cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
When is the right time to induce labour

The recent multicentre, randomised trial Swedish Post-term Induction Study provides evidence that induction of labour in pregnant women no later than at 41 weeks can reduce the rate of stillbirths and is preferred over expectant management. The average pregnancy lasts about 40 weeks from the start of a woman’s last menstrual period, but only about 5% of women deliver at exactly 40 weeks.1 While any delivery between 37 and 42 weeks is within normal range, adverse perinatal outcomes, including stillbirth and maternal complications, gradually increase past 40 gestational weeks and are significantly increased post-term (>42 weeks). Induction of labour may mitigate these adverse outcomes. The latest Cochrane review (2018)2 highlighted evidence in favour of induction, but the question of when exactly to advise induction was left unresolved. While current guidelines in the UK3 and USA4 recommend induction of labour no later than 42 weeks, several studies suggest that the risk of adverse perinatal outcomes already increases significantly at 41 weeks. There is a paucity of data addressing induction between 41 and 42 weeks: only two of 30 studies included in the Cochrane review address this time frame.5 …
Affordable, Accessible, High-Quality Care: Lessons in Disruptive Innovation from a Safety-Net Hospital

The very nature of the population-focused mission and financial structure of safety-net health care organizations spurs innovation that can have an outsized impact on the greater health care system.
Direct admission to improve timely access to care for patients requiring transfer to a level 1 trauma center.

Background Emergency departments (EDs) at level 1 trauma centers are often overcrowded and deny ED-to-ED transfers from lower-tiered centers. Lack of access to timely level 1 care is associated with increased mortality. We evaluated the feasibility of a direct admission (DA) protocol as a method to increase timely access to a level 1 trauma center during periods of ED overcrowding. Methods During periods of ED overcrowding between 1 May and 31 December 2019, we admitted patients from referring EDs directly to the intensive care unit (ICU) or inpatient ward using the DA protocol. In a prospective comparative study design, we compared their outcomes to patients during the same period who were admitted through the ED when the ED was not overcrowded. Results During periods of ED overcrowding, transfer was requested and clinically accepted for 28 patients, of which 23 (82.1%, age 63±20.3 years, men 52.2% men) were successfully admitted via the DA protocol. Five (17.9%) were not successfully transferred due to lack of available inpatient beds. During periods when the ED was not overcrowded, 106 patients (age 62.8±23.1 years, men 52.8%) were admitted via the ED. There were no morbidity or mortality events attributed to the DA process. Time to patient arrival was 2.7 hours (95% CI 2.3 to 3.1) in the DA cohort and 1.9 hours (95% CI 1.5 to 2.4) in the ED-to-ED cohort (p=0.104). Up-triage to the ICU within 24 hours was performed in only one patient (4.3%). In-hospital mortality did not differ (3 (13%) vs. 8 (7.6%), p=0.392). Discussion The DA pathway is a feasible method to safely transfer patients from a referring ED to a higher-care trauma center when its ED is overcrowded. Level of evidence Level III, care management.
The Role of Advance Purchasing Commitments in Government Drug Price Negotiations: Lessons From the COVID-19 Response.

Among the various approaches to address rising prescription drug costs, one option is to allow the federal government to negotiate prices directly with drug manufacturers. Debates over the appropriate negotiating approach have occurred on several dimensions,1 including the number of drugs eligible for negotiation, the levers that would be implemented to obtain lower prices, the incentives necessary to ensure that all parties negotiate in good faith, and what specific populations should have access to the negotiated price. In 2019, the US House of Representatives passed the most recent proposal to allow the federal government to negotiate prices-H.R.3, The Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act-reflecting policy decisions on many of these issues.2 (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print January 28, 2021: e1-e6. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.306109).
Spatial and temporal variation in marking rates and severity of sea lamprey attacks on salmonines in Lakes Michigan and Huron

Abstract The United States and Canada have invested substantial effort to control sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus in the Laurentian Great Lakes and to estimate their effects on lake trout Salvelinus namaycush, a native salmonine undergoing rehabilitation. However, sea lamprey also attack Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. and brown trout Salmo trutta, which contribute to a fishery worth nearly $7 billion USD annually. Marks on surviving hosts are used to assess damages caused by sea lamprey and success of control efforts. We examined spatial and temporal variation in marking rates, mark type, and stage of healing on lake trout, Chinook salmon O. tshawytscha, rainbow trout O. mykiss, coho salmon O. kisutch, and brown trout in Lakes Michigan and Huron. Mean marking rates were highest for lake trout, followed by brown trout, Chinook salmon, rainbow trout, and coho salmon in Lake Michigan, but were several times higher for Chinook salmon than for lake trout (all sizes) and small (533–635 mm) and medium (636–737 mm) rainbow trout in Lake Huron, particularly in summer. Chinook salmon had a lower proportion of healed marks relative to fresh marks compared to lake trout in both lakes, which may indicate differences in post-attack survival. Although lake trout may be the preferred sea lamprey host, Chinook salmon and other species are also suitable and available in Lake Michigan; and Chinook salmon may be a preferred host in Lake Huron. Accounting for alternate hosts could inform fisheries management and improve damage assessments of the sea lamprey control program.
Student-Generated Infographics for Learning Green Chemistry and Developing Professional Skills

