cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Proppant transport in foam fracturing fluid during hydraulic fracturing

Abstract During hydraulic fracturing treatments, proppants often settle at the fracture bottom in low viscosity fracturing fluid (e.g., slickwater) and leave a large fraction of the fractured surface unpropped. Severe proppant settling leads to under performance of the well productivity. Polymer-free foams can be used as fracturing fluids for improved transport of proppants after a low viscosity pad. In this paper, proppant transport in foam is studied during hydraulic fracturing. A proppant settling velocity correlation in foam-based fracturing fluid is developed based on laboratory-scale experiments. Foam quality and the foam velocity gradient are found to control proppant settling. Additionally, foam liquid drainage is found to be an important process affecting proppant transport, and a foam drainage model is proposed based on literature studies. The new settling velocity correlation and the foam drainage model are incorporated into an in-house fracturing simulator, and proppant placement in foam fracturing fluid is evaluated at the field-scale. Foams place proppants more uniformly than slickwater. For dry foams, drainage has little effect on the final proppant placement. For wet foams, drainage affects the final proppant distribution. The faster the foam drains, the less uniform is the final proppant placement. The liquid from the foam collects at the bottom where the proppants settle fast and form a small proppant bed.
Safety and Risk of Major Complications With Diagnostic Cardiac Catheterization

Background: We aim to study the incidence of major complications related to procedure defined as in-hospital death, myocardial infarction, stroke, pericardial effusion or tamponade, percutaneous co...
The promise of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy in multiple myeloma

A cure for multiple myeloma (MM), a malignancy of plasma cells, remains elusive. Nearly all myeloma patients will eventually relapse and develop resistance to currently available treatments. There is an unmet medical need to develop novel and effective therapies that can induce sustained responses. Early phase clinical trials using chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy have shown great promise in the treatment of relapsed and/or refractory MM. In this review article, we provide an overview of the CAR constructs, the gene transfer vector systems, and approaches for T cell activation and expansion. We then summarize the outcomes of several early phase clinical trials of CAR T cell therapy in MM and the novel CAR T targets that are under development. Finally, we explore the potential mechanisms that result in disease relapse after CAR T therapy and propose future directions in CAR T therapy in MM.
Trends in Infant Mortality After TAPVR Repair over 18 Years in Texas and Impact of Hospital Surgical Volume

For some congenital heart lesions, higher institutional surgical volume has been associated with better survival than in lower volume centers. The relationship between institutional surgical volume and mortality in infants after total anomalous pulmonary vein return (TAPVR) repair has not been well explored. The Texas Inpatient Public Use Data File was queried for hospitalizations including TAPVR repair in infants between January 1, 1999 and December 31, 2016. We first evaluated the change in mortality over the study period. We then evaluated associations between institutional TAPVR surgical volume and mortality using univariable analysis and multivariable analysis accounting for center effects. For secondary analyses, we evaluated the association between volume and mortality among non-mutually exclusive TAPVR subsets, including isolated TAPVR, TAPVR with other congenital heart disease (CHD), TAPVR with heterotaxy, and TAPVR with single ventricle anatomy. Of 971 surgical hospitalizations that met inclusion criteria, 62% were male. Mortality after TAPVR repair decreased over the study period from 15.1% (1999–2004) to 7.6% (2012–2016) with an odds ratio per increasing year of 0.96 (95% CI 0.92–0.99, p = 0.030). By univariable analysis, earlier era, preterm birth, lower institutional surgical volume, heterotaxy, and additional CHD were associated with increased mortality. Institutional surgical volume remained significant in multivariate analysis with an odds ratio per increase in surgical volume of every 10 patients of 0.93 (95% CI 0.90–0.96, p < 0.001). When examining by subgroup, isolated TAPVR had the lowest mortality (n = 606, mortality = 6%), compared to TAPVR with other CHD (n = 359, mortality = 20%), TAPVR with heterotaxy (n = 135, mortality = 21%), and TAPVR with single ventricle (n = 128, mortality = 23%). In all groups except those with single ventricle, higher surgical volume was associated with lower mortality in multivariate analyses (isolated TAPVR p = 0.001, TAPVR with other CHD p = 0.009, TAPVR with heterotaxy p < 0.001, TAPVR with single ventricle p = 0.161). This is the first study to demonstrate an association between institutional surgical volume and mortality after TAPVR repair. Higher volume centers are associated with lower hospital mortality after TAPVR repair, including TAPVR with other CHD.
Effects of Variable Speed Limit on Energy Consumption with Autonomous Vehicles on Urban Roads Using Modified Cell-Transmission Model

AbstractAutonomous vehicles create new opportunities for innovative intelligent traffic systems. Variable speed limit (VSL), which is a speed management system that can adjust the speed limit accor...
Oil Revenues and the State

