cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
USPSTF Recommendations: New and Updated in 2016.

In 2016, the USPSTF updated 14 previous recommendation statements and added a new recommendation on screening for autism spectrum disorder. Several updated recommendations are notable for having significant changes.
Predictors of Participant Perceptions of Facilitated Individualized Education Program Meeting Success

Facilitated Individualized Education Program (FIEP) meetings present one option for early, alternative dispute resolution in special education. Although it has been suggested that this process may ...
Effect of time since loss on grief, resilience, and depression among bereaved emerging adults.

ABSTRACTGrief research has typically centered on one time point, without considering the impact of multiple losses over time. In this study, 546 bereaved emerging adults were divided into three groups: those who experienced a recent loss (0–2 years ago), a past loss (>2 years ago), or a combination of both recent and past losses. Differences between the groups on resilience, depression, and grief symptomatology were examined. Those who had experienced both losses (recent and past) and recent losses endorsed significantly more grief symptoms than those in the past loss group. Findings highlight how multiple losses impact grief.
Cultural Adaptation and Sexual Harassment in the Lives of Asian American Women

Despite the prevalence of both historical and current race- and gender-based stereotyping of Asian American women, little is known about their experiences and attitudes regarding sexual harassment....
Rapid Progression of Extensive Arachnoid Adhesion Longer Than Twelve Segments and Cysts Formation after Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion: Case Report

Arachnoid cysts and intradural adhesion are uncommon in postoperative complication rather than congenital condition. The adhesion and cysts are usually around surgical site but some extend to a distant place. The authors report a case of formation of arachnoid cysts and adhesion far away from original surgical site with signifi cant clinical manifestations after posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF).A 55-year-old woman accepted PLIF and got a good recovery but her dura mater was torn and sutured during procedure. Six months after her 1st surgery, she felt rapid progressing numbness from foot to belly and weakness of both lower limbs. On Examination bilateral deep tendon refl exes were hyperactive. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed intradural adhesion formed from T4 to sacral canal. Cerebrospinal fluid terminated at T4 level and there exactly the arachnoid cyst was formed. The long intradural adhesion and distant cyst formation made this case unique and the cause of neurological manifestations. Then the patient underwent intradural exploratory surgery and cyst-abdominal shunting. The cyst was actually found to be the terminal part of remaining subarachnoid space. Patient’s numbness stopped advancing upward and the strength of both lower limbs gradually improved after surgery. Therefore, arachnoid cyst and adhesion might appear at any place after spine surgery with dural rupture. Exploratory surgery and timely decompression can effectively slow down the progression of disease.Spinal meningeal cysts are rare and have been described as “arachnoid cysts,” “pouches”, or “diverticula”.7 Most spinal intradural arachnoid cysts are thought to be congenital but still some acquired arachnoid cysts were reported as to be the results of trauma, hemorrhage or infection.8 Even fewer were caused by intradural infl ammation after invasive diagnostic test and treatment. Nepal Journal of Neuroscience. Vol. 13, No. 2, 2016, Page: 94-98
Eureka: A Framework for Enabling Static Malware Analysis

We introduce Eureka, a framework for enabling static analysis on Internet malware binaries. Eureka incorporates a novel binary unpacking strategy based on statistical bigram analysis and coarse-grained execution tracing. The Eureka framework uniquely distinguishes itself from prior work by providing effective evaluation metrics and techniques to assess the quality of the produced unpacked code. Eureka provides several Windows API resolution techniques that identify system calls in the unpacked code by overcoming various existing control flow obfuscations. Eureka's unpacking and API resolution capabilities facilitate the structural analysis of the underlying malware logic by means of micro-ontology generation that labels groupings of identified API calls based on their functionality. They enable a visual means for understanding malware code through the automated construction of annotated control flow and call graphs.Our evaluation on multiple datasets reveals that Eureka can simplify analysis on a large fraction of contemporary Internet malware by successfully unpacking and deobfuscating API references.
History and Physical Examination

Headaches and facial pain are very common and are a major medical problem in this country and the world (Goldberg. Am J Manag Care, 11(2 Suppl):S62–7, 2005). It is critical to obtain an accurate history and physical exam to determine the etiology of facial and head pain. If the head pain is severe and abrupt in onset, one must rule out a ruptured aneurysm or intracranial hemorrhage because time is critical to treat that problem.
Incidence and risk factors for aseptic baseplate loosening of reverse total shoulder arthroplasty

