cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Using machine learning for concept extraction on clinical documents from multiple data sources.

Objective Concept extraction is a process to identify phrases referring to concepts of interests in unstructured text. It is a critical component in automated text processing. We investigate the performance of machine learning taggers for clinical concept extraction, particularly the portability of taggers across documents from multiple data sources. Methods We used BioTagger-GM to train machine learning taggers, which we originally developed for the detection of gene/protein names in the biology domain. Trained taggers were evaluated using the annotated clinical documents made available in the 2010 i2b2/VA Challenge workshop, consisting of documents from four data sources. Results As expected, performance of a tagger trained on one data source degraded when evaluated on another source, but the degradation of the performance varied depending on data sources. A tagger trained on multiple data sources was robust, and it achieved an F score as high as 0.890 on one data source. The results also suggest that performance of machine learning taggers is likely to improve if more annotated documents are available for training. Conclusion Our study shows how the performance of machine learning taggers is degraded when they are ported across clinical documents from different sources. The portability of taggers can be enhanced by training on datasets from multiple sources. The study also shows that BioTagger-GM can be easily extended to detect clinical concept mentions with good performance.
Feasibility study of inhaled hepatitis B vaccine formulated with tetradecylmaltoside

ABSTRACT This study was designed to test the hypothesis that formulation of hepatitis B vaccine with tetradecyl‐β‐maltoside (TDM) enhances the immune response after pulmonary administration in a rodent model. Commercially available recombinant hepatitis B vaccine (rHBV) was formulated with varying concentrations of TDM and administered intratracheally to anesthetized male Sprague–Dawley rats. rHBV administered intramuscularly at doses of 2 and 4 µg served as positive controls. All formulations were administered on days 0 and 14 and the immune response was evaluated for 28 days. Specific antibodies generated to HBsAg were analyzed by ELISA. Safety studies were carried out by measuring the levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF‐α) in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid. There was a significant increase in the immune response when the vaccine was administered intramuscularly at a dose of 4 µg. Only a modest increase in the immune response was observed when plain rHBV was administered intratracheally at the same dose. However, a pulmonary formulation of 4 µg rHBV plus 0.5% TDM produced a fourfold increase in the immune response compared to plain rHBV administered via the pulmonary route. No increase in immune response was observed for formulations containing rHBV plus 0.125% or 0.25% TDM. The levels of ALP and LDH in the BAL fluid suggest that the hepatitis B vaccine plus TDM formulations cause some injury to the lungs after the first intratracheal instillation of the formulation; however, the enzyme levels tended to be lower after the second instillation. The level of TNF‐α in the BAL fluid of TDM‐treated rats was substantially lower than that in rats treated with the positive control substance, sodium dodecyl sulfate. Overall, rHBV formulated with TDM increases the immune response after pulmonary administration, and pulmonary formulation of rHBV plus TDM could be used as an alternative to needle‐based delivery of hepatitis B vaccine. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 97:1213–1223, 2008
Corporate Concentration and Turnover in Global Industries, 1960–2000:

Animating the debate over ‘globalization’ is the specter of ‘the power of the corporation.’ High-profile anti-trust cases and mega-mergers have heightened fears of the fulfillment of Marx's ‘law’ of the concentration of capital. But how concentrated and durable is global corporate ‘power?’ And do mega-mergers increase it? This article attempts to answer these questions by examining corporate concentration and turnover in 18 global industries over the last half of the 20th century. It finds monopoly-like positions by industry ‘number ones’ to have been rare and transitory, that most industry leaders achieved their positions through internal growth, and that most who ‘bought their way to the top’ did not stay there long. Four-firm industry concentration is also not especially high. The top four firms account for less than 60% of the total sales revenues of the top 12 firms in 13 of the 18 industries as of 2000. Following notable industry de-concentrations during the 1960s and ‘70s when European, then Japane...
Neuroanatomical Substrates of Cardiovascular and Emotional — Autonomic Regulation

During the past decade a specific group of brain nuclei has come to be seen as important in the central neuronal regulation of the circulation. These highly interconnected nuclei have gained prominence principally because of their relationship to the nucleus tractus solitarii (NTS) and autonomic preganglionic neuronal populations in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve (DMN), nucleus ambiguus (NA) and spinal cord. Using modern tract-tracing methods, investigators have mapped the central connections of these visceral sensory and autonomic nuclei and delineated the network of cell groups illustrated in Fig. 1. In addition, immunochemical techniques have provided biochemical information indicating an abundance of peptides and other neurotransmitters within these cell groups. As a consequence of these findings, a picture of the cellular basis for central cardiovascular regulation is emerging.
Adeno-associated virus (AAV)-3-based vectors transduce haematopoietic cells not susceptible to transduction with AAV-2-based vectors