Oil revenues are becoming increasingly crucial to the political economy of West Africa. Both oil-rich and oil-scarce countries in the subregion are generating funds from the intense oil exploration and drilling activities taking place right across the West African coastline. In some countries in the subregion, as much as 85% of export earnings are derived from oil. The ensuing revenue streams, which come in various forms—bonuses, taxes, rents, and production sharing, or joint-venture contracts—should in theory enable West Africa’s governments to address sorely neglected developmental problems. Though in theory the increased oil revenues enable producer countries to allocate additional resources for infrastructure and social services including construction of roads, hospitals, schools, in practice the monies are often used to fund megaprojects and strengthen state security at the expense of human security. This chapter outlines the different oil revenue streams, their allocation, and the varied ways they impact state and human security, exploring the political economy of oil: in particular, the social, economic, and political ramifications of oil revenue flows in the subregion. It posits that governments’ spending habits as well as foreign and domestic and foreign policies, including investment in public infrastructure and social services, often directly correlate with the price of oil on the global market. All of this in turn carries major implications for both foreign and domestic policy. How the proceeds from the resource are managed is bound to affect the tentative peace and stability that now prevails in large parts of West Africa.
Transcriptomic changes due to early, chronic alcohol exposure during cortical development implicate regionalization, cell-type specification, synaptogenesis and WNT signaling as primary determinants of fetal alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Abstract Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are described by a cluster of deficits following in utero alcohol exposure, whose effects disproportionately target the cerebral cortex. In vitro and in vivo models of FASD have successfully recapitulated multiple facets of clinical presentations, including morphological and behavioral deficits, but far less is understood regarding the molecular and genetic bases of FASD. In this study, we utilize an in vitro human pluripotent stem cell-based (hPSC) model of corticogenesis to probe the effect of early, chronic alcohol exposure on the transcriptome of developing cortical neurons. We here identify a relatively limited number of significantly altered biological pathways, including regional patterning, cell-type specification, axon guidance and synaptic function. Significant upregulation of WNT signaling-related transcripts, to the exclusion of other secreted morphogens was also observed in alcohol exposed cultures. Lastly, an overall alcohol-associated shift towards an increased caudal profile, at the expense of rostral molecular identity was observed, representing a potentially previously underappreciated FASD phenotype.
Which Chronic Low Back Pain Patients Respond Favorably to Yoga, Physical Therapy, and a Self-care Book? Responder Analyses from a Randomized Controlled Trial

PURPOSE To identify baseline characteristics of adults with chronic low back pain (cLBP) that predict response (i.e., a clinically important improvement) and/or modify treatment effect across three nonpharmacologic interventions. DESIGN Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial. SETTING Academic safety net hospital and seven federally qualified community health centers. SUBJECTS Adults with cLBP (N = 299). METHODS We report patient characteristics that were predictors of response and/or modified treatment effect across three 12-week treatments: yoga, physical therapy [PT], and a self-care book. Using preselected characteristics, we used logistic regression to identify predictors of "response," defined as a ≥30% improvement in the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire. Then, using "response" as our outcome, we identified baseline characteristics that were treatment effect modifiers by testing for statistical interaction (P < 0.05) across two comparisons: 1) yoga-or-PT vs self-care and 2) yoga vs PT. RESULTS Overall, 39% (116/299) of participants were responders, with more responders in the yoga-or-PT group (42%) than the self-care (23%) group. There was no difference in proportion responding to yoga (48%) vs PT (37%, odds ratio [OR] = 1.5, 95% confidence interval = 0.88 - 2.6). Predictors of response included having more than a high school education, a higher income, employment, few depressive symptoms, lower perceived stress, few work-related fear avoidance beliefs, high pain self-efficacy, and being a nonsmoker. Effect modifiers included use of pain medication and fear avoidance beliefs related to physical activity (both P = 0.02 for interaction). When comparing yoga or PT with self-care, a greater proportion were responders among those using pain meds (OR = 5.3), which differed from those not taking pain meds (OR = 0.94) at baseline. We also found greater treatment response among those with lower (OR = 7.0), but not high (OR = 1.3), fear avoidance beliefs around physical activity. CONCLUSIONS Our findings revealed important subgroups for whom referral to yoga or PT may improve cLBP outcomes.
Racial Disparities in Outcomes After Common Abdominal Surgical Procedures—The Impact of Access to a Minimally Invasive Approach

