cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Utility of preoperative laboratory testing in ASA 1 & ASA 2 patients undergoing outpatient surgery in the United States.

Study objective To assess the utility of preoperative testing in ASA physical status 1 and 2 patients undergoing outpatient surgery across several surgical specialties. Design Retrospective cohort study. Patients The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database from 2017 to 2018 was queried to extract patients defined as ASA 1 and 2 who underwent outpatient surgeries. A total of 352,775 adult patients underwent outpatient surgery with 186,954 patients had at least one lab drawn within 30 days prior to the surgery. Interventions ASA physical status 1 and 2 patients who underwent outpatient surgeries. Measurements The primary independent variable was the utilization of preoperative laboratory testing. The primary outcomes were the occurrence of any medical or surgical complication adverse events within 30 days of discharge. In addition, we also examined hospital readmissions. A P value of 0.025 was used to avoid type I error for each primary outcome. Main results In the overall cohort, 186,954 out of 352,775 (53%) of patients had at least one lab test. Hematology was the most common lab test ordered, 172,903 out of 352,755 patients (49%), followed by chemistry (43%), liver function (23%), and coagulation tests (11%). After adjusting for confounding factors, the use preoperative testing was not associated with overall medical complications, OR (95%CI) of 1.09 (1.00 to 1.18), P = 0.05 and overall surgical complications, 1.00 (0.92 to 1.08), P = 0.96 [Bonferroni corrected: medical complications OR (97.5% CI) of 1.09 (0.989 to 1.202), P = 0.0950 and overall surgical complications, 1.00 (0.918 to 1.093), P = 1.00. Conclusion We detected a low utility of preoperative tests for ASA 1 and 2 patients undergoing a large variety of outpatient procedures. Our results support the elimination of preoperative laboratory test for ASA 1 and 2 undergoing ambulatory surgery.
Management of infections in critically ill patients.

Abstract Background: Critically ill patients have an increased risk of developing infections and infectious complications, sometimes followed by death. Despite a substantial investment of resources in outcomes improvement, optimum treatment for such patients remains unclear for practicing intensivists. Methods: We conducted a review that highlights the most recent developments in the prevention, diagnosis, and management of infection and the evaluation of its outcomes. The review examines the prevention of infection, such as through daily bathing with chlorhexidine and the addition of probiotics to treatment regimens, and questions the previous standards of care, including the monitoring of gastric residuals and treatment of severely ill patients with drotrecogin alfa (activated). It also discusses novel approaches to the treatment of severely ill infected patients with extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation and the earlier normalization of body temperature. Results: The development of new antibiotics conti...
Mechanical and Electrical Properties of Resistance Welds at Cryogenic Temperatures

In a large superconducting magnet, such as the superconducting magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) dipole system for the National Coal-Fired Flow Facility (CFFF SCMS) at the University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI), the conductor joints must be strong, highly reliable, of low resistance, reproducible, and made with reasonable speed. These aspects of conductor joining are being studied.
Aiding tomorrow's augmented cognition researchers through modeling and simulation curricula

Research in the newly emerged field of Augmented Cognition (AugCog) has demonstrated great potential to develop more intelligent computational systems capable of monitoring and adapting the systems to the changing cognitive state of human operators in order to minimize cognitive bottlenecks and improve task performance. As the AugCog field rapidly expands, an increasing number of researchers will be needed to conduct basic and applied research in this burgeoning field. However, due to its multidisciplinary nature and cutting-edge technological applications, most traditional academic disciplines cannot support the training needs of future AugCog researchers. Accordingly, an established Modeling and Simulation (M&S) graduate curriculum is described, which provides a broad basis of interdisciplinary knowledge and skills as well as depth of knowledge within a specific area of the M&S field. Support for use of the flexible M&S curriculum to provide the requisite multifaceted foundational training in Augmented Cognition principles is also presented.
State Variations in Nursing Home Social Worker Qualifications

This is the first published account of state administrative code variations in nursing home social worker qualifications. It is important to review state codes because the majority of nursing homes in the U.S. have fewer than 121 beds and therefore are not required by the federal government to employ at least one full-time qualified social worker. States have the option of extending the federal regulations to homes with 120 or fewer beds, or strengthening the federal requirements in other ways. Findings indicate enormous variation in state requirements for qualifications of nursing home social workers, and even when states define a qualified nursing home social worker (not all do), they often exempt facilities from employing one. Seven states were found to be out of federal compliance. Research describing the qualifications of people employed in nursing home social services is called for, as well as research documenting effective psychosocial interventions, especially as they relate to resident quality of life. Ten recommendations for enhancing nursing home social work services are included.
Compliant motion control for a compliant rehabilitation system