This paper addresses the incorporation of a scaffolded infographic project into a majors’ organic chemistry laboratory. Students were given the freedom to choose their topic with the stipulation that it must be relevant to both organic and green chemistry. This scaffolded project consisted of the following eight phases: (i) summarizing and evaluating an existing infographic, (ii) delving into green chemistry literature, (iii) proposing infographic topic, (iv) gathering components for the infographic, (v) analyzing infographic maker websites, (vi) creating infographic and providing peer feedback on first drafts, (vii) revising infographic and providing final feedback, and (viii) posting infographic on Twitter. Since this was a semester-long project implemented in a remote environment, a variety of instructional technologies including Flipgrid, Perusall, FeedbackFruits Peer Review, Google Jamboard, and chemical drawing software were utilized. The analysis of the project’s impact on cognitive gains through Student Assessment of Learning Gains and through pre- and post-test responses indicated the achievement of positive learning gains on green chemistry knowledge and skills. This activity was viewed favorably by students, with most indicating a desire for similar assignments implemented in future courses.
Optical coherence tomography of small intestine allograft biopsies using a handheld surgical probe.

Significance The current gold standard for monitoring small intestinal transplant (IT) rejection is endoscopic visual assessment and biopsy of suspicious lesions; however, these lesions are only superficially visualized by endoscopy. Invasive biopsies provide a coarse sampling of tissue health without depicting the true presence and extent of any pathology. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) presents a potential alternative approach with significant advantages over traditional white-light endoscopy. Aim The aim of our investigation was to evaluate OCT performance in distinguishing clinically relevant morphological features associated with IT graft failure. Approach OCT was applied to evaluate the small bowel tissues of two rhesus macaques that had undergone IT of the ileum. The traditional assessment from routine histological observation was compared with OCT captured using a handheld surgical probe during the days post-transplant and subsequently was compared with histophaology. Results The reported OCT system was capable of identifying major biological landmarks in healthy intestinal tissue. Following IT, one nonhuman primate (NHP) model suffered a severe graft ischemia, and the second NHP graft failed due to acute cellular rejection. OCT images show visual evidence of correspondence with histological signs of IT rejection. Conclusions Results suggest that OCT imaging has significant potential to reveal morphological changes associated with IT rejection and to improve patient outcomes overall.
419 Successful treatment of primary spontaneous pneumothorax with video-assisted thoracoscopic pleurectomy

Pneumothorax is defined as a collection of air that is located between the visceral and parietal pleura. Spontaneous pneumothorax occurs in the absence of any identified trauma. It is subdivided into primary and secondary types. The annual incidence of primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) in the general population is estimated to be 5 to 10 per 100000. The peak incidence occurs between 16 and 24 years of age. We present the case of a sixteen-year-old boy who manifested on several occasions with right-sided spontaneous pneumothorax. The boy was actively involved in sports. Until spontaneous pneumothorax occurred, he had never been ill. He did not take medication. He had no allergies. A total of three times the right chest was drained. At each arrival, pneumothorax manifested with abrupt pain. The X-ray confirmed the diagnosis each time. After a third spontaneous pneumothorax, a CT of the chest was done. CT showed small apical blebs. The trachea was neatly positioned, neatly branching. The right main bronchus seemed wider than the left. The vascular structures were of a neat appearance. The heart was neatly positioned, with a morphologically neat appearance. Surgical treatment was initiated. After collapse of the right lung, an incision was made in the third intercostal space to the right in the anterior axillary line. An angle camera was installed. Upon placement of the camera, the trocar is placed in the seventh intercostal space in the median axillary line. After identifying the apical blebs changes with a linear endostapler, a resection is performed. A partial parietal pleurectomy is then performed. Negative pressure drainage is set. In prophylaxis, the boy received cefazolin. A one-year follow-up did not result in relapse. Surgery for pneumothorax consists of stapling ruptured blebs and resection of abnormal lung tissue. The approaches used include VATS (video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery), mini-thoracotomy and conventional thoracotomy. We usually use VATS, which provides adequate exposure for resection or stapling and an opportunity for pleurectomy, abrasion or chemical pleurodesis. The morbidity of VATS is less than with conventional or mini-thoracotomy, and recurrence rates are approximately 5%, although open thoracotomy and pleurectomy have the lowest recurrence rate. Given that in our previous cases, after repeated tube drainage, we did not have recurrences, we did not opt for VATS immediately after the first recurrence. Reading the literature, in the future we will be guided by the algorithm to initiate VATS after the first recurrence of pneumothorax.
Scientific and psychosocial ethical considerations for initial clinical trials of kidney xenotransplantation.