Background Aseptic glenoid baseplate loosening (AGBL) is a catastrophic complication after reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA). Our goals were to determine the incidence of AGBL in patients who underwent RTSA and identify risk factors for AGBL after RTSA. Methods We analyzed 202 shoulders that underwent primary or revision RTSA using 1 implant system and evaluated baseplate loosening at a minimum 2-year follow-up. The associations between AGBL and the following variables were investigated: patient age, sex, primary vs. revision RTSA, scapular notching, use of bone graft, and type of baseplate screw fixation. Results AGBL occurred in 6 shoulders (3.0%). The incidence of AGBL after revision RTSA (10%) was significantly higher than that after primary RTSA (1.2%; P = .014). There were significant associations between AGBL and the use of bone graft and the use of nonlocking screws. Scapular notching, glenosphere center-of-rotation offset, patient age, and sex were not associated with AGBL. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the use of all peripheral nonlocking 3.5-mm screws (odds ratio, 10.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.1- 39) and the use of bone graft (odds ratio, 7.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.9-30) were independent risk factors for AGBL. Conclusions The rate of baseplate failure after primary RTSA is low (1.2%) but is significantly higher after revision RTSA (10%). Major risk factors for baseplate failure are the use of all 3.5-mm nonlocking screws for peripheral baseplate fixation and the use of a bone graft to address deficiencies in bony support beneath the baseplate.
Mobility-Aware Edge Caching and Computing in Vehicle Networks: A Deep Reinforcement Learning

This paper studies the joint communication, caching and computing design problem for achieving the operational excellence and the cost efficiency of the vehicular networks. Moreover, the resource allocation policy is designed by considering the vehicle's mobility and the hard service deadline constraint. These critical challenges have often been either neglected or addressed inadequately in the existing work on the vehicular networks because of their high complexity. We develop a deep reinforcement learning with the multi-timescale framework to tackle these grand challenges in this paper. Furthermore, we propose the mobility-aware reward estimation for the large timescale model to mitigate the complexity due to the large action space. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the theoretical findings developed in the paper and to quantify the performance gains attained.
Gene expression profile of malignant human colon cancer SW480 cells transformed by BMP-4 overexpression

4521 Introductions: Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP), a member of the TGF-β superfamily, involve in regulating various cellular behaviors. Previously, we demonstrated that BMP-4 is upregulated in colonic adenocarcinoma and can transform human colon cancer HCT116 cells to become more aggressive. In canonical BMP signaling pathway, Smad4 is a central mediator for regulating the expression of target genes, while the frequency of Smad4 inactivation is markedly increased in metastatic colorectal cancers. Here, we examined whether elevated BMP-4 levels were able to stimulate cell invasiveness in SW480 cells which are Smad4-deficient. We further performed gene expression microarray analysis to explore the potential target genes responding to BMP-4 overexpression in SW480 cells. Methods: BMP-4 coding region was subcloned into a pcDNA3.1 vector. The BMP-4 expression plasmid and an empty vector was transfected into SW480 cells. Individual stable clones were generated by geneticin selection. The expression levels of BMP-4, phospho-Smad1, and vimentin were analyzed by Western blotting. Cell migration and invasion assays were conducted in a Boyden chamber without coating or coated with Matrigel, respectively, for 48 h using 10% serum as chemotactic stimulus. Rac activity was assessed by GST-PBD pull-down assay. An oligonucleotide microarray containing 46, 000 genes (Illumina) was used to compare gene expression profile between BMP-4 overexpressing cells and empty vector controls. Data were acquired from Illumina BeadStudio and analyzed by GeneSpring. Results: The levels of BMP-4 in cell lysate and conditioned medium were barely detected in empty vector controls, whereas they were very intense in SW480 cells stably carrying a BMP-4 expression plasmid. BMP-4 overexpressing cells exhibited higher levels of phosphorylated Smad1 than controls, indicating that SW480 cells have functional receptors for transmitting the autocrine BMP signaling. Overexpression of BMP-4 resulted in an increased expression of vimentin, a marker of epithelial-messenchymal transition. Cell migration and invasion potentials in BMP-4 overexpressing cells were increased by 2.4~3.4- and 5.2~7.0-fold, respectively, compared to controls. The activity of Rac was highly activated in BMP-4 overexpressing cells in comparison to controls. In the analysis of microarray data, 99 genes (70 up-regulated and 29 down-regulated) with 2-fold difference has been identified. Six genes (CEBP, CTGF, CTHRC1, G0S2, IFITM1, and OPG) have been previously reported as targets of BMP pathway. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that an elevated expression of BMP-4 can transform colon cancer cells to become more invasive and Smad4 is dispensable for this process. Microarray analysis reveals that several known BMP-target genes can be activated by BMP-4 through non-canonical pathways.
Conic Optimization for Robust Quadratic Regression: Deterministic Bounds and Statistical Analysis

This paper is concerned with the robust quadratic regression problem, where the goal is to find the unknown parameters (state) of a system modeled by nonconvex quadratic equations based on observational data. In this problem, a sparse subset of equations are subject to errors (noise values) of arbitrary magnitudes. We propose two techniques based on conic optimization to address this problem. The first one is a penalized conic relaxation, whereas the second one is a more complex iterative conic optimization equipped with a hard thresholding operator. We derive a deterministic bound for the penalized conic relaxation to quantify how many bad measurements the algorithm can tolerate without producing a nonzero estimation error. This bound is then analyzed for Gaussian systems, and it is proved that the proposed method allows up to a square root of the total number of measurements to be grossly erroneous. If the number of measurements is sufficiently large, we show that the iterative conic optimization method recovers the unknown state precisely even when up to a constant fraction of equations are arbitrarily wrong in the Gaussian case. The efficacy of the developed methods is demonstrated on synthetic data and a European power grid.
SP0043 Epidemiology of cardiovascular complications in systemic lupus erythematosus