Although adeno-associated virus (AAV)-2 has a broad tissue-host range and can transduce a wide variety of tissue types, some cells, such as erythro-megakaryoblastoid cells, are non-permissive and appear to lack the AAV-2 receptor. However, limited studies have been reported with the related dependovirus AAV-3. We have previously cloned this virus, characterized its genome and produced an infectious clone. In this study, the gene for green fluorescent protein (GFP) was inserted into AAV-2- and AAV-3-based plasmids and recombinant viruses were produced. These viruses were then used to transduce haematopoietic cells and the transduction efficiencies were compared. In contrast to recombinant (r) AAV-2, rAAV-3 successfully transduced erythroid and megakaryoblastoid cells, although rAAV-2 was superior in transduction of lymphocyte-derived cell lines. Recently, it was reported that heparan sulphate can act as a receptor of AAV-2. The infectivity of rAAV-2 and rAAV-3 was tested with mutant cell lines of Chinese hamster ovary cells that were defective for heparin or heparan sulphate expression on the cell surface. There was no correlation between the ability of rAAV-2 or rAAV-3 to infect cells and the cell surface expression of heparan sulphate and, although heparin blocked both rAAV-2 and rAAV-3 transduction, the ID50 of rAAV-3 was higher than that of rAAV-2. In addition, virus-binding overlay assays indicated that AAV-2 and AAV-3 bound different membrane proteins. These results suggest not only that there are different cellular receptors for AAV-2 and AAV-3, but that rAAV-3 vectors may be preferred for transduction of some haematopoietic cell types.
Social networking for scientists using tagging and shared bookmarks: a Web 2.0 application

Web-based social networks, online personal profiles, keyword tagging, and online bookmarking are staples of Web 2.0-style applications. In this paper we report our investigation and implementation of these capabilities as a means for creating communities of like-minded faculty and researchers, particularly at minority serving institutions. Our motivating problem is to provide outreach tools that broaden the participation of these groups in funded research activities, particularly in cyberinfrastructure and e-science. In this paper, we discuss the system design, implementation, social network seeding, and portal capabilities. Underlying our system, and folksonomy systems generally, is a graph- based data model that links external URLs, system users, and descriptive tags. We conclude with a survey of the applicability of clustering and other data mining techniques to these folksonomy graphs.
Positive assortment for peer review

We suggest that the introduction of positive assortment (the pairing of individuals with similar characteristics) to the peer review process would increase the speed of reviewing, improve the quality of reviews, and decrease the burden on reviewers. In assortative reviewing, each reviewer is given a score based on speed of reviewing, the usefulness of the review, the rate of reviewing, or any other priority of the journal editor. Authors submitting manuscripts are then paired with reviewers who have similar scores to themselves. This is a no-cost solution that aligns reviewersâ incentives by accounting for the benefits provided to the scientific community and returning them in kind. This assortative reviewing system can promote rapid, high quality, and high volume reviewing at a benefit to the scientific community at no financial cost.
Fast, parallel, and asynchronous construction of BVHs for ray tracing animated scenes

Recent developments have produced several techniques for interactive ray tracing of dynamic scenes. In particular, bounding volume hierarchies (BVHs) are efficient acceleration structures that handle complex triangle distributions and can accommodate deformable scenes by updating (refitting) the bounding primitive without restructuring the entire tree. Unfortunately, updating only the bounding primitive can result in a degradation of the quality of the BVH, and in some scenes will result in a dramatic deterioration of rendering performance. In this paper, we present three different orthogonal techniques to avoid that deterioration: (a) quickly rebuilding the BVH using a fast, binning-based approach; (b) a parallel variant of that build to better exploit the multi-core architecture of modern CPUs; (c) asynchronously rebuilding the BVH concurrently with rendering and animation, allowing it to scale to even larger models by stretching the (parallel) BVH build over one or more frames. Our approach is particularly targeted toward future "many-core" architectures, and allows for flexibly allocating how many cores are used for rebuilding vs. how many are used for rendering.
Paul Robeson and the End of His “Movie” Career

Paul Robeson made his last fiction film appearance in Tales of Manhattan (directed by Julien Duvivier, 1942), which the black star ended up denouncing for its demeaning racial stereotypes. Robeson scholars have echoed this negative assessment while French critics have likewise dismissed the film as a minor effort in Duvivier’s oeuvre. This article reassesses and resituates the film historically, arguing that the black-cast sequence, when viewed intertextually, was much richer and more progressive than generally appreciated. In production before World War II and released almost ten months after Pearl Harbor, Tales of Manhattan was historically out of sync.
Portfolio optimization as a learning platform for control education and research