The initial clinical trials of pig solid organ xenotransplantation (XTx) are drawing closer and could begin in the coming years. The first clinical trials may aim to transplant genetically-modified pig kidneys into adult humans. The impetus for beginning these first-in-human trials is the severe lack of deceased donor kidneys for transplantation and the number of patients with end-stage renal disease currently on transplant waitlists, which in the USA approaches 100 000. The majority of patients on the kidney transplant waitlist receive continuous renal replacement therapy. In the United States, for patients on the kidney waitlist, the median wait-time to receive a deceased human donor organ is approximately 4.5 years for patients aged 45-74, with a 5-year mortality (or removal from the waitlist because of deteriorating health) of approximately 40%. XTx has the potential to reduce the kidney waitlist morbidity and mortality while improving quality of life. By focusing on scientific and psychosocial criteria, we present ethical considerations of certain inclusion and exclusion criteria for these first-in-human clinical trials that we suggest have not yet been fully explored.
Towards an Evidence-Based Clinical Forensic Diagnostic Assessment Framework for Juvenile Fire Setting and Bomb Making: DSM-5 Quadrant

Juvenile fire setting and bomb making (JFSB) poses clinical, cross-disciplinary, ethical, and legal challenges. For example, the discipline lacks an available assessment method that is specifically designed to guide the diagnostic work with JFSBs. Consistent with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th edition; DSM-5), an expanded dimensional diagnostic framework referred to as the DSM-5 Quadrant is recommended as a valid approach to augment the clinical utility for both case conceptualization and crafting forensically relevant interventions aimed at these youth. This article identifies issues associated with assessing mental health symptoms frequently found within the JFSB population.
Quantitative Comparative Immunohistology

A quantitative assay for the determination of fluorescence of tissue sections stained with fluorescein-labeled antibodies using a fluorometer is described. Sequential microtome sections were stained with labeled antiserums, washed repeatedly with buffered saline, and digested with 20% (w/v) NaOH at 60° for 12 hr. The fluorescence of the resultant solution is then read in a fluorometer. There is similarity between sequential sections of the same biopsy specimen. Specific blocking procedures reduce the readings of the fluorescence markedly. By comparison with values obtained simultaneously from standard curves of the labeled antiserums used, the amount of bound antibody or specific proteins can be determined quantitatively.
ILC2s and fungal allergy

Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) have emerged recently as an important component of the immune system and the cell type that regulates mucosal immune responses and tissue homeostasis. Group 2 ILCs (ILC2s), a subset of ILCs, reside in various tissues and are characterized by their capacity to produce type 2 cytokines and tissue growth factors. These ILC2s play an important role in allergic immune responses by linking signals in the atmospheric environment to the immune system. Fungi are one of the major allergens associated with human asthma, and animal and in vitro models using the fungal allergens have provided significant information toward our understanding of the mechanisms of allergic disease. In mouse models of fungus-induced allergic airway inflammation, IL-33, IL-25, and TSLP are released by airway epithelial cells. Lung ILC2s that respond to these cytokines quickly produce a large quantity of type 2 cytokines, resulting in airway eosinophilia, mucus production, and airway hyperreactivity even in the absence of adaptive immune cells. Evidence also suggests that ILC2s interact with conventional immune cells, such as CD4+ T cells, and facilitate development of adaptive immune response and persistent airway inflammation. ILC2s are also present in respiratory mucosa in humans. Further investigations into the biology of ILC2s and their roles in the pathophysiology of allergic diseases will provide major conceptual advances in the field and may provide useful information toward development of new therapeutic strategies for patients.
O 16 ( p , α ) N 13 Angular Distributions at 13.5-18.1 Mev

Angular distributions of alpha particles from the ${\mathrm{O}}^{16}(p, \ensuremath{\alpha}){\mathrm{N}}^{13}$ ground-state reaction were measured with an ionization chamber at 10 bombarding energies from 13.5 to 18.1 Mev. The angular distributions are oscillatory but not of the form predicted by the plane wave pickup or knockon theories, and the variation with energy is more pronounced than would be expected for a simple direct reaction. The excitation curve has a minimum at ${E}_{p}\ensuremath{\simeq}16.5$ Mev, and the angular distributions are markedly different above and below that energy. The ${\mathrm{O}}^{16}(p, \ensuremath{\alpha}){\mathrm{N}}^{13*}$(2.4 Mev) reaction is also strongly energy dependent, and the ${\mathrm{O}}^{16}(p, p){\mathrm{O}}^{16}$ elastic scattering cross section is quite energy sensitive at large angles. The energy dependence of the scattering cross section at 125\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} appears to be correlated with the ${\mathrm{O}}^{16}(p, \ensuremath{\alpha}){\mathrm{N}}^{13}$ excitation function.
Epitaxial growth and properties of Zn1−xVxO diluted magnetic semiconductor thin films