In the previous study [1], an arm exoskeleton was proposed to be worn across the elbow joint of an amputee's residual limb using a pneumatic circuit. The pneumatic circuit provides not only the elastic element in a series elastic actuator (SEA), but also a flexible power transmission. The use of a customised cylinder on the off-grounded exoskeleton, however, imposes restrictions on the range of motion and reducing weight. In this study, a simple and light rotary pneumatic transmission is developed to be replaced with the cylinder. This device increases the range of motion. Also, control strategies for the pneumatic system is analyzed, focusing on compliance. Based on the positive effect of impedance control augmented with dynamics compensation on further reducing the driving-point impedance, an impedance controller for the system is proposed. The controller is model-free, robust, and simple to implement. A simulation study is provided to validate the efficacy of the impedance controller for the pneumatic circuit system for an elbow exoskeleton.
Insider Trading: An Ethical Analysis

Insider trading has received a great deal of bad press in recent decades. Nearly every article in the popular press that has been written about it views the practice in a negative light. However, the economics and legal literature are mixed on the issue. This article examines the economics and legal literature and applies several sets of ethical principles with the goal of determining when insider trading constitutes unethical conduct and when it should be prohibited. The conclusion is that the key to determining when the practice should be prohibited should not depend upon a utilitarian analysis because utilitarian approaches cannot provide clear guidance. A better approach would be to determine whether a fiduciary duty has been breached or whether rights have been violated.
Endurance exercise protects cardiac muscle against doxorubicin-induced damage via mitochondrial adaptations (706.1)

Doxorubicin (DOX) is an antitumor agent used in cancer treatment. Unfortunately, DOX can induce cardiotoxicity that limits its clinical use. While endurance exercise training protects against DOX-i...
Agricultural composting in the United States: Trends and driving forces

Agricultural composting is expanding in the United States, with over 7,000 farms currently composting. Based on information collected from the 10 largest producing states for beef and dairy cattle, poultry, and swine, this is largely being driven by the need to find an alternative method to handle livestock mortalities. However, composting is also increasingly being used to recycle crop residues and to improve the handling, marketability, and/or quality of livestock manure. Factors affecting agricultural composting include the availability of land for application of manure or crop residues, proximity of farms to urban areas, environmental policies and regulations, and the support of industry and public agencies via research, education, and financial incentive programs.
Strike–slip faulting and veining in the Grasberg giant porphyry Cu–Au deposit, Ertsberg (Gunung Bijih) mining district, Papua, Indonesia

The Ertsberg mining district is in the core of the Central Range of west New Guinea, a mountain belt created by arc/continent collision in the late Miocene/Pliocene. The district is best known for the Grasberg igneous complex (GIC), the host of a giant Cu–Au deposit that was emplaced at 3 Ma. Structural analysis revealed abundant evidence for three domains of strike–slip faulting in the deposit. The southwestern domain is dominated by E–NE-trending faults. The middle domain, the centre of highest grade ore mineralization, is dominated by NW-trending faults. The northeastern domain is dominated by N-trending faults. Dip–slip normal faults are subordinate. Faults inside and outside the GIC formed in a left-lateral Riedel shear system trending ∼N60W.
Transcallosally evoked responses in the visual cortex of normal and monocularly enucleated rabbits.

In visual cortex of normal adult rabbits, callosal projections are restricted to a 2 mm wide band at the area 17/18 border. In adult rabbits which are monocularly enucleated (ME) on the day of birth, the callosal zone extends 4 mm into the medial region of area 17 in the cortex ipsilateral to the remaining eye. In this study, the function of these anomalous callosal projections in ME rabbits was investigated using electrophysiological techniques. A microelectrode was placed in the visual cortex ipsilateral to the enucleated eye at the 17/18 border, bipolar stimulating electrodes were placed in a homotopic location in the contralateral cortex, and averaged evoked responses (AERs) to stimulation were recorded. The stimulating electrodes were then moved mediolaterally in 1 mm steps, and the AERs were recorded for each location of the stimulating electrodes. In the normal rabbit, a maximal short latency evoked response was recorded when the stimulating electrodes were at a location homotopic to the recording electrode. When the stimulating electrodes were moved a distance of 1 mm or more from this optimal position, this short latency response was either absent or dramatically decreased in amplitude, reflecting the precise topographic pattern of the normal callosal projection. In contrast, in ME rabbits, a consistent response was evoked at the 17/18 border when the stimulating electrodes were moved as much as 3 mm medial to the homotopic position. Since antidromically activated responses and both pre- and post-synaptic orthodromically activated responses contribute to the AER, recordings were also made from single cells in some animals. Orthodromically activated single cell responses were evoked by electrical stimulation in the abnormal medial callosal zone of ME rabbits. The data indicate that abnormal callosal projections in ME rabbits can mediate functional interactions between nonhomotopic areas of the primary visual cortices.
Vacuum state and Schwarzschild solution in ten-dimensional gravity.