This paper demonstrates the use of discrete time portfolio optimization as a mechanism for introducing students to key problems in systems theory: control, system identification, model reduction, and verification. Too often students are not introduced to systems theory until very late in their programs, frequently after they have already decided on majors and generated momentum toward specific career plans. One reason for this late introduction is the prerequisite material demanded by our systems courses, typically involving a chain of math, physics, and engineering courses. Using portfolio optimization as the vehicle for introducing systems theory, however, can provide an early introduction to some of the central issues in the field. In particular, the open-loop nature of portfolio optimization simplifies the decision-making context sufficiently to make these problems accessible to younger students. Moreover, the familiarity of financial decision making, regardless of technical background, allows a broad range of students to appreciate the importance and nature of these problems. Here we illustrate these ideas, using portfolio optimization to show how the presence of uncertainty and complexity in decision problems interconnect control, system identification, model reduction, and verification in the design of practical decision systems.
An anticommutative difference operator for fuzzy sets and relations

Abstract This paper presents a new fuzzy difference operator: anticommutative difference. I derive the current fuzzy difference operators from classical difference, and compare these operators with bounded difference and anticommutative difference. I then prove a general inclusion relation for fuzzy difference operators. The historical use of the anticommutative operator, and possible future uses are discussed.
Optimal tax depreciation with loss carry-forward and backward options

The choice of depreciation method from among straight-line and accelerated methods can have a significant impact on the present value of expected tax payments. This is a problem that has been studied for decades, with most results indicating the optimality of accelerated methods. Recent research questions this claim by relaxing the assumption of positive taxable income. The situation where net-operating losses may be carried-forward and backward in time is the subject of this paper. We model this situation and establish conditions that allow straight-line depreciation to be preferred over accelerated methods. The results are focused around a threshold number of periods of consecutive losses, which are determined by the allowable periods to carry a loss forward. For consecutive losses beyond this threshold, straight-line will always be optimal. When the cumulative depreciation charges up to and including the window are guaranteed to be applied on or before the threshold period, then straight-line will never be optimal.
MAXIMUM DRAWDOWN INSURANCE

The drawdown of an asset is a risk measure defined in terms of the running maximum of the asset's spot price over some period [0, T]. The asset price is said to have drawn down by at least $K over this period if there exists a time at which the underlying is at least $K below its maximum-to-date. We introduce insurance against a large realization of maximum drawdown and a novel way to hedge the liability incurred by underwriting this insurance. Our proposed insurance pays a fixed amount should the maximum drawdown exceed some fixed threshold over a specified period. The need for this drawdown insurance would diminish should markets rise before they fall. Consequently, we propose a second kind of cheaper maximum drawdown insurance that pays a fixed amount contingent on the drawdown preceding a drawup. We propose double barrier options as hedges for both kinds of insurance against large maximum drawdowns. In fact for the second kind of insurance we show that the hedge is model-free. Since double barrier opt...
Binge eating behavior in college students: What is a binge?

Abstract Aim The purpose of this study was to explore binge eating (BE) behavior in male and female college students. Background BE is a disordered eating behavior frequently reported in college students and is of particular concern because of its link to the development of eating disorders and obesity. Methods An anonymous online survey was conducted and open-ended responses (n = 425) were coded using qualitative methods. Chi-square analyses were used to determine if gender differences existed. Results Findings indicate that females were more likely to report emotional concerns such as stress and negative affect prior to BE and poor body image and negative affect following episodes of BE. Meanwhile, males indicated more substance use, exercise, and hunger before a BE episode, with feeling satisfied or full after BE. Males were also more likely to report BE socially on meal type foods, while women were more likely to be at home or alone while BE. Conclusions Significant gender differences were noted indicating the need for tailored interventions. Nurses should screen college students for disordered eating behaviors, as well as associated concerns that may precede binge eating episodes including substance use, stress, and negative affect.
ras oncogenes in chemical carcinogenesis.

The existence of carcinogenic substances in the environment was first discovered by Percival Pott in 1775 who diagnosed the cancerous nature of the lesions in the scrotum of chimney sweeps and traced this to their continual exposure to soot. This finding was substantiated by subsequent observations of a relatively high incidence of cancer among workers in factories which used by-products of coal. We now know that such correlations have been reported not only between exposure to chemicals in the workplace and cancer, but also to exposure to radiation, viruses, and more recently, consumption of certain diets (Cairns 1981, Daudel, and Daudel 1966, Miller 1970, Wilbourn et al. 1986). The effect of many of these carcinogens, both chemical and physical, has been shown to be genetic damage, quite often by induction of point mutations or chromosomal translocations, suggesting a crucial role for gene integrity in carcinogenesis.
A motion-planning approach to folding: from paper craft to protein folding

In this paper, we present a framework for studying folding problems from a motion-planning perspective. The version of the motion-planning problem we consider is that of determining a sequence of motions to transform some configuration of a foldable object (the start) into another configuration (the goal). Modeling foldable objects as tree-like multilink objects allows us to apply motion-planning techniques for articulated objects with many degrees of freedom (many links) to folding problems. An important feature of this approach is that it not only allows us to study foldability questions, such as, can one object be folded (or unfolded) into another object, but it also provides us with another tool for investigating the dynamic folding process itself. The framework proposed here has application to traditional motion-planning areas such as automation and animation, to paper-folding problems studied in computational geometry, and to computational biology problems such as protein folding. Preliminary experimental results with paper folding and the folding of small proteins (approximately 60 residues) are quite encouraging.
Biobjective robust optimization over the efficient set for Pareto set reduction