Here we report systematic studies on the epitaxial growth and properties of Zn1−xVxO[x=0.001-0.2] thin films deposited onto sapphire c-plane single crystals. The thin films were deposited using pulsed laser deposition technique and were found to be epitaxial in nature. X-ray diffraction and high resolution transmission electron microscopy were employed to study the epitaxial relations of Zn1−xVxO with the sapphire substrate and electron energy loss spectroscopy was used to establish the bonding characteristics and oxidation states of vanadium inside the ZnO host. The main emphasis is on the magnetic properties of this system taking into consideration the phase purity and microstructural characteristics of these films. Our results show that the Zn1−xVxO system, with V in zinc substitutional sites, does not exhibit any signature of ferromagnetism, both at room temperature as well as at lower temperatures down to 10 K.
Epidemic Pertussis and Acellular Pertussis Vaccine Failure in the 21st Century

In this issue of Pediatrics Acosta et al1 present a tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid, and acellular pertussis, adsorbed (Tdap) vaccine effectiveness study in adolescents in Washington State during the first 6 months of 2012. Their findings support the previous Tdap effectiveness data from Wisconsin.2 The duration of Tdap effectiveness is disappointing, particularly because case-control studies tend to inflate efficacy.3 In 4 recent publications (including 1 article in Pediatrics ) I have discussed epidemic pertussis and why vaccines fail.4–7 Before discussing why Tdap vaccine effectiveness wanes so rapidly, it seems worthwhile to discuss how rapidly protection wanes after a natural infection in the pre-Tdap era and to take a realistic look at the resurgence of pertussis. The resurgence of pertussis is often attributed to the switch from whole-cell pertussis vaccines to acellular products. However, the increase in reported pertussis began ∼14 years before the universal use of diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccines in childhood commenced. The 2 greatest contributors to the resurgence of pertussis are greater awareness and more sensitive diagnosis (the routine use … Address correspondence to James D. Cherry, MD, MSc, Department of Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 10833 Le Conte Ave, MDCC 22-442, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1972. E-mail: jcherry{at}medent.ucla.edu
SWIFT: Sparse Withdrawal of Inliers in a First Trial

We study the simultaneous detection of multiple structures in the presence of overwhelming number of outliers in a large population of points. Our approach reduces the problem to sampling an extremely sparse subset of the original population of data in one grab, followed by an unsupervised clustering of the population based on a set of instantiated models from this sparse subset. We show that the problem can be modeled using a multivariate hypergeometric distribution, and derive accurate mathematical bounds to determine a tight approximation to the sample size, leading thus to a sparse sampling strategy. We evaluate the method thoroughly in terms of accuracy, its behavior against varying input parameters, and comparison against existing methods, including the state of the art. The key features of the proposed approach are: (i) sparseness of the sampled set, where the level of sparseness is independent of the population size and the distribution of data, (ii) robustness in the presence of overwhelming number of outliers, and (iii) unsupervised detection of all model instances, i.e. without requiring any prior knowledge of the number of embedded structures. To demonstrate the generic nature of the proposed method, we show experimental results on different computer vision problems, such as detection of physical structures e.g. lines, planes, etc., as well as more abstract structures such as fundamental matrices, and homographies in multi-body structure from motion.
Infantes bilingües y hablantes de herencia adultos: ¿Qué los vincula?

of phenomena that seemingly result from the close contact of two (or more) grammatical systems. Societal bilingualism is characterized by constant and rapid changes which may be observed as they arise and spread in the linguistic and social systems. Likewise, bilingual first language acquisition is characterized by constant changes as children become cognitively and linguistically more mature. This article compares aspects of the grammars of two developing English-Spanish bilinguals with those of adult bilinguals in order to examine the general issue of intergenerational continuity and change in a situation of societal bilingualism. Two types of contact-induced change are identified: copy, a qualitative mechanism that underlies the notion of transfer, and quantitative influence, that is, patterns that are frequent in one language affect the frequency of parallel patterns in a contact language. Changes caused by copying are clearly the result of contact, while those that result from influence may have an internal or an external motivation, or both. The study supports the hypothesis that crosslinguistic interaction affects the lexicon and discoursepragmatics,but not the core syntax of the languages. Some concrete connections are indentified between early bilingual grammars and those of adult bilinguals, namely the increased production of overt subject pronouns and preverbal subjects,a reduced verbal system, and the reproduction of the meaning of word combinations from English into Spanish. The theoretical implications of the parallels identified between the children’s linguistic behavior and that of adult bilinguals are discussed.
Evaluation of the Technical Adequacy of Three Methods for Identifying Specific Learning Disabilities Based on Cognitive Discrepancies.