Cardiovascular complications are increasingly recognised as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in SLE. The incidence of myocardial infarction is elevated 8 to 50-fold compared to age and gender matched controls. Traditional cardiovascular risk factors are increased in SLE, and are associated with both preclinical and clinical atherosclerosis. However, even after adjustment for traditional risk factors, a large difference in the frequency of cardiovascular disease exists between SLE patients and controls. In the general population, atherosclerosis is now recognised as a chronic inflammatory condition, with elevations of C-reactive protein and IL-6. TNF has a role in the pathogenesis of congestive heart failure. These and other inflammatory cytokines likely play a role in SLE. Furthermore, SLE patients are hypercoagulable secondary to antiphospholipid antibodies and other factors. Thus, the pathogenesis of cardiovascular complications in SLE is likely multifactorial, with both SLE and traditional risk factors playing a role.
Friend or foe? Lactobacillus in the context of autoimmune disease.

Abstract Over the last decade, the interplay between the gut microbiota, the consortium of intestinal microbes that colonizes intestinal mucosal barriers, and its host immune system has been increasingly better understood. Disruption of the delicate balance between beneficial and pathogenic commensals, known as dysbiosis, contributes to a variety of chronic immunologic and metabolic diseases. Complicating this paradigm are bacterial strains that can operate paradoxically both as instigators and attenuators of inflammatory responses, depending on host background. Here, we review the role of several strains in the genus Lactobacillus within the context of autoimmune and other chronic disorders with a predominant focus on L. reuteri. While strains within this species have been shown to provide immune health benefits, they have also been demonstrated to act as a pathobiont in autoimmune-prone hosts. Beneficial functions in healthy hosts include competing with pathogenic microbes, promoting regulatory T cell development, and protecting the integrity of the gut barrier. On the other hand, certain strains can also break through a dysfunctional gut barrier, colonize internal tissues such as the spleen or liver and promote inflammatory responses in host tissues that lead to autoimmune disease. This review summarizes the manifold roles that these commensals play in the context of health and disease.
Parafermion excitations in a superfluid of quasi-molecular chains

We study a quantum phase transition in a system of dipoles confined in a stack of N identical one-dimensional lattices (tubes) polarized perpendicularly to the lattices. In this arrangement, the intra-lattice interaction is purely repulsive, preventing system collapse, and the inter-lattice interaction is attractive. The dipoles may represent polar molecules or indirect excitons. The transition separates two phases; in one of them, superfluidity (understood as algebraic decay of the corresponding correlation functions) takes place in each individual lattice, and in the other (chain superfluid) the order parameter is the product of bosonic operators from all lattices. We argue that in the presence of finite inter-lattice tunneling the transition belongs to the universality class of the q = N two-dimensional classical Potts model. For N = 2,3,4 the corresponding low-energy field theory is the model of ZN parafermions perturbed by the thermal operator. The results of Monte Carlo simulations are consistent with these predictions. The detection scheme for the chain superfluid is outlined.
The Price of Anarchy is Fragile in Single-Selection Coverage Games.

This paper considers coverage games in which a group of agents are tasked with identifying the highest-value subset of resources; in this context, game-theoretic approaches are known to yield Nash equilibria within a factor of 2 of optimal. We consider the case that some of the agents suffer a communication failure and cannot observe the actions of other agents; in this case, recent work has shown that if there are k>0 compromised agents, Nash equilibria are only guaranteed to be within a factor of k+1 of optimal. However, the present paper shows that this worst-case guarantee is fragile; in a sense which we make precise, we show that if a problem instance has a very poor worst-case guarantee, then it is necessarily very "close" to a problem instance with an optimal Nash equilibrium. Conversely, an instance that is far from one with an optimal Nash equilibrium necessarily has relatively good worst-case performance guarantees. To contextualize this fragility, we perform simulations using the log-linear learning algorithm and show that average performance on worst-case instances is considerably better even than our improved analytical guarantees. This suggests that the fragility of the price of anarchy can be exploited algorithmically to compensate for online communication failures.
Additive Manufacturing of Hetero-Magnetic Coupled Inductors

Coupled inductors are used in power electronics to improve transient response and reduce component size. To further increase inductance density and reduce fringing fields, a combination of different magnetic materials was introduced to create a hetero-magnetic coupled inductor (HMCI) core. To simplify and speedup the prototyping of HMCI designs, in this study a paste-extrusion additive manufacturing platform was used to co-process a custom-developed magnetic and conductive feedstock. First, ferrite plates of each having a winding were co-printed and co-sintered. Then, the HMCI was assembled by bonding together the ferrite + winding plates using a low-temperature curable magnetic paste. The finished HMCI was characterized by measuring its dc winding resistances, leakage inductance, and coupling coefficient. The coupling coefficient of the HMCI was easily adjustable to meet various requirements for high-frequency interleaved multiphase buck converters. This work demonstrates the feasibility of applying an additive manufacturing process for rapid prototyping of an unconventional power magnetic component having an inhomogeneous magnetic core.
Error Bounds of the Invariant Statistics in Machine Learning of Ergodic It\^o Diffusions