Gravity in more than four dimensions may involve terms of higher order in the curvature, as well as the linear terms present in ordinary general relativity. I explore the ten-dimensional vacuum configuration ${M}^{4}$\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${S}^{6}$. The ten-dimensional spherically symmetric potential is examined, and I determine conditions under which the formation of black holes is forbidden. Consequences for the stability of the vacuum are discussed.
Streptococcus faecalis susceptibility to amiloride depends on medium pH

Abstract Amiloride is one of the major molecular probes in basic and applied investigations on the physiology of cation transport in animal cells. In these cells the drug also exerts growth inhibitory activity. Recently, we discovered that amiloride causes growth inhibition also on bacterial cells. In this paper we report that medium pH influences amiloride activity on Streptococcus faecalis . The lowering of external pH causes a drop in the susceptibility of this bacterium to amiloride up to an almost complete resistance. This finding, constitutes a novel aspect of the in vitro experimental pharmacology of this diuretic potentially useful also in clinical pharmacology and in animal cell investigations.
Youthful habits of work and recreation and later cancer among physicians

Scores on seven factors derived from a Habits of Work and Recreation Survey administered to 1,038 white male medical students 17 to 35 years ago were used to compare students who subsequently developed some form of major cancer with those who did not. With the Type I error rate controlled through use of multivariate analysis of variance and age and smoking ruled out as possible confounding variables, the two groups were significantly differentiated, primarily in terms of intellectual interests—cancer cases having fewer. Students at or below the overall mean on the intellectual interests measure were more than three times as likely to develop cancer as were students with scores above the mean. In this population, the results appear interpretable in terms of the stamina concept, in which few intellectual interests may reflect an absence of stamina and spontaneity and/or failure to meet subcultural expectations—factors possibly associated with increased cancer risk.
Decreased Interferon-α Production in HIV-Infected Patients Correlates with Numerical and Functional Deficiencies in Circulating Type 2 Dendritic Cell Precursors

Abstract Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection exhibit a progressively marked decrease in the production of virus-induced interferon (IFN)-α, a finding that correlates with and is highly predictive of disease progression and opportunistic infections. The major IFN-α producing population has recently been defined as the precursor to type 2 dendritic cells (pDC2) or plasmacytoid DC (pDC). Using four-color flow cytometry, we have enumerated the pDC2 vs non-IFN-α producing myeloid DC1 in peripheral blood from HIV-infected patients and healthy controls and related these values to CD4 cell numbers, viral load, and functional activity. The patients had reductions in the numbers of both pDC2 (lin−/HLA-DR+/CD123bright) and DC1 (lin1−/HLA-DR+/CD123dim/CD11c+), both at an absolute level and as a percentage of cells. The decreases were most evident in patients with decreased CD4 levels. Viral load correlated with the functional frequency of the IFN producing cells but not with absolute pDC2 levels. Using intracellular flow cytometric analysis for IFN-α, the patients were demonstrated to have fewer pDC2, as well as a lower percentage of responding cells among those remaining. We conclude that deficient production of IFN-α by pDC2 from HIV-infected patients results from both selective loss of these cells and their qualitative dysfunction. Given the central role of DC, and in particular, DC2, in linking innate and adaptive immune responses, these qualitative and quantitative changes in pDC2 are likely to be key contributors to HIV pathogenesis.
Phase II study of docetaxel and celecoxib, a cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor, in elderly or poor performance status (PS2) patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Introduction The utility of two-drug chemotherapy regimens in elderly or performance status (PS 2) patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains to be established. Preclinical studies suggested that celecoxib, a Cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor, has antitumor activity in NSCLC and can enhance the activity of chemotherapy drugs. We conducted a phase II study to evaluate the efficacy of the combination of weekly docetaxel and celecoxib in advanced NSCLC patients, who were either elderly (≥70 years) or PS2. Methods Patients with stage IIIB (with pleural effusion) or IV NSCLC who were ≥70 years and had a PS of 0–2 or patients of any age with a PS of 2 were included. Patients should have been off any nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug for 30 continuous days before study enrollment. Patients were treated with weekly docetaxel 36 mg/m 2 i.v. on days 1, 8, 15 of a 28 day cycle and Celecoxib 400 mg po twice daily. Disease assessment was performed after every two cycles. The study design required 39 patients. Results Study was terminated after 34 patients were enrolled due to safety concerns regarding celecoxib. Thirty patients were evaluable. The response rate was 15%. The median progression free survival and median survival were 2.3 months and 5.0 months, respectively. The median survival of patients ≥70 years old with a PS of 0–1 was 8.3 months and the median survival of PS2 patients was 2.8 months. The combination was well tolerated with fatigue as the most common adverse effect. Two patients developed arterial thrombotic events. Conclusion In these ‘special populations' of patients with advanced NSCLC, the addition of celecoxib to docetaxel did not seem to improve the outcome compared with single agent docetaxel.
Intracellular freezing: Effect of extracellular supercooling