This study used simulation techniques to evaluate the technical adequacy of three methods for the identification of specific learning disabilities via patterns of strengths and weaknesses in cognitive processing. Latent and observed data were generated and the decision-making process of each method was applied to assess concordance in classification for specific learning disabilities between latent and observed levels. The results showed that all three methods had excellent specificity and negative predictive values, but low to moderate sensitivity and very low positive predictive values. Only a very small percentage of the population (1%–2%) met criteria for specific learning disabilities. In addition to substantial psychometric issues underlying these methods, general application did not improve the efficiency of the decision model, may not be cost effective because of low base rates, and may result in many children receiving instruction that is not optimally matched to their specific needs.
Effects of fluid-shear resistance and squirt flow on velocity dispersion in rocks

ABSTRACTLaboratory measurements of rocks saturated with high-viscosity fluids (such as heavy-oil, bitumen, magma, kerogen, etc.) often exhibit considerable seismic velocity dispersion, which is usually underestimated by the Biot theory. Over the years, grain-scale dispersion mechanisms such as squirt (local-flow) and shear relaxation (nonzero shear stress in the pore fluid) have been more successful in explaining the measured dispersion. We developed a new method to quantify the combined high-frequency effects of squirt and shear dispersion on the effective moduli of rocks saturated with viscous fluids. Viscous fluid at high frequencies was idealized as an elastic solid of finite shear modulus, hydraulically locked in stiff and soft pores. This method entailed performing solid substitution in stiff pores of a dry rock frame, which itself was unrelaxed due to solid-filled soft pores. The unrelaxed frame stiffness solutions required information on the pressure dependency of the rock stiffness and porosity. ...
Automated Segmentation of Mouse Brain Images Using Multi-Atlas Multi-ROI Deformation and Label Fusion

We propose an automated multi-atlas and multi-ROI based segmentation method for both skull-stripping of mouse brain and the ROI-labeling of mouse brain structures from the three dimensional (3D) magnetic resonance images (MRI). Three main steps are involved in our method. First, a region of interest (ROI) guided warping algorithm is designed to register multi-atlas images to the subject space, by considering more on the matching of image contents around the ROI boundaries which are more important for ROI labeling. Then, a multi-atlas and multi-ROI based deformable segmentation method is adopted to refine the ROI labeling result by deforming each ROI surface via boundary recognizers (i.e., SVM classifiers) trained on local surface patches. Finally, a local-mutual-information (MI) based multi-label fusion technique is proposed for allowing the atlases with better local image similarity with the subject to have more contributions in label fusion. The experimental results show that our method works better than the conventional methods on both in vitro and in vivo mouse brain datasets.
Robust Design Optimization With Quadratic Loss Derived From Gaussian Process Models

Gaussian process models, which include the class of linear models, are widely employed for modeling responses as a function of control or noise factors. Using these models, the average loss at control factor settings can be estimated and compared. However, robust design optimization is often performed based on the expected quadratic loss computed as if the posterior mean were the true response function. This can give very misleading results. We propose an expected quadratic loss criterion derived by taking expectation with respect to the noise factors and the posterior predictive process. Approximate but highly accurate credible intervals for the average quadratic loss are constructed via the numerical inversion of the Lugannani–Rice saddlepoint approximation. The accuracy of the Lugannani–Rice intervals is compared with intervals constructed via moment-matching techniques on real data. This article has supplementary materials that are available online.
Evaluating nurse competency: Evidence of validity for a skills recredentialing program

Abstract A multitrait, multimethod approach was used to evaluate the validity of a hospital-based nurse competency assessment program as a mechanism for assuring compliance with the three standards for competence established by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc. For selected competencies, both knowledge and skill performance were evaluated under simulated conditions and under routine patient care conditions. Under simulated conditions, pass rates on first attempts among the 368 participating nurses were high as expected (82 per cent to 94 per cent on knowledge and 75 per cent to 99 per cent on performance). Offering immediate educational feedback followed by second attempts yielded a 97 per cent overall pass rate. Competencies assessed under both simulated and patient care conditions (35 sets of observations) revealed no differences in assessed competence. The equivalence of assessments made under simulated and patient care conditions supports the validity of competency assessment programs currently in use in many large health care settings. J Prof Nurs 18:22-28, 2000. Copyright © 2002 by W.B. Saunders Company
Troubleshooting Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator Sensing Problems II

Accurate atrial sensing during tachycardia is essential for reliable determination of atrial rate, which is a critical component of interval-based dual-chamber supraventricular tachycardia (SVT)–VT discrimination algorithms.1 Thus, atrial sensing in dual-chamber implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) must be reliable at fast ventricular rates, a technically challenging requirement. Determining the atrial rate during rapidly conducted atrial flutter (AF) requires accurate sensing of low-amplitude signals (Figure I in the Data Supplement). The required high atrial sensitivity increases the risk of atrial oversensing, especially of far-field R waves. Pacemakers rely on a long postventricular atrial blanking period (PVAB) to prevent oversensing of far-field R waves, but ICDs cannot: for a fixed PVAB, the blanked fraction of the cardiac cycle increases with the ventricular rate. For example, a 100-ms PVAB blanks 10% of the cycle at a bradycardia pacing cycle length of 1000 ms, but 33% during rapidly conducted AF with ventricular cycle length of 300 ms. PVABs longer than ≈80 ms produce clinically significant, functional atrial undersensing in rapidly conducted AF,2 and any PVAB may cause undersensing of alternate atrial electrograms in AF with 2:1 atrioventricular conduction. The inherent trade-off between atrial oversensing and undersensing is problematic. Both cause errors in dual-chamber SVT–VT discrimination algorithms.2–6 In contemporary ICDs, ventricular electrogram morphology algorithms mitigate this problem but do not eliminate it. ### Determinants of Far-Field R Waves #### General Considerations In the absence of atrial lead dislodgement, the amplitude of far-field R wave depends on 4 variables. The first is the amplitude of the ventricular electrogram in ventricular myocardium. Thus, there is a correlation between far-field R–wave oversensing and left ventricular hypertrophy.7 The second is interelectrode spacing.8 Closely spaced electrodes (1.1 mm) minimize far-field R waves in comparison with conventional 10-mm spacing, but they also reduce the amplitude of atrial electrograms during short-term follow-up9,10 and …
Implications of informatics approaches in ecological research