This paper studies the theoretical underpinnings of machine learning of ergodic Ito diffusions. The objective is to understand the convergence properties of the invariant statistics when the underlying system of stochastic differential equations (SDEs) is empirically estimated with a supervised regression framework. Using the perturbation theory of ergodic Markov chains and the linear response theory, we deduce a linear dependence of the errors of one-point and two-point invariant statistics on the error in the learning of the drift and diffusion coefficients. More importantly, our study shows that the usual $L^2$-norm characterization of the learning generalization error is insufficient for achieving this linear dependence result. We find that sufficient conditions for such a linear dependence result are through learning algorithms that produce a uniformly Lipschitz and consistent estimator in the hypothesis space that retains certain characteristics of the drift coefficients, such as the usual linear growth condition that guarantees the existence of solutions of the underlying SDEs. We examine these conditions on two well-understood learning algorithms: the kernel-based spectral regression method and the shallow random neural networks with the ReLU activation function.
To Tube, or Not to Tube: Comparing Ventilation Techniques in Microlaryngeal Surgery.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS The objective of this study was to compare ventilation techniques utilized in microlaryngeal surgery. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. METHODS Two-hundred surgeries performed from May 1, 2018 to March 1, 2020 and stratified as intubated, intermittently intubated (AAIV) or apneic. Patient demographics, comorbidities, anesthetic agents, intraoperative parameters/events, and complications were studied and compared across the three groups using inferential analyses. RESULTS Median body mass index in the AAIV group was significantly higher (33 vs. 29; P = .0117). Median oxygen nadirs were lower in AAIV cases (81% vs. 91-92%) while CO2 peak measurements were lower (33 mmHg vs. 48 mmHg) in the fully apneic cohort which were significantly shorter cases (P < .0001). CO2 peak measurements were comparable between AAIV and intubated cohorts (median 48.5 mmHg vs. 48.0 mmHg). Median apnea times were significantly prolonged by 2-5.5 minutes using nasal cannula and THRIVE/Optiflow in fully apneic cases when compared to no supplementary oxygenation (P = .0013). Systolic blood pressures following insertion of laryngoscope were higher (159.5 vs. 145 mmHg) and postoperative diastolic pressures were lower (68.5 vs. 76.5 mmHg) in fully apneic cases than intubated cases. No differences existed between frequencies of complications. CONCLUSIONS This study compares intubated, intermittently apneic, and fully apneic surgeries. No statistically significant differences were noted in comorbid conditions. While intraoperative hemodynamic fluctuations were more pronounced in the fully apneic cohort, and oxygenation distributions were lower in the AAIV cohort, no significant differences existed between events and complications. Apneic techniques are as safe and effective as traditional intubation. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 4 Laryngoscope, 131:2773-2781, 2021.
Abstract P213: Furosemide-mediated Suppression Of P 38 MAPK Signaling Abrogates Cholinergic-mediated Salt Sensitive Hypertension In Young Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

Hypertension is a major cause of premature death worldwide. Inflammatory macrophages play a key role in the pathogenesis of hypertension. Our lab has observed that nicotinic acetylcholine receptors...
Differences in Energy Expenditure and Typing Speed While Sitting, Standing, and Walking in College Students

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine if caloric expenditure and typing speed differed among three positions (sitting, standing, walking). Methods: Participants included 40 college students (18-22 years, 30 males and 10 females) on either the baseball or track and field teams. Each participant was tested for 5 minutes in three different positions. Caloric expenditure was measured via indirect calorimetry and typing productivity via a 3-minute typing test. Repeated measures ANOVAs and T-Tests were performed to determine statistical differences for caloric expenditure and typing speed. Results: Caloric expenditure (calories per 5 minutes) was significantly higher for walking (16.4 ± 3.1) than for sitting (9.0 ± 2.4, p <0.0001) and standing (9.4 ± 2.0, p <0.0001). For typing productivity, standing resulted in faster typing speed than walking (37.4 ± 10.2 vs. 34.7 ± 10.7 wpm, p = 0096). Conclusions: Using a standup walking desk to type while working expends significantly more calories than typing while sitting or standing at a desk. However, typing speed was significantly higher while standing at a desk than while walking at a desk.
Towards Automated Computational Auditing of mHealth Security and Privacy Regulations

The growing complexity of our regulatory environment presents us with a hard problem: how can we determine if we are compliant with an ever-growing body of regulations? Computational legal auditing may help, as computational tools are exceptionally good at making sense of large amounts of data. In this research, we explore the possibility of creating a computational auditor that checks if mobile health (mHealth) apps satisfy federal security and privacy regulations. In doing so, we find that while it is challenging to convert open-ended, generally applicable, complicated laws into computational principles, the use of non-legal, authoritative, explanatory documents allows for computational operationalization while preserving the open-ended nature of the law. We test our auditor on 182 FDA/CE-approved mHealth apps. Our research suggests that the use of non-legal, authoritative, guidance documents may help with the creation of computational auditors, a promising tool to help us manage our ever-growing regulatory responsibilities.
Quantum Dynamics: Applications in Biological and Materials Systems