Abstract Background It is presently considered the standard of care to perform many routine intra-abdominal operations using a minimally invasive approach. The authors recently identified a racial disparity in access to a laparoscopic approach to inguinal hernia repair, cholecystectomy, appendectomy, and colectomy. The present study further evaluates this patient cohort to assess the relationship between the race and postoperative complications and test the mediating effect of the selected surgical approach. Methods After institutional review board approval, patients in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database who underwent inguinal hernia repair, cholecystectomy, appendectomy, or colectomy in 2016 were identified. Patient demographics, including the self-reported race and ethnicity, as well as clinical, operative, and postoperative variables were recorded. After the exclusion of cases associated with diagnoses of cancer, a 4:1 propensity score matching algorithm generated a clinically balanced cohort of patients of white and black self-reported race. The mediating effect of an open approach to surgery on the relationship between black self-reported race and postoperative complications was evaluated via a series of regressions. Results There were 41,340 unilateral inguinal hernia repairs, 3182 bilateral inguinal hernia repairs, 60,444 cholecystectomies, 50,523 appendectomies, and 58,012 colectomies included in the database in 2017. Exclusion of cases associated with cancer and subsequent propensity score matching returned 17,540 unilateral hernia repairs, 890 bilateral hernia repairs, 23,865 cholecystectomies, 11,660 appendectomies, and 12,320 colectomies. On mediation analysis, any complication, severe complication, and death were significant when regressed on black self-reported race (any: odds ratio [OR] = 1.210, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.132-1.291, P Conclusions These findings underscore the importance of access to a minimally invasive approach to surgery. However, other factors may contribute to racial disparities in postoperative complications after common abdominal operations.
Examining Examinations Conducted under Anesthesia.

Examining Examinations Conducted under Anesthesia The practice of allowing trainees to perform “intimate” exams on patients under general anesthesia in the OR has received deserved attention and cr...
Racial Equity in Academic Success: The Role of School Climate and Social Emotional Learning

Many schools and school districts have put significant effort into improving school climate and the social emotional learning (SEL) of students, as they have been shown to be related to improved academic success. Yet, little is known about whether these efforts will contribute to or ameliorate racial differences in academic outcomes. In a series of structural equation models adjusting for school clustering, this study examined mediating and moderating effects of student perceptions of school climate and their own SEL on race differences in self-reported grades. Asian and Latinx students reported slightly more positive perceived school climate while Multiracial students reported significantly less positive perceived school climate compared to White students. Compared to their White peers, all racial groups reported lower levels of SEL. Significant but small indirect standardized effects of race on grades through social emotional competence but not school climate suggest that SEL partially mediates the relationship of race with grades. The association of SEL with grades was significantly stronger for White students compared to other racial groups; the standardized effect size of the association was nearly twice as large for White students as for Black and Native students.
Research and Other Forms of Rhetoric in Media Coverage of Student Achievement.

BackgroundMedia play an important role in shaping public perceptions of education policies, yet few studies have explored how research evidence is included in media coverage of education reforms.Pu...
Virtual Reality Racket Sports: Virtual Drills for Exercise and Training

We have developed a modular virtual reality gaming application that can be used to synthesize exercise drills for racket sports. By defining cost terms that are related to the gameplay and the mechanics of the game, as well as by allowing a user to control the parameters of the cost terms, users can easily adjust the objectives and the intensity levels of the exercise drills. Based on the user-defined exercise objectives, a Markov chain Monte Carlo optimization method called “simulated annealing” was used to optimize the exercise drill. The effectiveness of the developed virtual reality gaming application was measured in two studies by using virtual reality table tennis as the evaluation tool. The first study investigated the potential usefulness of the developed virtual reality gaming application as an exercise tool by comparing its workout effectiveness at three intensity levels (low, medium, and high) through the collection of heart rate readings. The second study explored the potential utility of the virtual reality gaming application as a training tool by exploring whether there was any improvement in participants’ performance across the three conditions (no training, virtual reality training, and real-world training). The results indicate that a virtual reality gaming application, such as the examined virtual reality table tennis exergame, could indeed be used effectively as both an exercise and a training tool. Limitations and future research directions are discussed further below.
Building on Lessons Learned in a Mobile Intervention to Reduce Pain and Improve Health (MORPH): Protocol for the MORPH-II Trial

Background: Engaging in sufficient levels of physical activity, guarding against sustained sitting, and maintaining a healthy body weight represent important lifestyle strategies for managing older adults’ chronic pain. Our first Mobile Health Intervention to Reduce Pain and Improve Health (MORPH) randomized pilot study demonstrated that a partially remote group-mediated diet and daylong activity intervention (ie, a focus on moving often throughout the day) can lead to improved physical function, weight loss, less pain intensity, and fewer minutes of sedentary time. We also identified unique delivery challenges that limited the program’s scalability and potential efficacy. Objective: The purpose of the MORPH-II randomized pilot study is to refine the MORPH intervention package based on feedback from MORPH and evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of this revised package prior to conducting a larger clinical trial. Methods: The MORPH-II study is an iteration on MORPH designed to pilot a refined framework, enhance scalability through fully remote delivery, and increase uptake of the daylong movement protocol through revised education content and additional personalized remote coaching. Older, obese, and low-active adults with chronic multisite pain (n=30) will be randomly assigned to receive a 12-week remote group-mediated physical activity and dietary weight loss intervention followed by a 12-week maintenance period or a control condition. Those in the intervention condition will partake in weekly social cognitive theory–based group meetings via teleconference software plus one-on-one support calls on a tapered schedule. They will also engage with a tablet application paired with a wearable activity monitor and smart scale designed to provide ongoing social and behavioral support throughout the week. Those in the control group will receive only the self-monitoring tools. Results: Recruitment is ongoing as of January 2021. Conclusions: Findings from MORPH-II will help guide other researchers working to intervene on sedentary behavior through frequent movement in older adults with chronic pain. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04655001; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04655001
How controversy leads to commitment: Predecisional distortion in reactions to premarket products through online review systems