Abstract Rapid advances in molecular methodologies, computational modeling, GIS applications, and innovations in other fields have influenced the scope and nature of ecological studies in recent decades. Techniques from genomics previously considered primarily useful in the realm of biomedical research have been adopted and adapted for use in ecological contexts, yielding insights in underlying genetic structures of populations, environment/genome associations, classification of biodiversity, quantifying genetic variation within and between groups, comparing genome structure and gene expression. The use of comparatively inexpensive next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology to rapidly produce a large quantity of sequence data will continue to propel the use of informatics in ecological studies, including studies utilizing non-model organisms for which whole genome sequences are not yet available, and in metagenomics studies. Here, we describe the multi-disciplinary and innovative nature of recent ecological studies with informatics components, review some of the ways that informatics methods are being utilized to answer ecologically motivated questions, and explore the implications of these approaches for ecological studies.
Compact shear specimen for wood mode II fracture investigations

A mode II fracture specimen has been developed from experimental and numerical investigation for applications with wood. Development centered on the compact shear specimen and addressed the extreme orthotropy of both the elastic and strength properties of wood. Mode II fracture toughness was assessed from test data gathered for southern pine and Douglas-fir specimens combined with use of quarter-point singular finite elements. Evidence is provided that this specimen is suitable for investigators to employ in fracture studies with highly orthotropic materials.
Astringency and bitterness of selected phenolics in wine

Trained judges rated intensities of astringency and bitterness of four phenolic substances in white wine by scalar and time—intensity methods. According to scalar rating, astringency and bitterness increased as a linear function of concentration for catechin, gallic acid, grape seed tannin and tannic acid. The polymeric tannic acid and grape seed tannin were rated more astringent than bitter; the reverse was found for their respective monomers, gallic acid and catechin. Similar results were obtained for maximum intensity ratings by time—intensity methods. As maximum intensity of astringency or bitterness increased directly with concentration, the total duration of aftertaste increased; however, little or no changes in time to maximum were observed. A slightly longer time to maximum perception for bitterness was observed than for astringency.
Teaching the Immigrant Child: Application of Child Development Theories.

Immigrant children are an under-researched yet a steadily growing group. It is therefore compelling for practitioners to understand challenges these children are likely to encounter in the classroom so as to effectively meet their needs. In this article various theoretical perspectives of prominent child development theories are analyzed in an attempt to understand immigrant children in the classroom. Theories of Maslow, Freud, Erikson, Piaget, Vygotsky, and Bronfenbrenner are explicitly discussed. Some suggestions for practice are also provided.
Nitrogen conservation in starvation: graded responses to intravenous glucose.

ABSTRACT Normal volunteers were infused for 10 days with high (Group I, n = 2, ca 700 g/day) or low (Group II, n = 3, ca 150 g/day) glucose loads to evaluate nitrogen metabolism and balance. Nitrogen excretion was least in Group I subjects, but both groups lost less nitrogen than a comparable group of totally fasted normal volunteers. Serum insulin levels were higher in Group I subjects while plasma glucose levels did not change significantly in either group. Blood pyruvate levels doubled and triglyceride levels increased, while free fatty acid levels declined in Group I subjects. In contrast, pyruvate and triglyceride levels did not change, while free fatty acid levels rose in Group II subjects. Plasma amino acid analysis revealed a marked reduction of branched chain amino acids, together with a marked increase in alanine levels in Group I subjects. A more modest decline in branched chain amino acids, together with a decline in alanine levels, were seen in Group II. Thus, in Group I, the higher insulin l...
Early adolescent Body Mass Index and the constructed environment