Abstract Human erythrocytes were frozen on the stage of a cryomicroscope at accurately controlled constant-cooling rates with varying degrees of extracellular supercooling. The formation of intracellular ice was detected by direct observation of the frozen cells through the microscope. A significant coupling effect was determined between the minimum cooling rate necessary to produce intracellular freezing and the extent of supercooling. Increased degrees of extracellular supercooling reduced the range of cooling rates for which water would freeze within the cell. Specific data points were obtained at ΔTSC = 0, −5, and −12 °C for which the corresponding transition cooling rates were respectively −845, −800, and −11 °C/min. An explanation for the occurrence of this phenomenon is presented based on the physiochemical processes that govern the freezing of a cell suspension.
PERITONEAL INFLAMMATION AFTER TWENTY-WEEK EXPOSURE TO DIALYSIS SOLUTION: EFFECT OF SOLUTION VERSUS CATHETER–FOREIGN BODY REACTION

♦ BackgroundWe hypothesized that both sterile solutions and foreign body reaction to the peritoneal dialysis catheter are associated with inflammatory changes in rats exposed to hypertonic solution...
The low level of 5-hydroxytryptophan decarboxylase in human brain

Abstract A modified fluorometric method using ninhydrin as a fluorescence reagent for measuring 5-hydroxytryptophan decarboxylase is described. The very low levels of this enzyme in human brain are demonstrated. Although there is no complete proof that the enzyme may be entirely absent, the weight of evidence suggests it is present at low levels. It is speculated that in human brain 5-hydroxytryptophan decarboxylase rather than tryptophan hydroxylase may be the rate-limiting step in serotonin synthesis, or that there is an as yet unknown pathway for serotonin synthesis in human brain.
ĉ=1 superconformal field theory

We consider superconformal field theories with central charge c = 23c = 1. We find five continuous one-parameter families of theories all interconnected via a set of four multicritical points that are reached by modding out theories with enlarged symmetries. We find as well six theories that have no integrable marginal operators and thus constitute isolated points of superconformal invariance in the c = 1 moduli space. We briefly discuss c = 32 conformal theories that contain a twisted superconformal algebra, including three isolated theories with a twisted N = 3 superconformal algebra, and theories constructed as the tensor product of the c = 45 and c = 710 minimal theories.
Expression of Emotion in Young Autistic Children

Abstract Expression of emotion was examined in a group of 10 preschool‐aged autistic children and a control group of 10 developmentally delayed children matched for chronological and mental age. Each child was videotaped for 15 minutes of interaction with the mother, a child psychiatrist, and the nursery school teacher. Affective expression was recorded using a behavior checklist. The autistic children were found to display less positive affect that the delayed children ( p p
Elemental concentrations of hydrothermal vent organisms from the Galápagos Rift

Concentrations of 40 elements were determined in tissues and whole bodies of mussels (Bathymodiolus thermophilus) and/or whole bodies of limpets (Neomphalus fretterae) collected from the submarine thermal springs on the Galapagos Rift in 1977. Concentrations of Ag, As, Fe, Mn, Mo, Se, Sr, and Zn were comparable or elevated relative to those of intertidal mollusks, which have been utilized as indicators of anthropogenic trace-metal contamination. Both species contained concentrations of some elements (e.g. Ag, As, Fe, Mn, Mo, Se, Zn) which corresponded with the elevated levels of those elements discharged from hydrothermal vents. Many elements were most enriched in the gills and digestive glands of the mussels. Iron:manganese ratios of those tissues were similar to ratios of pelagic and transitional sediments, indicating that metal-rich suspended particulates had been absorbed onto mucous membranes. Comparisons with other benthopelagic organisms were precluded, since the present data represent essentially the only trace-element analyses of deep-sea macroinvertebrates.
An animal model for tinnitus