Abstract This paper presents a biobjective robust optimization formulation for identifying robust solutions from a given Pareto set. The objectives consider both solution and model robustness when the exact values of the selected solution are affected by uncertainty. The problem is formulated equivalently as a model with uncertainty on the constraint parameters and objective function coefficients. Structural properties and a solution algorithm are developed for the case of multiobjective linear programs. The algorithm is based on facial decomposition; each subproblem is a biobjective linear program and is related to an efficient face of the multiobjective program. The resulting Pareto set reduction methodology allows the handling of continuous and discrete Pareto sets, and can be generalized to consider criteria other than robustness. The use of secondary criteria to further break ties among the many efficient solutions provides opportunities for additional trade-off analysis in the space of the secondary criteria. Examples illustrate the algorithm and characteristics of solutions obtained.
Seismic refraction studies off the coast of Alaska: 1956-1957

Seismic refraction profiles in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea in 1956 and 1957 provide data for some tentative conclusions about sea-floor structure. The Alaskan Abyssal Plain is a wedge of sedimentary material lying over normal deep-sea floor. Deep-ocean crustal structure continues beneath the sediment to a point close to the foot of the continental slope; the possible presence of a “buried trench” at the foot of the slope needs to be checked. The eastern part of the Aleutian Trench has a greater filling of sediment than other Pacific trenches. The shelf areas near Kodiak and Unimak have thick layers of sediments over a crust that has a velocity approaching continental values; near Dixon Entrance the sediment fill is less and of extremely variable thickness. Oceanic crust is at shallow depths in Dixon Entrance and northeast of Kodiak. The Aleutian Basin differs from normal oceanic structure in having thicker sediments and a thicker “second layer” and possibly lower-than-normal mantle velocity. The Aleutian Ridge has the appearance of a volcanic mass resting atop crustal material of normal oceanic velocity but greater-than-normal thickness.
Writing for Publication

Writing a scholarly article on a legal topic is a wonderful way to become intimately familiar with a particular area of the law. It impresses clients, who are thrilled to know that they are being represented by an attorney with substantive expertise in the field and the analytical ability to contribute something unique to the legal literature. It enhances the writer's reputation among other lawyers, and may lead to referrals. It is an important form of service. I write because I enjoy the creative process of writing, and because I like to see my name in print. This essay explains how to write and publish a legal article. It discusses (1) the choice of topic and journal, (2) the structure of a typical article, (3) the process of getting an article published, and (4) reprints. The essay is not a comprehensive treatment of the topic (for that, see Eugene Volokh's fine book) - it's a short, concise essay intended to help students and practitioners publish an article or essay in a local law review or bar journal.
Law Librarianship in the Law School Curriculum

There is a growing awareness among law librarians of a looming recruitment crisis caused by a graying of the profession. An unusually large number of law librarians are expected to retire during the next 10 to 20 years, and this void is not expected to be filled by library school graduates at current matriculation rates. The challenge before us is to determine how best to meet this need. Law students are an obvious source of future law librarians because of their extensive training in the law and legal research and also because a growing number of students seek alternatives to the traditional practice of law. Five of Regent University Law Library’s seven current law librarians have law degrees, and four of them received their JDs from Regent. Three of these joined our professional staff after graduating from law school. Each was a student in law classes I taught. Two had worked in the law library as graduate assistants (GA). One was also my research graduate assistant and was later selected to our reference GA program, an honor reserved for students who excel in legal research and writing. She currently serves as president of the Virginia Association of Law Libraries. Each of these students developed an interest in law librarianship as a result of the exposure to the profession while they were in law school. They were hired because the law library had valuable opportunities to observe their work through time and knew their capabilities. In each case, we hired known quantities who didn’t have to relocate.
Late Neurovascular Compromise Secondary to a Malunited Clavicular Fracture in a Preadolescent: A Case Report.

Neurovascular compromise is a rare but recognized potential complication following segmental midshaft clavicular fractures1,2. Fractures that have the potential to progress to symptomatic nonunion or malunion or to cause neurovascular compromise must be appropriately identified, and patients should be informed as to the potential complications. We present the case of a preadolescent patient who developed late neurovascular compromise resulting from clavicular fracture callus. The patient and her parents were informed that data concerning her case would be submitted for publication, and they provided consent. An eleven-year-old girl sustained an isolated midshaft clavicular fracture after being involved in a rollover motor vehicle accident. On presentation to the initial hospital, she was reported to have an intact neurovascular examination and had no skin tenting at the fracture site. The treatment consisted of immobilizing the arm in a sling. At week four, fracture callus was present on radiographs, and use of the sling was discontinued. Twenty-four hours after immobilization was discontinued, the patient experienced left upper-extremity numbness and tingling. The symptoms progressed over a week, and the left hand became numb, cool, and pale. The patient presented to our institution five weeks after the initial injury and one week after the onset of neurovascular symptoms in the left upper extremity. A radiograph revealed a malunited segmental fracture of the middle third of the clavicle (Figs. 1-A and 1-B). The segmental and middle part of the clavicle was perpendicular to the axis of the clavicular shaft and was displaced inferiorly …
Rats with late stage precancerous esophageal lesions develop fewer papillomas if fed a diet of freeze-dried black raspberries