Previous research has shown that macro-level environmental features such as access to walking trails and recreational facilities are correlated with adolescent weight. Additionally, a handful of studies have documented relationships between micro-level environmental features, such as the presence (or absence) of a television in the bedroom, and adolescent weight. In this exploratory study we focus exclusively on features of the micro-level environment by examining objects that are found within adolescent personal bedrooms in relation to the adolescent occupant's Body Mass Index score (BMI). Participants were 234 early adolescents (eighth graders and ninth graders) who lived with both biological parents and who had their own private bedroom. Discriminant analyses were used to identify the bedrooms belonging to adolescents with below and above average BMI using objects contained within the micro-level environment as discriminating variables. Bedrooms belonging to adolescents with above average BMI were more likely to contain objects associated with sedentary behavior (e.g., magazines, electronic games, dolls), whereas the bedrooms belonging to the average and below average BMI adolescents were more likely to contain objects that reflect past physical activity (e.g., trophies, souvenirs, pictures of places that they had visited). If causal connections between micro-environmental variables and adolescent BMI can be established in future longitudinal research, environmental manipulations may affect adolescent BMI.
Leukotriene B4 is an incomplete agonist for the activation of human neutrophils.

Summary Leukotriene B 4 is the major biologically-active metabolite of arachidonate in stimulated neutrophils and previously has been shown to be a potent stimulus for neutrophil chemotaxis and aggregation. It is a less potent agonist for the secretion of granular contents from neutrophils. In the present study we have shown that leukotriene B 4 does not activate all of the neutrophil responses seen with chemotactic peptides or the calcium ionophore A23187. This conclusion is based on the failure of exogenous leukotriene B 4 to induce neutrophils to: (1) synthesize 5-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid or leukotriene B 4 from endogenous arachidonate, (2) release arachidonate from membrane lipids, or (3) synthesize platelet-activating factor.
Modular Cognitive–Behavioral Therapy for Body Dysmorphic Disorder

This study pilot tested a newly developed modular cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) treatment manual for body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). We tested feasibility, acceptability, and treatment outcome in a sample of 12 adults with primary BDD. Treatment was delivered in weekly individual sessions over 18 or 22 weeks. Standardized clinician ratings and self-report measures were used to assess BDD and related symptoms pre- and posttreatment and at 3- and 6-month follow-ups. At posttreatment, BDD and related symptoms (e.g., mood) were significantly improved. Treatment gains were maintained at follow-up. A relatively low drop-out rate, high patient satisfaction ratings, and patient feedback indicated that the treatment was highly acceptable to patients. To our knowledge, this represents the first test of a broadly applicable, individual psychosocial treatment for BDD.
Finite source sizes and the information content of macho-type lens search light curves

If the dark halo matter is primarily composed of Massive Compact Halo Objects (MACHOs) toward the lower end of the possible detection range (less than 10(exp -3) solar mass) a fraction of the lens detection events should involve the lens crossing directly in front of the disk of the background star. Previously, Nemiroff has shown that each crossing would create an inflection point in the light curve of the MACHO event. Such inflection points would allow a measure of the time it took for the lens to cross the stellar disk. Given an independent estimate of the stellar radius by other methods, one could then obtain a more accurate estimate of the velocity of the lens. This velocity could then, in turn, be used to obtain a more accurate estimate of the mass range for the MACHO or disk star doing the lensing.
Synthesis of small polynucleotide chains in human lymphoblasts pretreated with methotrexate: A possible mechanism for DNA chain growth.

Abstract Cultured human lymphoblasts (CCRF-CEM) depleted of intracellular thymidine nucleotides by the antifolate, methotrexate, incorporate (3H)thymidine at full specific activity allowing the detection of early intermediates of DNA replication. A short pulse of (3H)thymidine is incorporated first into short polynucleotide chains, with a mean chain length of about 75 nucleotides, which during further incubation are converted to longer DNA molecules. Nucleic acids isolated from the cells pulse labeled with either (3H)thymidine or (3H)uridine contain RNA that is associated with some of the nascent DNA in Cs2SO4 equilibrium density gradients. Moreover, a small amount of the (3H)labeled RNA remained bound to DNA after repeated denaturation and partial purification by equilibrium centrifugation and column chromatography. Treatment of the (3H)labeled RNA with alkali or RNase rendered the radioactivity acid-soluble showing that this material is mainly RNA. These results are consistent with the possibility that the RNA is covalently linked to some of the nascent DNA, and may act as a primer for DNA chain initiation in these cells.
Luminescence from very small semiconductor particles — high excitation effects

Whereas under low irradiance excitation, only the large clusters of a polydisperse population luminesce, via recombination at defects, under high irradiance this path is saturated and clusters of all sizes show band edge emission, but at a higher energy than in bulk samples. The shift is satisfactorily accounted for by the confinement of the electrons and holes in zero dimensional space.
Wages Boards in Australia: I. Victoria

Introduction: methods of wage regulation, 98. — 1. The anti-sweating movement in Victoria, 101. — 2. Origin and introduction of wages boards, 107. — Parliamentary history of the minimum wage bill, 110. — Main features of the act of 1896, 120. — 3. Extension of the system and its struggle for existence, 122. — Work of the first boards, 123. — Act of 1900, 126. — Crisis of 1902, 131. — Report of the Royal Commission in 1903, 139. — The system made permanent, 143. — 4. Growing popularity of the boards, 144.
Diffusion of lead in lead sulphide at 700°C☆