Abstract Research examining online reviews and ratings has generally found higher ratings result in positive perceptions and ultimately more sales, but little is known about how polarized ratings and/or reviews influence consumer behavior and purchasing outcomes. We argue that controversy is an important boundary condition for predicting how aggregated ratings and review valences impact user behavior and product outcomes. Using cognitive dissonance theory, particularly research on predecisional distortion and the blemishing effect, we develop and test three hypotheses that examine whether average-rated products that are a result of consensus elicit different consumer behaviors and product outcomes than average-rated controversial products (i.e., products with polarized ratings). Utilizing four years of real-world rating, commenting, and purchasing behaviors pertaining to over 60 thousand designs and two thousand products from a creative crowdsourcing ecommerce site, we find that negative information mixed with positive feedback can produce net positive results. Products which receive more polarized premarket feedback generate more community discussion, community sales, and follow-through purchases. The findings suggest that, in situations where consumers have a developing preference for an item, encountering comparatively negative information can in fact have a positive impact on commenting and purchasing behaviors—more so than if no opposing information were present.
Data-driven dynamic SEIR model

Throughout the year of 2020, no number has dominated the public media more persistently than the reproduction number. This powerful but simple concept is widely used by the public media, scientists, and political decision makers to explain and justify political strategies to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Here we explore the effectiveness of political interventions using the reproduction number of COVID-19 across Europe. We combine what we have learnt throughout this book, SEIR compartment modeling, dynamic contact rates, computational modeling, and Bayesian analysis to create a data-driven dynamic SEIR model. To illustrate the basic elements of data-driven dynamic SEIR modeling, we discuss the concepts of priors, likelihood, and posteriors and apply Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods to compute them. We draw early case data of COVID-19 and the daily air traffic, driving, walking, and transit mobility for all 27 countries of the European Union, infer the dynamic reproduction number for each country, and correlate mobility and reproduction. The learning objectives of this chapter on data-driven modeling are to
Drug-Resistant Falciparum Malaria: Mechanisms, Consequences, and Challenges

Malaria is the major parasitic disease in tropical developing countries, causing approximately 300 to 500 million febrile illnesses and at least 1.2 million deaths each year. Current antimalarial drugs and mosquito control programs constitute important measures against malaria, but these have limitations that must be met by research to develop new drugs, vaccines, and insecticides. The spread of drug-resistant malaria is a major obstacle for malaria control. Allelic replacement studies have demonstrated that chloroquine-sensitive parasites can be converted to the resistant phenotype using DNA transfection methods that introduce codons for these mutations into the expressed sequences of the wild-type pfcrt gene. Involvement of pfcrt as one of these genes is supported by studies showing that substitutions of Lys with Ile or Asn at amino acid position 76 of the transporter change parasite responses to both chloroquine and quinine. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis of a genetic cross between P. falciparum clones has distinguished the additive effects of multiple genes in quinine response, including pfcrt, pfmdr1, and a third gene that is predicted to encode a sodium-hydrogen exchanger. Pyrimethamine and sulfadoxine are structurally similar to dihydrofolate and p-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), respectively, and act as competitive inhibitors of the dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) and dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) enzymes of P. falciparum.
The Migrating Look: Visual Economies of Queer Desire in The Book of Salt

Monique Truong’s 2003 The Book of Salt crosses the lives of three queer migrants to early twentieth-century Paris: Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, and their Vietnamese cook, Binh. Highlighting the role of perception in subject-formation, the novel tracks how the play between the look and the gaze registers its characters’ experiences of embodiment. Truong makes imaginative use of details from the biographical and scholarly literature on Stein and Toklas: their fondness for photographers, reporters, and admirers who treat them as celebrities; the pet names and gendered divisions of space and labor that mark their butch/femme relationship. However, the novel also features three fictional characters whose stories reframe received images of Stein and Toklas: Binh, the novel’s first-person narrator and an imaginative composite of two “Indo-Chinese” cooks that worked for them; his first lover, Jean Bleriot, a French chef whose appearance in Binh’s Vietnamese workplace prompts his desire and eventual expulsion; and Binh’s lover in Paris, Marcus Lattimore, a mixed-race iridologist who passes as white at Stein’s and Toklas’s salon and who initiates an affair with Binh to gain information about the writer (Toklas 186). Recontextualizing Stein’s salon from within Binh’s backstory, the novel engages “the dominant culture” to “expose and critique” its conventions from the perspective of subjects “whose experience of identity is fractured and split” by colonial rule (Munoz 31). The result is a narrative fragmented by Binh’s “queer hybridity”—a space “of productivity where identity’s fragmentary nature is accepted and negotiated” (Munoz 77–79). Displaying deep knowledge of the material and psychical consequences of French colonial rule in Vietnam and framing its narrative by imagining that a brief affair with Ho Chi Minh convinced Binh to stay in Paris, The Book of Salt enacts what David Eng calls a “historical catachresis” that “shifts our attention from the problem of the real” lives of historical personages (that is, from the question of whether Ho Chi Minh or any of Stein’s and Toklas’s cooks slept with men) “to the politics of our lack of
Vegfa regulates perichondrial vascularity and osteoblast differentiation in bone development