Survey of Classical Mechanics Newton's Equations of Motion Lagrangian Mechanics Conservation Laws Hamiltonian Dynamics Problems and Exercises Waves and Wave Functions Position and Momentum Representation of |Psi The Schrodinger Equation Particle in a Box Problems and Exercises Semiclassical Quantum Mechanics Bohr-Sommerfield Quantization The WKB Approximation Connection Formulas Scattering Problems and Exercises Quantum Dynamics (and Other Un-American Activities) Introduction The Two-state System Perturbative Solutions Dyson Expansion of the Schrodinger Equation Time-dependent Schrodinger Equation Time Evolution of a Two-level System Time-dependent Perturbations Interaction between Matter and Radiation Application of Golden Rule: Photoionization of Hydrogen 1s Coupled Electronic/Nuclear Dynamics Problems and Exercises Representations and Dynamics Schrodinger Picture: Evolution of the State Function Heisenberg Picture: Evolution of Observables Quantum Principle of Stationary Action Interaction Picture Problems and Exercises Quantum Density Matrix Introduction: Mixed vs Pure States Time Evolution of the Density Matrix Reduced Density Matrix The Density Matrix for a Two-state System Decoherence Summary Problems and Exercises Appendix: Wigner Quasi-probability Distribution Excitation Energy Transfer Dipole-Dipole Interactions Forster's Theory Beyond Forster Transition Density Cube Approach Electronic Structure of Conjugated Systems Pi Conjugation in Organic Systems Huckel Model Electronic Structure Models Neglect of Differential Overlap An Exact Solution: INDO Treatment of Ethylene Ab Initio Treatments Creation/Annhiliation Operator Formalism for Fermion Systems Problems and Exercises Electron-Phonon Coupling in Conjugated Systems Su-Schrieffer-Heeger Model for Polyacetylene Exciton Self-trapping Davydov's Soliton Vibronic Relaxation in Conjugated Polymers Summary Problems and Exercises Lattice Models for Transport and Structure Representations Stationary States on a Lattice Kronig-Penney Model Quantum Scattering and Transport Defects on Lattices Multiple Defects Appendix References Index
ISLLC Standards and Assessment in the Context of School Leadership Reform

The Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) has accomplished much to elevate the status of school leadership, particularly the principalship. Standards have been developed for school leaders that have broadly impacted the performance expectations most states are setting for the licensure of their beginning principals. The School Leaders Licensure Assessment has been developed to screen candidates with respect to the ISLLC standards. My intent in this piece is to extend our discussion of the work of ISLLC by focusing on four issues. The most important of these is, What do we need to do to advance the reform of school leadership with respect to the ISLLC Standards? I contend that, unless a concerted effort is made to change the public's image of the principal, it will be difficult to obtain the resources necessary for the meaningful reform of school leadership.
Turkish copy-raising and A-chain locality

This paper presents evidence from Turkish Raising Constructions that argues that A-chains should potentially terminate in a pronominal element. This is motivated by the possibility of raising from finite clauses in some varieties of Turkish. However, these Raising constructions do exhibit Specified Subject Condition effects, arguing for a theory of the locality of movement that dissociates the prohibition against raising from finite clauses from the prohibition against crossing a specified subject. I argue that Rizzi's (1990) Relativized Minimality approach achieves this separation as a consequence of separate conditions on formal licensing and chain locality. In particular, I propose that Turkish Raising constructions involve an A-chain whose tail is a silent pronominal (pro). Given that this type of Raising leaves a pronominal copy, neither Principle A of the Binding Theory, nor the ECP can be involved (as these apply to only [-pronominal] elements). However, if antecedent government is taken to be a property of chains, as Rizzi proposes, then locality will correctly be enforced in these Copy-Raising cases. This approach is extended to Exceptional Case Marking/Subject to Object Raising constructions, and provides an argument for a Subject to Object Raising analysis. I conclude by briefly comparing the resumptive pronoun strategy in A- and A′-dependencies. From a cross-linguistic perspective, it appears that both allow for a relaxation of ECP effects as well as the mitigation of locality to varying degrees.
Donor age and early graft failure after lung transplantation: a cohort study

Lungs from older adult organ donors are often unused because of concerns for increased mortality. We examined associations between donor age and transplant outcomes among 8860 adult lung transplant recipients using Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network and Lung Transplant Outcomes Group data. We used stratified Cox proportional hazard models and generalized linear mixed models to examine associations between donor age and both 1-year graft failure and primary graft dysfunction (PGD). The rate of 1-year graft failure was similar among recipients of lungs from donors age 18-64 years, but severely ill recipients (Lung Allocation Score [LAS] >47.7 or use of mechanical ventilation) of lungs from donors age 56-64 years had increased rates of 1-year graft failure (p-values for interaction = 0.04 and 0.02, respectively). Recipients of lungs from donors <18 and ≥65 years had increased rates of 1-year graft failure (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.23, 95% CI 1.01-1.50 and adjusted HR 2.15, 95% CI 1.47-3.15, respectively). Donor age was not associated with the risk of PGD. In summary, the use of lungs from donors age 56 to 64 years may be safe for adult candidates without a high LAS and the use of lungs from pediatric donors is associated with a small increase in early graft failure.
High School Intramurals--An Endangered Species.