Abstract The diffusion of Pb 210 into single crystals of lead sulfide, undoped or containing 2 × 10 19 bismuth/cm 3 , has been studied as a function of stoichiometry at 700°C. While it is clear that lead vacancies which act as acceptor centers are the atomic defects responsible for the observed diffusion in the sulfur excess region of the homogeneity range for PbS, the nature of the donor defects is still uncertain. It is suggested that singly ionized sulfur vacancies V' S are the primary donor defects in PbS, but that there is also an appreciable concentration of doubly ionized interstitial lead, Pb″ i .
Commenting on YouTube rants: Perceptions of inappropriateness or civic engagement?

Abstract Ranting is often conflated with flaming and hating, which are frequently interpreted as inappropriate forms of online interaction. Scholars have categorized rants, which contain emotional criticisms of something or someone, as “anti-social” ( Vrooman, 2002 ). However, scholars are moving away from universal interpretations of inappropriateness, and now engage in contextual analyses of online behavior. The present study examines a random sample of 330 text comments (drawn from a pool of 13,609 comments) that were posted across 35 rant videos on YouTube. Ranters describe numerous technical and social problems with the video-sharing site. But how are rant videos received on YouTube? Do commenters characterize them as inappropriate? Do rants stimulate productive discussion or do most commenters prefer to express emotional support for the ranter? Rather than displaying personal offense, numerous commenters discussed how problems with YouTube were being publicly revealed in video rants. Such issues are particularly relevant, as expectations about communicative norms are being proposed and contested in new media sites ( Markham, 2011 ). This study argues that under the right circumstances, ranting helps construct an emotional public sphere ( Lunt and Stenner, 2005 ) that generates discussion among similarly concerned YouTube participants about their online communicative rights and privileges.
Automatic extraction of command hierarchies for adaptive brain-robot interfacing

Recent advances in neuroscience and robotics have allowed initial demonstrations of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) for controlling wheeled and humanoid robots. However, further advances have proved challenging due to the low throughput of the interfaces and the high degrees-of-freedom (DOF) of the robots. In this paper, we build on our previous work on Hierarchical BCIs (HBCIs) which seek to mitigate this problem. We extend HBCIs to allow training of arbitrarily complex tasks, with training no longer restricted to a particular robot state space (such as Cartesian space for a navigation task). We present two algorithms for learning command hierarchies by automatically extracting patterns from a user's command history. The first algorithm builds an arbitrary-level hierarchical structure (a “control grammar”) whose elements can represent skills, whole tasks, collections of tasks, etc. The user “executes” single symbols from this grammar, which produce sequences of lower-level commands. The second algorithm, which is probabilistic, also learns sequences which can be executed as high-level commands, but does not build an explicit hierarchical structure. Both algorithms provide a de facto form of dictionary compression, which enhances the effective throughput of the BCI. We present results from two human subjects who successfully used the hierarchical BCI to control a simulated PR2 robot using brain signals recorded non-invasively through electroencephalography (EEG).
New technologies and worker safety in western agriculture.

ABSTRACT The New Paths: Health and Safety in Western Agriculture conference, November 11–13, 2008, highlighted the role of technological innovation in agricultural production. The tree fruit industry in the Pacific Northwest has adopted a “technology road map” to reduce production costs and improve efficiency. An agricultural tour provided field demonstrations and discussions on such topics as mobile work platforms in orchards, traumatic and musculoskeletal injuries, and new pest control technologies. Occupational safety and health research will need to adapt to and keep pace with rapid changes in agricultural production processes.
A High Throughput Phenotypic Screen of Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte Lytic Granule Exocytosis Reveals Candidate Immunosuppressants

We screened the National Institutes of Health's Molecular Libraries Small Molecule Repository for inhibitors of cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) lytic granule exocytosis by measuring binding of an antibody in the extracellular solution to a lysosomal membrane protein (LAMP-1) that is transferred to the plasma membrane by exocytosis. We used TALL-104 human leukemic CTLs stimulated with soluble chemicals. Using high-throughput cluster cytometry to screen 364,202 compounds in a 1536-well plate format, we identified 2404 initial hits: 161 were confirmed on retesting, and dose-response measurements were performed. Seventy-five of those compounds were obtained, and 48 were confirmed active. Experiments were conducted to determine the molecular mechanism of action (MMOA) of the active compounds. Fifteen blocked increases in intracellular calcium >50%. Seven blocked phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) by upstream mitogen-activated protein kinase kinases >50%. One completely blocked the activity of the calcium-dependent phosphatase calcineurin. None blocked ERK catalytic activity. Eight blocked more than one pathway. For 8 compounds, we were unable to determine an MMOA. The activity of 1 of these compounds was confirmed from powder resupply. We conclude that a screen based on antibody binding to CTLs is a good means of identifying novel candidate immunosuppressants with either known or unknown MMOAs.