B10 Aim: Our lab has shown that rats treated for five weeks with NMBA develop ~ 12 tumors per esophagus 30 weeks after cessation of carcinogen. We have also shown that a diet of black raspberries (BRB) during the 30 weeks after carcinogen treatment reduces the development of tumors to ~ four per esophagus. This study was conducted to examine (1) whether BRB is effective when administered from 10 to 30 weeks after NMBA treatment, when the esophagi contain several pre-cancerous lesions, (2) alternatively, if the BRB diet was replaced at 15 weeks with control diet how many tumors per esophagus would develop. >Methods: Five-week-old male Fisher-344 rats were administered an AIN-76A control diet and injected subcutaneously with 0.3 mg/kg bw NMBA three times a week for five weeks. Starting from week six (denoted as week one of prevention treatment), the rats were randomly assigned to 4 groups. The first group of the rats continuously received AIN-76A diet. The second and third groups received a diet of 10% BRB. In the third group, the BRB treatment was replaced with AIN-76A control diet after nine weeks. In the fourth group, which received AIN-76A control, the diet was switched to the BRB diet at ten weeks. At 30 weeks post-carcinogen exposure, all rats were sacrificed and tumor incidence, number and volumes were determined. >Results: Esophageal tumor incidences and volumes in NMBA-treated rats were not influenced by any of the berry treatments. The NMBA-only rats had 12+ tumors per esophagus. The whole term BRB treated animals had 70% fewer tumors per esophagus. The third group of animals, that were switched to control diet at ten weeks, exhibited no significant inhibition of tumor number. However, the animals that received the BRB diet after 9 weeks showed a 60% reduction in the number of tumors per esophagus. >Conclusion: Our results suggest that continuously daily consumption of BRB is the best way to the prevention of esophageal tumors in individuals at high risk. Furthermore, a BRB diet has significant therapeutic value in inhibiting conversion of late stage pre-disease into tumors. >Supported by NCI grants CA096130 and CA103180 to GDS.
TERMINOLOGY AND PREDOMINANT PROCESSES ASSOCIATED WITH THE FORMATION OF WEAK LAYERS OF NEAR-SURFACE FACETED CRYSTALS IN THE MOUNTAIN SNOWPACK

Although recent observations indicate that weak layers of near-surface faceted crystals are widely associated with snow avalanches, little research has addressed these layers. Further, current rese...
The Joys of Young Bartel24

This chapter conveys young years of Van der Waerden, his studies at school and university and first visit of Gottingen.
IT/Engineering: Robotics

This chapter provides information about IT/Engineering component of the Fostering Interest in Information Technology (FI3T) project, in which the focus was on robotics. The chapter presents a description of the activities conducted by the IT/Engineering group and provides information for teachers and students who are interested in robotics. The chapter presents information about engineering fields in general and colleges and careers in robotics. The project activities included capacity building workshops to prepare participating students for the project design activities. The chapter provides descriptions of these workshops, team formation for project design activities along with field trips to partnering local industries. Curriculum standards were discussed in relation to the project activities. The chapter next provides description of the projects developed by students. The chapter concludes with listing online resources for students and teachers related to engineering and robotics.
Mind the Gap: Cognitive Approaches to Early Medieval Poetry and Audiences

The field of cognitive literary studies has perceptively been compared to “a group of construction sites.” At each site, scholars are exploring how to enhance our understanding of literature by dep...
Viscoelasticity of the polydomain-monodomain transition in main-chain liquid crystal elastomers

Abstract The goal of this study was to explore the rate-dependent behavior of the stretch-induced polydomain-monodomain (PM) transition of a liquid crystal elastomer (LCE). The main-chain LCE was synthesized and then cross-linked in the nematic polydomain state. The PM transition caused a soft-elastic behavior, which was measured using uniaxial tensile tests at multiple strain rates and temperatures. The main finding was that we were able to apply the temperature-dependent shift factor determined for the small strain behavior and in the frequency domain to create master curves for the large-strain response in the strain rate domain. The soft elasticity phenomenon was absent from the stress-strain curve at equilibrium. The results also suggest that the relaxation mechanisms of the network, and not of the mesogen orientation, dominate the rate-dependent behavior. Finally, we observed a relatively slow recovery behavior, suggesting the presence of an additional slow relaxation mechanism.
Oxidation–Reduction Potential Measurement in Ejaculated Semen Samples