(1980). High School Intramurals—An Endangered Species. Journal of Physical Education and Recreation: Vol. 51, No. 3, pp. 52-54.
Developmental Aggregation and Fruiting Body Formation in the Gliding Bacterium Myxococcus xanthus

This chapter discusses what is perhaps the most unique facet of myxobacterial morphogenesis, the formation of multicellular aggregates and fruiting bodies by the cooperative action of tens of thousands of individual cells. The induction of fruiting body formation presumably requires two separate events. First, individual cells must monitor their own nutrient status. Second, each cell must evaluate the nutritional status and size of the entire population. Both mutants show identical developmental aggregation defects, suggesting that the Dif proteins probably do constitute a new signal transduction pathway necessary for aggregation during fruiting body formation, although no biochemical evidence is yet available to show that these proteins participate in such a pathway. Temporal aspects of fruiting body formation in Myxococcus xanthus have received little direct attention, although the conversion of vegetative cells into spores is certainly delayed under normal starvation conditions until the cells are within developmental aggregates. Several genes that may be involved with regulating the timing of fruiting body formation itself have also been identified. Cells which cannot synthesize protein myxobacterial Hemagglutinin (MBHA) show delayed aggregation, suggesting that MBHA may be required to increase the efficiency of cell-cell interactions and fruiting body formation. Studies of M. xanthus development suggest that temperature could play an important role in the developmental aggregation process. In recent years many advances have been made to our understanding of the developmental aggregation process.
Degradation of an internal wave beam by parametric subharmonic instability in an upper ocean pycnocline

[1] Numerical simulations are performed to investigate the interaction of a semidiurnal internal wave (IW) beam with the nonuniform stratification of an upper ocean pycnocline. During the initial stage of the interaction, higher harmonics originate after reflection of the IW beam at the caustic and are trapped in the pycnocline. In cases where the pycnocline thickness is sufficiently large (approximately larger than twice the dominant wavelength in the beam), the incoming beam undergoes a parametric subharmonic instability (PSI) during refraction through the pycnocline at later time. Consequently, there is significant energy transfer to subharmonic motions that exhibit exponential growth with a rate of 2/3 day−1. The instability is demonstrated to be a resonant triad interaction by diagnostics in both wave frequency and wave number spaces. Smaller vertical scales originate during the PSI, lead to wave steepening, and produce convective overturns. This work identifies a potential mechanism that drives IW beam degradation during its propagation through the upper ocean.
Differentiation of Human U937 Promonocytic Cells Is Impaired by Moderate Copper Deficiency

Copper (Cu) deficiency suppresses macrophage activities in animals and humans. Our previous studies indicated that the induction of Cu deficiency in differentiated U937 monocytic cells impairs respiratory burst and bactericidal activities and lipopolysaccharide-mediated secretion of inflammatory mediators. The current investigation examined the roles of Cu in the monocytic differentiation process. Human U937 promonocytic cells were exposed to a high affinity Cu chelator (5 µM 2,3,2tetraamine [tet]) for 24 hr before inducing differentiation by treatment with 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 plus interferon- (DI). This procedure decreased cell Cu by 55% without compromising cellular Zn, Fe, or general metabolic activities. Lower Cu status significantly attenuated the expression of maturation markers Mac-1 (CD11b), ICAM-1 (CD54), and LPS-R (CD14). This change was associated with a marked suppression in respiratory burst activity and killing of Salmonella. To examine if the adverse effect of inadequate Cu on the DI-induced differentiation represented a more general defect, U937 cells were treated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). Lower Cu status also suppressed PMA-mediated differentiation of U937 cells. Supplemental Cu, but not Zn or Fe, blocked the tet-induced declines in cell Cu, expression of maturation markers, and respiratory burst and bactericidal activities. These results demonstrate that Cu is essential for the monocytic differentiation process that contributes to the competency of the host’s defense system.
Operational and quality outcomes of a mobile acute care for the elderly service

BACKGROUND: The traditional acute care for the elderly (ACE) unit has demonstrated improved functional outcomes without increased costs or changes in length of stay (LOS). It is, however, limited in scope to patients cared for on a fixed geographical unit. OBJECTIVE: To compare operational and quality outcomes for patients cared for on a mobile ACE (MACE) service to those cared for on a unit-based ACE service and matched controls on other general medical services. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study with propensity-score matching. SETTING: An urban academic medical center. PATIENTS: A total of 8094 hospitalized adults >64 years old admitted to an ACE, MACE, and general medical services from July 2006 to June 2009. INTERVENTION: An interdisciplinary MACE service com- posed of a geriatrician-hospitalist, fellow, nurse coordinator, and social worker. MEASUREMENTS: LOS, total cost, 7- and 30-day readmission rates, and in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: Mean LOS and total cost were significantly lower for patients in the MACE service compared with the ACE unit service (5.8 vs 7.9 days, P < 0.001, and $10,315 vs $13,187, P = 0.002) and compared with propensity-score matched controls during the second year of operation (5.6 vs 7.2 days, P < 0.001, and $10,693 vs $15,636, P < 0.001). In-hospital mortality and 7- and 30-day readmission rates were similar in all groups. CONCLUSIONS: A mobile ACE service may result in reduced LOS and lower costs with no change in in-hospital mortality or 7- or 30-day readmission rates when compared with standard medical service and a traditional unit-based ACE service. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2011;6:358–363. © 2011 Society of Hospital Medicine
Electromagnetic Simulation and Measurement of Carbon Nanotube Thread Dipole Antennas