Vascular endothelial growth factor A (Vegfa) has important roles in endochondral bone formation. Osteoblast precursors, endothelial cells and osteoclasts migrate from perichondrium into primary ossification centers of cartilage templates of future bones in response to Vegfa secreted by (pre)hypertrophic chondrocytes. Perichondrial osteolineage cells also produce Vegfa, but its function is not well understood. By deleting Vegfa in osteolineage cells in vivo, we demonstrate that progenitor-derived Vegfa is required for blood vessel recruitment in perichondrium and the differentiation of osteoblast precursors in mice. Conditional deletion of Vegfa receptors indicates that Vegfa-dependent effects on osteoblast differentiation are mediated by Vegf receptor 2 (Vegfr2). In addition, Vegfa/Vegfr2 signaling stimulates the expression and activity of Indian hedgehog, increases the expression of β-catenin and inhibits Notch2. Our findings identify Vegfa as a regulator of perichondrial vascularity and osteoblast differentiation at early stages of bone development.
Anti-apoptotic treatments prevent cartilage degradation after acute trauma to human ankle cartilage.

Summary Objectives To investigate the effect of anti-apoptotic agents on cartilage degradation after a single impact to ankle cartilage. Design Ten human normal tali were impacted with the impulse of 1Ns generating peak forces in the range of 600N using a 4mm diameter indenter. Eight millimeter cartilage plugs containing the 4mm diameter impacted core and a 4mm adjacent ring were removed and cultured with or without P188 surfactant (8mg/ml), caspase-3 (10uM), or caspase-9 (2uM) inhibitors for 48h. Results were assessed in the superficial and middle-deep layers immediately after injury at day 0 and at 2, 7 and 14 days after injury by live/dead cell and Tunel assays and by histology with Safranin O/fast green staining. Results A single impact to human articular cartilage ex vivo resulted in cell death, cartilage degeneration, and radial progression of apoptosis to the areas immediately adjacent to the impact. The P188 was more effective in preventing cell death than the inhibitors of caspases. It reduced cell death by more than 2-fold ( P P Conclusions Early intervention with the P188 and caspase-3 inhibitor may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of cartilage defects immediately after injury.
Third Engel groups and the Macdonald-Neumann conjecture

There exists a non-solvable group which is third Engel. More generally, the existence of a non-solvable group in which every n -generator subgroup is nilpotent of class at most 2 n - 1 is confirmed.
Observing and Interpreting Behaviors: An Introduction to the Clinical Forum

Assessment validity relates not to the tests used or the analyses performed, but to the interpretations clinicians assign to results. The method used by a clinician to assess behavior is only valid...
Chronic administration of indomethacin increases role of nitric oxide in hypercapnic cerebrovasodilation in piglets

Abstract Hypercapnia-induced cerebral vasodilation is associated with prostanoids in the piglet, but is a primarily nitric oxide (NO) associated response in many adult models. Hypercapnia-induced cerebral vasodilation is both NO and prostanoid associated in the juvenile pig. We hypothesized that with chronic administration of indomethacin the piglet would advance the role of the NO system in cerebrovascular responses. The closed cranial window technique was used in piglets to determine pial arteriolar response. Chronically indomethacin treated newborn animals dilated in response to CO2 similarly to control newborns (40.9 ± 4.4% vs 48.4 ± 4.1%). Topical n-nitro L-arginine (L-NA, 10−3 M), attenuated CO2 induced dilation in the chronically indomethacin treated animals (11.7 ± 3.3% vs 40.9 ± 4.4%; p
Premenarcheal expectations and postmenarcheal experiences of positive and negative menstrual related changes