Oxidative stress reflects an imbalance between the systemic indication of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the biological system’s ability to readily neutralize the reactive intermediate species or to repair the resulting damage. Disturbances in the normal redox (reduction–oxidation) state of cells can cause toxic effects through the production of peroxides and free radicals that damage all components of the cell, including proteins, lipids, and DNA. ROS also act as cellular messengers in redox signaling. Oxidation–reduction potential (ORP) in biological systems has been described as an integrated measure of the balance between total oxidants (i.e., oxidized thiols, superoxide radicals, hydroxyl radicals, hydrogen peroxide, nitric oxide, peroxynitrite, transition metal ions) and total reductants (i.e., free thiols, ascorbate, α-tocopherol, β-carotene, uric acid) [1].
School Counselors’ Approach to Ethical Decision Making

ABSTRACTThis cross-sectional study explored 897 participants’ decision making in response to a school counseling case containing an ethical dilemma and compared respondents’ approach to the variables included in the Intercultural Model of Ethical Decision Making (IMED). Although 60% of participants identified that the school counselor’s beliefs could influence decision making, only 10% identified the ethical issue. Differences were found in the resources consulted across those who identified the ethical issue and those who did not. Results and implications are discussed.
Randomized Controlled Trial of Octyl Cyanoacrylate Skin Adhesive versus Subcuticular Suture for Skin Closure after Implantable Venous Port Placement

Abstract Purpose To compare early outcomes of skin closure with octyl cyanoacrylate skin adhesive versus subcuticular suture closure. Materials and Methods Over a 7-month period, 109 subjects (28 men and 81 women; mean age, 58.6 y) scheduled to undergo single-lumen implantable venous port insertion for chemotherapy were randomly assigned to skin closure with either octyl cyanoacrylate skin adhesive or absorbable subcuticular suture after suturing the deep dermal layer. Subjects were followed for episodes of infection or dehiscence within 3 months of port implantation. At 3 months, photographs of the healed incision were obtained and reviewed by a plastic surgeon in a blinded fashion who rated cosmetic scar appearance based on a validated 10-point cosmesis score. Results Of subjects, 54 were randomly assigned to skin adhesive, and 55 were randomly assigned to subcuticular suture. No subjects had incision dehiscence. Infection rates at 3 months were similar between groups (2.1% vs 4.0%; P = 1.0). The mean cosmesis scores were 4.40 for skin adhesive and 4.46 for subcuticular suture ( P = .898). The superficial skin closure time was 8.6 minutes for suture versus 1.4 minutes for skin adhesive ( P Conclusions Scar cosmesis and patient outcomes did not significantly vary between skin adhesive versus subcuticular suture, although skin closure time was significantly less with skin adhesive.
Ranking traditional and nano-enabled sorbents for simultaneous removal of arsenic and chromium from simulated groundwater

Water from many municipal and private wells are treated to meet arsenic (As(V)) regulations, and new regulations for hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) are soon possible. Rather than adding costly capital infrastructure, we explored many types of sorbents' ability to remove both oxygenated anions simultaneously. In laboratory pseudo-equilibrium tests, metal (hydr)oxide sorbents demonstrated high affinity for As(V) but exhibited 30 to 100-fold lower capacities to remove Cr(VI). WBAX resins had some ability to sorb both Cr(VI) and As(V), but competing anions lowered their sorption capacity for As(V) by >90% compared to in a deionized water matrix. Nano-enabled sorbents with iron or titanium nanoparticles embedded inside the porous structure of an anion exchange resin demonstrated high ability to remove both pollutants simultaneously despite competition, with the tested sorbents showing 11μmol/g capacity for Cr(VI) and 19μmol/g for As(V) in simulated groundwater on average. To quantitatively rank sorbents' ability to remove multiple pollutants, a Simultaneous Removal Capacity scoring tool is proposed. This index uses both absolute removal capacity for each contaminant and relative capacity for multiple contaminants, and may be applied to simultaneous removal of any set of aqueous or atmospheric contaminants. Here, the five nano-enabled sorbents ranked in the top seven out of twelve sorbents tested for simultaneous Cr(VI) and As(V) removal. This work demonstrated traditional and novel nano-enabled sorbents can reduce multiple contaminants of health concern, resulting in groundwater treated to drinking water standards.
Sex Specific Placental Accumulation and Behavioral Effects of Developmental Firemaster 550 Exposure in Wistar Rats

