3.1 versus 44.2 ±3.8 ng/mL; P >.05). Antepartum plasma levels of thrombomodulin in preeclamptic women were signiftcantly higher than those in the normotensive controls (P =.01). However, postpartum plasma levels of thrombomodulin in preeclamptic women were not significantly higher than those in the normotensive controls (P >.05). Significantly decreased postpartum plasma thrombomodulin levels in preeclamptic pregnancies strongly correspond to clinical postpartum regression of preeclampsia. (J Soc Gynecol Invest 1997; 4:135-137) Copyright © 1997 by the Society for Gynecologic Investigation.
Triphenylcyclopropenide Anion in the Gas Phase

Abstract The triphenylcyclopropenide anion has been generated in the gas phase, and the approximate gas phase acidity of triphenylcyclopropene is reported. The dimethylphenylcyclopropenide anion has also been formed, but it appears to undergo a rearrangement that is induced by the acids used to probe its base strength.
Investigating the Interactive Effect of Control in Information Systems Development Projects

The choice of control mechanisms in information systems development projects has been extensively studied in prior research. However the impact of control on project performance and the dynamics of formal and informal controls remain under explored. This study addresses these issues using data from 158 project managers. The results reveal an interesting pattern: formal controls have direct effect on project performance, informal controls do not, yet informal controls augment the impact of formal controls on project performance. Higher levels of knowledge of ISD process have been found to influence the choice control mechanisms. Nevertheless, how it affects the efficacy of controls on performance has not been examined. This research shows that higher levels of knowledge of ISD process have a direct impact on project performance. More interestingly, higher levels of knowledge of ISD process was found to improve the effectiveness of informal controls on project performance.
Hypertonic upregulation of betaine transport in renal cells is blocked by a proteasome inhibitor

The renal betaine transporter (BGT1) protects cells in the hypertonic medulla by mediating uptake and accumulation of the osmolyte betaine. Transcription plays an essential role in upregulating BGT1 transport in MDCK cells subjected to hypertonic stress. During hypertonic stress, the abundance of the transcription factor TonEBP increases and it shifts from the cytoplasm to the nucleus where it activates transcription of the BGT1 gene. Little is known about post-transcriptional regulation of BGT1 protein. In the presence of the proteasome inhibitor MG-132, which blocked nuclear translocation of TonEBP, the hypertonic upregulation of BGT1 protein and transport was prevented and cell viability in hypertonic medium was impaired over 24 h. Urea also prevented the hypertonic upregulation of BGT1 protein and transport, but did not interfere with TonEBP translocation and cell viability. Shorter treatments of hypertonic cells with MG-132 avoided viability problems and produced dose-dependent inhibition of translocation and transport. When stably transfected MDCK cells that over-expressed BGT1 were treated for 6 h with hypertonic medium containing 3 microM MG-132, there was 43% inhibition of nuclear translocation, 83% inhibition of BGT1 transport, and no change in viability. While other proteasome functions may be involved, these data are consistent with a critical role for nuclear translocation of TonEBP in upregulation and membrane insertion of BGT1 protein.
Accurate modelling of anti-resonant dipole antennas using the method of moments

The authors demonstrate that the difficulties encountered when modelling anti-resonant antennas are primarily due to the conventional variable gap source model which is commonly employed in thin-wire moment method codes. An alternative source model is introduced, for use in analysing this class of antennas, where the essential feature is that the gap width of the feed region remains fixed. The fixed gap model is compared to the variable gap model for both a half-wave dipole, where the variable gap is still a valid source model, and for a full-wave anti-resonant dipole, where the fixed gap source is shown to be superior to the variable gap model.
Enthalpy Increment Measurements from 4.5 K to 350 K and the Thermodynamic Properties of the Titanium Silicide TiSi(cr)

Enthalpy increments for Ti5Si3(cr) were measured from 4.5 K to 350 K with an adiabatic calorimeter. From a representation of these measurements the enthalpy relative to 0 K, the entropy, and the he...
Technical assistance to local governments in Hungary: the limits of best practice

Reflects on the past decade of change in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Notes the varying degrees of successful reform and aid/technical assistance for the region provided by international organizations. Examines efforts to provide technical assistance through the application of best practice to local governments. Develops a case study, using Hungary as a setting, of a local government deputy mayor and simulates a technical assistance best practice transfer. Describes also an alternative home‐grown best practice project at the local level. Lessons learned from these projects show that historical and contextual conditions have a very large impact on capacity building efforts in countries of transition; political values have to be developed and an organizational infrastructure to express them is essential. Ultimately, the knowledge and skills of senior managers must be cultivated, to assist them in nurturing the social capital needed for them to govern effectively.