Purpose: Longitudinal examination of early adolescent girls' premenarcheal expectations and postmenarcheal experiences of positive and negative menstrual related changes. Method: Ratings of 14 positive and negative changes were made by 80 girls on three occasions: (1) in grade 6 when girls were premenarcheal, (2) at the test occasion within 6 months after each girls' own menarche, and (3) in grade 9 when girls were postmenarcheal. Premenarcheal girls rated expectations of changes, and postmenarcheal girls rated experiences of changes, for both premenstrual and menstrual phases. Girls also rated preparation for, and emotional response to, menarche and mothers' helpfulness on the first two occasions. Results: Ratings for positive and negative changes were at similar levels premenarcheally and decreased at menarche; once menstruation became established, ratings of negative changes increased while those of positive changes decreased. Ratings for negative changes were higher in the menstrual phase, while ratings for positive changes were higher in the premenstrual phase. Premenarcheal expectations of changes contributed to the prediction of menarcheal experiences of changes. Premenarcheal expectations and menarcheal experiences, along with anticipated emotional response to menarche, contributed to the prediction of longer-term experience of negative changes; menarcheal experiences, along with preparation for and emotional response to menarche, contributed to the prediction of longer-term experience of positive changes. Conclusions: Both expectations about, and initial experiences of, menstrual cycle-related changes were associated with longer-term menstrual experiences. The different outcomes for positive and negative changes have implications for menstrual socialization, and provide the basis for some optimism about facilitating a more complex and multidimensional understanding of menstruation.
How does lipid lowering prevent coronary events? New insights from human imaging trials

This editorial refers to ‘Effect of high-intensity statin therapy on atherosclerosis in non-infarct-related coronary arteries (IBIS-4): a serial intravascular ultrasonography study’[†][1], by L. Raber et al ., on page 490. Clinical trials conducted over the last two decades have firmly established that LDL lowering, particularly by statins, can reduce the risk of acute coronary syndromes and ischaemic stroke. Yet, the mechanisms that underlie these striking improvements in clinical outcomes remain controversial. It is now old news that lipid lowering only reduces lumenal stenoses assessed by angiography by an average of at most a few per cent. The fall in clinical events produced by statins dwarfs these small changes in angiographic stenoses by an order of magnitude. This apparent paradox has focused attention on alterations of other aspects of atherosclerotic lesions that might make them less prone to provoke thrombotic complications. Some have described such effects on plaques invisible on angiography as lesion ‘stabilization’. Classical investigations in non-human primates with diet-induced atherosclerosis showed a decrease in the lesion lipid content leaving a fibrous component following withdrawal of the atherogenic diet.1 More recent experiments in rabbits probed biochemical and molecular changes in plaques produced by lipid lowering (reviewed in Libby2). In one series of experiments, animals with diet-induced atherosclerosis underwent a shift to a low-cholesterol diet. An increase in collagen content confirmed the morphological observations made in primates. Markers of inflammation also subsided with lipid lowering, in parallel with a reduction in the expression of interstitial collagenases implicated in collagen breakdown and the linking of inflammation with weakening of the plaque's … [1]: #fn-2
Oenothorachona ectenolaemus n.g., n.sp. and Spirochona halophila n.sp., Two New Marine Chonotrichous Ciliates

SYNOPSIS. Two new species of chonotrichous ciliates, Oenophorachona ectenolaemus n.g., n.sp. and Spirochona halophila n.sp. were found on Anisogammarus sp. collected from the waters of Humboldt County, California and Argyle Bay, San Juan Island, Washington. This is the 1st reported occurrence of 2 genera of chonotrichous ciliates on a single host species as well as the 1st of the occurrence of Spirochona in marine and brackish water environments.
Composition and origin of palygorskite-rich and montmorillonite-rich zeolite-containing sediments from the Pacific Ocean — Reply

Abstract Cretaceous, Tertiary, and Quaternary sediments from Deep Sea Drilling Project Sites 164 and 196 (13°12′N, 161°31′W and 30°07′N, 148°34′E, respectively) were analyzed for major chemical elements and mineralogy. Sediments from these sites contain large proportions of authigenic minerals: mainly palygorskite, clinoptilolite and chert in the Cretaceous, and montmorillonite, phillipsite and chert in the Tertiary. The montmorillonite—phillipsite assemblage is thought to be derived from volcanic ash or glass, and the palygorskite—clinoptilolite assemblage is thought to be derived by reaction of biogenic silica with volcanic ash or glass or with montmorillonite and phillipsite. Both assemblages have generally moderate Ti/Al ratios, ranging from 0.026 to 0.047, so most of the palygorskite, clinoptilolite, montmorillonite and phillipsite could not be derived in situ from alteration of basaltic material. Plagioclase compositions suggest that the volcanic precursors were silicic or intermediate, but it is also possible that the sediments have been extensively fractionated by redistribution from nearby seamounts. Available data on other Late Cretaceous sediments in the Pacific were analyzed. Clinoptilolite and chert are present nearly everywhere where palygorskite is abundant; phillipsite is rare where palygorskite is abundant. It is suggested that increased water temperatures during the Cretaceous increased reaction rates and determined the alteration products.
Glycemic control after hospital discharge in insulin-treated type 2 diabetes: a randomized pilot study of daily remote glucose monitoring.