The conductivity, current distribution, and radiation efficiency for a variety of dipole antennas constructed from carbon nanotube thread/rope are simulated using Hallen's integral equation for a thin wire applied to the method of moments and are compared to a standard copper wire dipole antenna. Next, the conductivity and weight of fully fabricated carbon nanotube thread and rope samples are measured and analyzed. Finally, half-wavelength copper and carbon nanotube (CNT) thread dipole antenna prototypes are fabricated, measured, and analyzed. Simulation results indicate that the CNT thread/rope antenna performance improves with increased diameter and that the application of these materials as a half wavelength dipole antenna yields manageable losses of less than 1-5 dB at RF frequencies above 10 GHz. Measured sample results demonstrate that the existing single-ply CNT thread exhibits a conductivity approximately 2-3 orders of magnitude lower than copper. The braiding method employed to produce large diameter CNT rope was demonstrated to be a poor method for increasing thread diameter and conductivity due to the additional resistive losses that the braiding geometry introduced. Dimethyl sulfoxide densification was found to be a valuable method for improving CNT thread conductivity and lowering the thread contact resistance. Dipole antenna prototype measurements confirm the functionality of the CNT thread as an antenna, albeit with a 4% downward frequency shift due to reactance effects and material losses of greater than 12 dB at 2.45 GHz as predicted by the results from the method of moments simulations.
Steroidogenic factor-1 mediates cyclic 3',5'-adenosine monophosphate regulation of the high density lipoprotein receptor.

The high density lipoprotein (HDL) receptor mediates the uptake of cholesterol and cholesteryl esters, substrates for steroidogenesis, from an HDL particle in the adrenal gland and gonads. We report here that treatment of rat luteal cells with 1 mm (Bu)2cAMP for 24 h dramatically induced (118-fold) HDL receptor messenger RNA levels. The rat HDL receptor promoter contains a steroidogenic factor-1 (SF-1)-binding site (SFBd; 5′-TCAAGGCC-3′) through which SF-1 protein binds and activates transcription of this gene in both human HTB9 bladder carcinoma and mouse Y1 tumor cells, an effect that is enhanced by cAMP. These observations demonstrate that this motif is required for both basal and cAMP-induced regulation of the HDL receptor gene. Cotransfection studies in Kin 8 cells, a Y1 cell line resistant to cAMP activation as a result of a mutation in the protein kinase A (PKA) regulatory subunit, showed that a functional PKA is required for cAMP induction of HDL receptor gene transcription. Deleting the activatio...
Relative sensitivity of polymerase chain reaction assays used for detection of feline herpesvirus type 1 DNA in clinical samples and commercial vaccines

Objective—To determine relative detection rates and detection limits for 6 published polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays used for detection of feline herpesvirus type 1 (FHV-1) DNA. Sample Population—5 vaccines licensed for use in preventing FHV-1–associated disease; 15 conjunctival biopsy specimens collected from cats with keratitis, conjunctivitis, or both; and a plaque-purified field isolate of FHV-1 cultured in vitro. Procedure—Vaccines and clinical samples were assessed for FHV-1 DNA by use of all 6 assays. Detection rates were calculated by assuming that any sample in which FHV-1 DNA was detected was a true-positive result. Detection limits were estimated by use of serial dilutions of DNA extracted from cultured FHV-1 and 1 clinical sample. Results—Testing by use of all 6 assays resulted in detection of FHV-1 DNA in all 5 vaccines. Testing by use of all 6 assays yielded concordant results for 9 of 15 conjunctival biopsy specimens (8 with negative results and 1 with a positive result). Calculated ...
A Study of the Possible Mechanism of Action of Pilocarpine

Following vagal stimulation, the perfusate from the heart of the turtle (Cbrysemys picta) contains a material which is inhibitory to the heart of the marine mollusk, Venus mercenaria. Application of ilocarpine solutions causes the formation of a material having a similar action. It is suggested that the mechanism of pilocarine action involves a stimulation of acetylcioline production by cholinergic nerves.
Financial and governance characteristics of voluntary XBRL adopters in the United States