Firemaster® 550 (FM 550) is a commercial flame retardant mixture of brominated and organophosphate compounds applied to polyurethane foam used in furniture and baby products. Due to widespread human exposure, and structural similarities with known endocrine disruptors, concerns have been raised regarding possible toxicity. We previously reported evidence of sex specific behavioral effects in rats resulting from developmental exposure. The present study expands upon this prior finding by testing for a greater range of behavioral effects, and measuring the accumulation of FM 550 compounds in placental tissue. Wistar rat dams were orally exposed to FM 550 during gestation (0, 300 or 1000 µg/day; GD 9 – 18) for placental measurements or perinatally (0, 100, 300 or 1000 µg/day; GD 9 – PND 21) to assess activity and anxiety-like behaviors. Placental accumulation was dose dependent, and in some cases sex specific, with the brominated components reaching the highest levels. Behavioral changes were predominantly associated with a loss or reversal of sex differences in activity and anxiety-like behaviors. These findings demonstrate that environmental chemicals may sex-dependently accumulate in the placenta. That sex-biased exposure might translate to sex-specific adverse outcomes such as behavioral deficits is a possibility that merits further investigation.
Influence of Molecular Orientation on the Melting Behavior of Poly(phenylene sulfide) Fibers

The influence of molecular orientation on the melting behavior of draw-annealed poly(phenylene sulfide) fibers is investigated in the present paper. Tools used to probe the investigation were differential scanning calorimetry, polarized light optical microscopy, wide angle X-ray diffraction, and small angle X-ray diffraction. It is shown that molecular orientation in the crystalline and amorphous regions play a key role in crystal rearrangement during melting. A probable mechanism by which amorphous orientation influences crystal rearrangement is also discussed.
Nanogel-DFO conjugates as a model to investigate pharmacokinetics, biodistribution, and iron chelation in vivo

Deferoxamine (DFO) to treat iron overload (IO) has been limited by toxicity issues and short circulation times and it would be desirable to prolong circulation to improve non-transferrin bound iron (NTBI) chelation. In addition, DFO is currently unable to efficiently target the large pool of iron in the liver and spleen. Nanogel-Deferoxamine conjugates (NG-DFO) can prove useful as a model to investigate the pharmacokinetic (PK) properties and biodistribution (BD) behavior of iron-chelating macromolecules and their overall effect on serum ferritin levels. NG-DFO reduced the cytotoxicity of DFO and significantly reduced cellular ferritin levels in IO macrophages in vitro. PK/BD studies in normal rats revealed that NG-DFO displayed prolonged circulation and preferential accumulation into the liver and spleen. IO mice treated with NG1-DFO presented significantly lower levels of serum ferritin compared to DFO. Total renal and fecal elimination data point to the need to balance prolonged circulation with controlled degradation to accelerate clearance of iron-chelating macromolecules.
Descending Branch of the Lateral Circumflex Femoral Artery Graft for Posterior Inferior Cerebellar Artery Revascularization.

Background Posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) revascularization can be achieved with relative ease when a contralateral PICA is present. However, without a contralateral PICA, identification of a suitable vessel alternative can be challenging due to a size mismatch. Objective To propose the descending branch of the lateral circumflex femoral artery (DLCFA) to be an acceptable, if not preferred, arterial graft for PICA revascularization. Methods Data from patients who underwent PICA revascularization with DLCFA grafts were obtained from an institutional review board-approved prospectively maintained database with informed consent from the patients. Results Three patients, all presenting with ruptured aneurysms, were treated with PICA revascularization using the DLCFA. All cases achieved bypass patency and no ischemic events occurred during the bypass procedures. Graft spasm occurred in 2 patients. Two patients that presented with neurological deficits achieved excellent neurological outcomes and 1 suffered an anterior spinal artery stroke during a repeat endovascular treatment 1 wk after revascularization. Conclusion The DLCFA is favorable for PICA revascularization when a contralateral PICA is not a viable option.
Methylmercury Dynamics in Upper Sacramento Valley Rice Fields with Low Background Soil Mercury Levels.

Few studies have considered how methylmercury (MeHg, a toxic form of Hg produced in anaerobic soils) production in rice (Oryza sativa L.) fields can affect water quality, and little is known about MeHg dynamics in rice fields. Surface water MeHg and total Hg (THg) imports, exports, and storage were studied in two commercial rice fields in the Sacramento Valley, California, where soil THg was low (25 and 57 ng g⁻¹). The median concentration of MeHg in drainage water exiting the fields was 0.17 ng g⁻¹ (range: <0.007–2.1 ng g⁻¹). Compared with irrigation water, drainage water had similar MeHg concentrations, and lower THg concentrations during the growing season. Significantly elevated drainage water MeHg and THg concentrations were observed in the fallow season compared with the growing season. An analysis of surface water loads indicates that fields were net importers of both MeHg (76–110 ng m⁻²) and THg (1947–7224 ng m⁻²) during the growing season, and net exporters of MeHg (35–200 ng m⁻²) and THg (248–6496 ng m⁻²) during the fallow season. At harvest, 190 to 700 ng MeHg m⁻² and 1400 to 1700 ng THg m⁻² were removed from fields in rice grain. Rice straw, which contained 120 to 180 ng MeHg m⁻² and 7000–10,500 ng m⁻² THg was incorporated into the soil. These results indicate that efforts to reduce MeHg and THg exports in rice drainage water should focus on the fallow season. Substantial amounts of MeHg and THg were stored in plants, and these pools should be considered in future studies.
Pedagogy and Evaluation of an Envision Case Study Module Bridging Sustainable Engineering and Behavioral Science