Objective: Little is known about glycemic control in type 2 diabetes patients treated with insulin in the high-risk period between hospital discharge and follow-up. We sought to assess the impact of remote glucose monitoring on postdischarge glycemic control and insulin titration.Methods: We randomly assigned 28 hospitalized type 2 diabetes patients who were discharged home on insulin therapy to routine specialty care (RSC) or RSC with daily remote glucose monitoring (RGM). We compared the primary outcome of mean blood glucose and exploratory outcomes of hypoglycemia/hyperglycemia rates, change in hemoglobin A1c and glycated albumin, and insulin titration frequency between groups.Results: Mean blood glucose was not significantly different between the treatment arms (144 ± 34 mg/dL in the RSC group and 172 ± 41 mg/dL in the RGM group; not significant), nor were there significant differences in any of the other measures of glycemia during the month after discharge. Hypoglycemia (glucometer reading <60 mg/dL...
DDTs in Soils Affected by Mosquito Fumigation in Belize

DDTs were sprayed extensively in Belize to combat malaria but widespread use ceased after 1997. To determine if DDTs still persist in Belize's soils, 23 composite soil samples were collected from each of the two towns of Dangriga and Punta Gorda. Dichlorodiphenyltricholoroethane (DDT) and its breakdown products dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (DDD) were the only organochlorine compounds detected in the soils. Results show that DDTs are transferred to the soil environment as a result of spraying houses and that the pesticides still persist in soils in southern Belize after more than 10 years of non-use. Sprayed lots had DDT concentrations up to 240 μg/kg in Dangriga and up to 410 μg/kg in Punta Gorda. All unsprayed lots had below detection limit concentrations, with the exception of two sites in Punta Gorda. Hot spot analysis in GIS indicates that significant spatial variability exists in detected concentrations of DDTs, which has implications for extrapolation of ...
Mortality rates and aggression management among Native Americans

Using data from the general USA population, Field reported that various causes of death correlated with measures of aggression management obtained from suicide and homicide rates. Since in this study replication of these findings cross-culturally was not successful with data for US Indian Health Service areas and Field did not explain his ecological correlations, the reliability and validity of his findings may be questioned.
Major Hepatic Trauma: Warm Ischemic Tolerance of the Liver After Hemorrhagic Shock

Background The management of severe hepatic trauma frequently involves exposing the liver to varying periods of warm ischemia. The ischemic tolerance of the liver, in the setting of hemorrhagic shock (HS) and trauma, is presently unknown. We tested the hypothesis that warm ischemic tolerance of the porcine liver will be decreased following resuscitation from HS. Materials and methods Twenty-three Yorkshire pigs were divided into three groups: 1) hepatic ischemia alone (HI, n = 9); 2) hemorrhagic shock alone (HS, n = 3); and 3) hemorrhagic shock plus hepatic ischemia combined (HSHI, n = 11). Following reperfusion, a liver biopsy was obtained and serial blood chemistries were sampled. Results Post-operative day 7 mortality was increased in the HSHI group (7/11) compared to the HI (0/9) group, P = 0.038. Notably, deaths did not result from acute liver failure, but rather from intra-operative hemodynamic collapse shortly following hepatic reperfusion. In addition, the HSHI group experienced significantly elevated lactic acid, serum creatinine and liver enzyme levels. Analysis of the liver biopsy samples is consistent with a more severe liver injury in the HSHI group. Conclusions The warm ischemic tolerance of the liver following resuscitation from HS is significantly decreased in this porcine model compared to HS or HI alone. Mortality was associated with acute intra-operative hemodynamic collapse occurring shortly after hepatic reperfusion.
T cell progenitors in the murine small intestine

Lymphocytes in the murine small intestine epithelium are known to have a high proportion of extrathymic T cells. To explore the possibility that small intestine intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) are derived from T cell progenitors present within the intestine, intestine-derived cells with characteristics of early-stage T cell precursors were studied for their ability to regenerate IEL T cell populations following transfer into irradiated recipient mice. Cells within this population lacked markers of mature T cells but expressed heat-stable antigen, the c-kit receptor for stem cell factor, and/or the pre-T cell alpha gene. Upon adoptive transfer, donor cells preferentially homed to the intestine and did not repopulate the thymus or extraintestinal peripheral lymphoid tissues. IELs derived from the donor precursor pool included both (alpha beta and gamma delta T subsets and consisted of phenotypically heterogeneous cell populations defined by CD4 and CD8. These findings provide evidence that T cell progenitors located in the intestinal mucosa are the likely source of most intestinal IELs.
Development of the Screener for Assessing Depression Scale: Why do we need another depression scale?*.