We examine a sample of voluntary eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) adopters, who are using the US Securities and Exchange Commission's Voluntary Filing Program, and compare them to pair-matched companies based on industry, size and governance score availability. We then explore internal and external characteristics of this sample to determine whether or not there are systematic differences between the voluntary filers and their control sample counterparts. We find that these early XBRL adopters are bigger, less financially leveraged and have lower corporate governance ratings than those of the control group. These variables are also effective in discriminating between companies adopting and not voluntarily adopting XBRL in the United States. Comparisons of liquidity, profitability and external risk measures provide no evidence of group differences. We conclude that larger and visible companies that are intrinsically riskier seek to improve their corporate governance appearance by cost-effectively and voluntarily adopting XBRL in US regulatory and corporate environments. Despite the results relating to these early XBRL adopters, we believe that XBRL will play a significant role in both internal and financial reporting, and that it will have a significant impact on corporations, investors, analysts, regulators and various other corporate stakeholders.
Morphological fourier descriptors

Abstract The Fourier method of particle profile representation is presented and discussed. Rotationally invariant size and shape terms are derived from the Fourier particle profile representation. The shape terms are demonstrated to be rotationally invariant as well as magnification (size) invariant. The size and shape terms proposed are shown to include all the available information about the boundary of a particle profile. Mathematical and statistical interpretations of the size and shape terms proposed are demonstrated. Some actual and potential applications are discussed.
Enhanced posttransplant management of patients with diabetes improves patient outcomes.

The survival of patients with diabetes mellitus in the general population has improved in recent years. Here we assessed whether similar trends have occurred in 1688 kidney recipients, including 413 with diabetes prior to transplant between 1996 and 2007. Compared to patients without diabetes, the 5-year mortality was significantly increased (hazard ratio (HR) 2.68 (1.95–3.69)) due to higher cardiovascular-, infection-, and malignancy-related deaths in those with diabetes. However, 5-year mortality in patients with diabetes significantly declined over time (HR 0.883 (0.817–0.954)), narrowing the mortality difference between patients with and those without diabetes and in more recent years largely eliminating it. Post transplant, patients with diabetes experienced a significant decline in major fatal/nonfatal cardiac events (HR 0.853 (0.782–0.930)) and infectious deaths over time. In contrast, neither cardiac events nor overall mortality declined in recipients without diabetes. The decline in mortality due to diabetes did not relate to a reduced pretransplant risk profile and was independent of posttransplant variables. The use of cardioprotective medications and glycemic control improved over time post transplant. Furthermore, graft function and serum albumin significantly improved over time and these parameters related to better survival (albumin, HR 0.365 (0.223–0.599); eGFR, HR 0.803 (0.756–0.852)). Thus, survival of kidney recipients with diabetes mellitus has improved markedly since 1996 likely reflecting, at least in part, enhanced posttransplant management and outcomes.
Quantifying flow regimes in a Greenland glacial fjord using iceberg drifters

Funded by The National Science Foundation. Grant Numbers: OCE-1130008, ARC-0909274 and The University of Oregon.
The computer language Mathsy and applications to solid state physics

The high-level interactive mathematics and graphics computer language, Mathsy, is discussed and demonstrated with sample applications. Mathsy is an interpretive, interactive, mathematical, array processing, and graphics system. Among its diverse uses in the laser fusion project at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, it has enabled the conceptualization of a new algorithm to compute the density of electron or phonon states spectra which requires no root solving.
Radiative Recombination of Triexcitons in CdSe Colloidal Quantum Dots

Recent experimental observations of multiexciton recombination in colloidal CdSe quantum dots have revealed a high-energy emission band that has been attributed to the radiative recombination of a p-like electron with a p-like hole in a triexciton complex (three holes + three electrons). The reason for the occupation of p-like hole states in the triexciton, however, has remained elusive. Using atomistic pseudopotential calculations, we show here that p-like hole states are populated even at low temperature because of the relatively small Coulomb repulsion between s-like and p-like hole states, which leads to a non-Aufbau occupation sequence of the hole levels. We also show that the observed temperature dependence of the p-p emission band originates from the dark-bright splitting of the triexciton ground state. Our results provide a consistent explanation of the physical origin of the triexciton emission lines in CdSe quantum dots.
In situ hybridisation and in situ polymerase chain reaction detection of parvovirus B19 DNA within cells

Modification of an in situ polymerase chain reaction (ISPCR) technique is described for the detection of B19 parvovirus infection. Specific amplification of B19 DNA inside fixed cells was followed by hybridisation with a digoxigenin-labelled probe and then visualised by immunochemical reaction. The assay had higher sensitivity compared to direct in situ hybridisation and still allowed cellular localisation and characterisation of infected cells. This assay can be used as a confirmatory method for PCR in tissues and will allow further identification of tissues permissive for B19 parvovirus infection.
Nuclear spin coupling constants from the extended Hückel method

The ability to calculate directly bonded X-H nuclear spin coupling constants from molecular parameters obtained from the extended Huckel model has been studied as a function of the following calculational details: (1) the atomic orbital basis set; (2) the off-diagonal Hamiltonian matrix element approximation; and (3) charge iteration. It has been found that although variations such as these have a significant effect on the magnitudes of the observed coupling constants, none is capable of fitting the experimentally observed trends in X-H coupling constants.