AbstractDesigning for sustainability demands systems thinking and problem-based learning focused on the types of ill-structured problems found in the real world. The approach detailed in this paper...
Die Hauptgleichung der Geraden

Es sei g eine beliebige Gerade und P ein beliebiger Punkt auf g mit den Koordinaten (x;y). Dann ist (Abb. 8)
Methods of Viewing 3-D Images

The design of 3-D stereoscopic viewers has proved a happy hunting ground for inventors for many years. We shall describe the viewing systems most used in practice, but first, a couple of methods that exploit properties of the visual system other than stereopsis.
Acute Life-threatening Fluid and Electrolyte Abnormalities

Crucial to the effective diagnosis and management of critical fluid and electrolyte abnormalities is a high index of suspicion. Potentially lethal abnormalities of sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium metabolism are all acutely reversible if recognized and treated appropriately. The significance of these electrolytes in osmotic regulation and/or neuromuscular function accounts for the predominance of neurologic and neuromuscular symptoms. Changes in sensorium, encephalopathic symptoms, weakness, paralysis, muscular disturbances, and electrocardiographic abnormalities usually dominate the clinical picture. The primary goal of emergency therapy is the rapid reversal of the life-threatening circumstances. Such therapy may be nonspecific and ordinarily requires only partial correction of the serum concentration toward normal. Thereafter, less urgent and more specific therapy can be undertaken to gradually restore normal electrolyte concentrations and prevent recurrence of the emergency states.
Radial (Preaxial) Polydactyly

Extra parts are not necessarily replicas whether in size or shape, hence many surgeons prefer the term polydactyly to duplication [1]. Polydactyly is designated as radial, which refers to the thumb ray; central to the index, long and ring rays; and ulnar to the fifth ray [1–3] (see Fig. 25.1). The Congenital Hand Committee of the IFSSH approved these terms and has used them instead of preaxial and postaxial for the past 30 years. Many other terms had been used previously in the literature. The term balanced thumbs suggests the parts to be identical or “duplicate” partners whereas unbalanced thumbs indicates that the two partners are not true duplicates; most are unbalanced and the radial is usually the more deficient. Thumb polydactyly cases do not all have biphalangeal components, some are triphalangeal in nature and some are rudimentary or floating and do not have well-developed phalanges. Those with triphalangeal components are discussed elsewhere.
Cognitive Heterogeneous Multi-Domain Networks with Hierarchical Learning

We discuss bio-inspired hierarchical networking with team-oriented cognitive intelligence as well as heterogeneous multi-domain networking utilizing multi-broker agents driven by market-driven interactions of the multi-agent learning system.
High-Resolution Profiling of NMD Targets in Yeast.

Abstract Contemporary high-throughput sequencing methods, notably RNA-Seq, permit the systematic identification and characterization of transcripts whose levels change significantly in response to altered biological states. We have described methods for the application of this methodology to a definition of the transcripts regulated by the NMD pathway in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In short, we outline methods for growing cells of wild-type or NMD-deficient yeast, isolating RNA from the different strains, depleting rRNA from each sample, preparing and sequencing the respective RNA-Seq libraries, and employing multiple software packages to characterize the resulting sequence reads meaningfully. Our experimental approach has identified approximately 900 transcripts that are commonly upregulated when yeast NMD is inactivated ( Celik, Baker, He, & Jacobson, 2017 ).
Ligation state of nickel during C-O bond activation with monodentate phosphines.

Abstract The oxidative addition of phenolic electrophiles at Ni(0) in the presence of monodentate phosphine ligands was studied with both dispersion-free and dispersion-containing DFT methods. With the popular bulky ligand PCy3, consideration of dispersion has a striking effect on the predicted ligation state of nickel during oxidative addition of aryl sulfamates. Dispersion-containing methods such as M06L indicate a clear preference for a bis-phosphine ligated transition state (TS), while dispersion free methods like B3LYP strongly favor a mono-phosphine ligated TS. This discrepancy in predicted ligation state is also found with small phosphines (PMe3) in combination with some aryl electrophiles (carbamates, acetates, pivalates, chlorides), but a bis-PMe3-ligated TS is predicted regardless of dispersion for other electrophiles (sulfamates, mesylates, tosylates). DFT calculations that include dispersion also offer a possible explanation for the observed poor efficacy of PtBu3 as a ligand in Ni-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions.
Correction to: Caregiver Voices: Cross-Cultural Input on Improving Access to Autism Services

Please note that the middle name of coauthor Francisco Reinosa Segovia was misspelled (as “Rienosa”) is this article as originally published.
Overall survival trends for cervical cancer in the modern era: A U.S.A. population based analysis.

e17024Background: In the past two decades, several advancements have been made in the treatment of cervical cancer such as concurrent chemotherapy, robotic surgery, intensity modulated radiotherapy...