AbstractDepression is a significant problem which affects the lives of a substantial number of people. Improved recognition of depression is an important step towards the treatment and prevention of depression. Objective. The present study examined the reliability and validity of the Screener for Assessing Depression (SAD) Scale as a measure of depression severity and as a confirmation of a major depressive episode. Method. The sample included 100 adults who were receiving inpatient psychiatric treatment (60 met criteria for a major depressive disorder and 40 met criteria for other psychological disorders without depression as a main feature). Results. Different cut-off scores were proposed in order to score the SAD Scale as a screening measure or to confirm a depressive episode. Scoring the SAD Scale according to the criteria for a major depressive episode correctly classified 87% of the sample. Conclusion. Overall, the results indicated that the SAD Scale is a reliable and valid measure for detecting a ...
Exploring school rampage shootings: Research, theory, and policy

This paper examines US school rampage shootings, focusing on the period from the late 20th century to the present. School rampage shootings are thought to be distinct from other forms of violence b...
Effects of modified air quenches on the high-speed melt spinning process

A high molecular weight polyethylene terephthalate was spun into fibers in the speed range from 3,000–7,000 mpm. The effect of modifying threadline dynamics through a combination of enhanced and/or retarding air quenches on the resulting spinning performance, fiber structure, and mechanical properties was examined. Particular combinations of these threadline temperature profile modifications were shown to result in significant improvements in spinning performance and as-spun fiber structure. Extensive characterization of select fiber samples revealed higher orientation and crystallinity, larger crystal dimensions, and greater mechanical properties. These results also demonstrated the ability to provide continued improvement in fiber properties at very high take-up speeds where typically a decline is observed. It is concluded that the threadline temperature profile can be altered in such a way as to significantly enhance the resulting spinning performance and fiber structure over a wide range of take-up speeds.
A dual monotonicity formula for harmonic mappings

The well-known monotonicity formula for harmonic maps says that the scaled energy functional over a ball of radius r is a non-decreasing function of r. The proof uses the fact that the energy functional is critical under any compactly supported variation on the domain of the map. In this article, we will instead use the fact that the energy is critical under variations of the map on the image of the map. By choosing the variational vector field suitably it will be shown that a scaled energy considered as an integral functional over a ball of radius r where r is the distance from a point on the image manifold, is monotonically non-decreasing. The formula takes a stronger form when the image is one dimensional.
The number of illegal migrants of Mexican origin in the United States: sex ratio-based estimates for 1980

This article reports the results of applying a sex ratio-based method to estimate the number of undocumented Mexicans residing in the United States in 1980. The approach centers on a comparison between the hypothetical sex ratio one would expect to find in Mexico in the absence of emigration to the United States and the sex ratio that is in fact reported in preliminary results from the 1980 Mexican Census. The procedure involves, inter alia, assuming a range of values for the sex ratio at birth and for census coverage differentials by sex in Mexico. Even the combinations of these values most likely to result in large estimates suggest that no more than 4 million illegal migrants of Mexican origin were residing in the United States in 1980.
Insulin increases acid production and may directly stimulate Na/H(+) exchange activity in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells.

Insulin was reported to decrease Na+/H+ exchange activity in murine vascular smooth muscle (VSM) tissue. In most other cells, insulin increases activity. We tested the effects of
WE-E-BRC-08: Evaluation of a Probabilistic Non-Rigid Registration Method for Improved Intra-Operative Target Definition in 125-I Permanent Prostate Implants

Purpose: To evaluate the use of a non‐rigid registration method for improved intra‐operative target definition in 125‐I permanent prostate implants. Methods: The validation dataset was created from 10 MRI‐guided prostate biopsy patients with both diagnostic (with endorectal coil) and intra‐procedural (without endorectal coil) 3 Tesla MRI scans under an IRB approved protocol. A biomechanical‐based probabilistic non‐rigid registration method was adapted to register diagnostic to intra‐procedural images by matching the contoured prostate boundaries. The probabilistic framework provides a collection of prostate configurations under deformation, or a marginal probability map for a given location to be identified as inside the prostate by the registration. The marginal probability map was compared to the intra‐procedural prostate contour. 125‐I treatment plans were generated for the intra‐procedural scans. Results: In two cases we find that ∼5% of the prostate volume within the 50th percentile of the marginal deformed probability is not included in the intra‐procedural contour, and 3–4% of the intra‐procedural prostate volume is not included in any of the deformed configurations. Different regions of the prostate have varying uncertainties; preliminary results show margins of 1–2 mm near mid‐gland and 3–4 mm around the apex. We present geometric uncertainties and the resulting variation of dosimetric quantities in the base, mid‐gland, apex and peripheral zone of the prostate. Conclusions: We study the feasibility of using a probabilistic non‐rigid registration method for supplementing intra‐procedural images with diagnostic MR images. The method is evaluated geometrically and dosimetrically, which quantifies the method's ability to provide intra‐procedural estimation of the accuracy of the deformed configurations. This method will be applied to registration of diagnostic MR with intra‐procedural transrectal ultrasoundimages to improve visualization of the prostate apex and substructure, which could provide improved prostate boundary definitions with uncertainty margins to guide the development of intra‐operative brachytherapy treatment plans. This work was supported by NIH grants 1U41RR019703‐01A2, 1R01CA111288‐01A1,P01‐CA67165,andU01CA151261.
High Power Atomic Iodine Photodissociation Lasers

The atomic iodine photodissociation laser has developed into a system capable of producing nanosecond or shorter pulses of near infrared radiation with energies well in excess of a hundred joules. Discussed are the operating characteristics, advantages, and potential problem areas associated with this laser.© (1976) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.