Subjective tinnitus remains obscure, widespread, and without apparent cure. In the absence of a suitable animal model, past investigations took place in humans, resulting in studies that were understandably restricted by the nature of human investigation. Within this context, the development of a valid animal model would be considered a major breakthrough in this field of investigation. Our results showed changes in the spontaneous activity of single neurons in the inferior colliculus, consistent with abnormally increased neuronal activity within the auditory pathways after manipulations known to produce tinnitus in man. A procedure based on a Pavlovian conditioned suppression paradigm was recently developed that allows us to measure tinnitus behaviorally in conscious animals. Accordingly, an animal model of tinnitus is proposed that permits tests of hypotheses relating to tinnitus generation, allowing the accommodation of interventional strategies for the treatment of this widespread auditory disorder.
Effects of dialect variation on the semantic predictability benefit

Words in semantically predictable sentences are more intelligible than words in less predictable or semantically anomalous sentences. However, the intelligibility benefit of semantically predictable words is reduced in noise and for non-native listeners, suggesting that semantic context contributes less to intelligibility under difficult listening conditions. The goal of the current study was to explore the effect of dialect variation on the semantic predictability benefit. Larger semantic predictability benefits were observed for more familiar dialects than less familiar dialects. In addition, more dialect differences in the size of the semantic predictability benefit were observed in conditions in which perceptual normalisation was more difficult. These results are consistent with a cue-weighting model in which dialect variation is comparable to energetic noise masking. Listeners attend less to semantic cues when perceptual normalisation for dialect variation is difficult and more to semantic cues when ...
Latency to leave an elevated platform, activity in a dark chamber, and weight in aging Sprague-Dawley rats.

Young adult, middle-aged, and old male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 42) were compared for differences in step-down latency and activity in a darkened chamber. Ad libitum weights also were recorded. Latencies to leave a step-down platform increased about 400% from 4 to 9 mo. and then stabilized, suggesting that performance in this apparatus, commonly used in memory research, is very sensitive to age changes in rats less than 1 yr. old. Activity in the darkened chamber continued to decrease linearly from young adulthood to senility. Thus decreases in activity with age follow differing slopes, depending upon the task. Ad libitum weights increased linearly from 5 to 22.5 mo. A possible methodological implication for between-age comparisons of learning ability motivated by food was noted.
Broadcast Analysis for Extended Cooperative Wireless Networks

The capability of nodes to broadcast their message to the entire wireless network when nodes employ cooperation is considered. We employ an asymptotic analysis using an extended random network setting under an additive white Gaussian channel model with path loss, and show that the broadcast performance strongly depends on the path loss exponent of the medium. In particular, the probability of broadcasting in a 1-D infinite network is zero for path loss exponents larger than one, and is equal to a nonzero value for path loss exponents less than one. In 2-D infinite networks, the same behavior is observed for path loss exponents above and below two, respectively.
Highbrow omnivorousness on the small screen?: Cultural industry systems and patterns of cultural choice in Europe

Abstract To date, Peterson and Kern's (1996) “highbrow omnivorousness” hypothesis has been examined mainly for the case of musical taste. In this paper we attempt to extend this framework to a relatively unexplored cultural domain, that of television consumption. Using data from the 2001 Eurobarometer we hypothesize that highbrows will be more likely to consume a wide variety of other forms of popular culture, namely television programming. The results fail to unambiguously confirm the highbrow omnivorousness hypothesis: in some EU countries, highbrows consume a wider variety of television programming than non-highbrows, in other countries, highbrows are indistinguishable from non-highbrows, while in a third group of countries, highbrows are snobbier than non-highbrows in their television consumption choices. We attempt to explain this cross-national heterogeneity in the highbrow/non-highbrow difference in television consumption using DiMaggio's (1977) organizational theory of culture production. In our “contingent highbrow omnivorousness” framework, we propose that in commercialized, profit-oriented cultural industry systems, highbrow snobbery rather than omnivorousness will be the norm. In relatively less commercialized, profit-oriented contexts, highbrow the snobbery effect will be weaker. Classifying countries by the degree of market orientation of the television production field yields results that are consistent with this hypothesis.
Historical review: megakaryopoiesis and thrombopoiesis

The study of thrombopoiesis has evolved greatly since an era when platelets were termed "the dust of the blood," only about 100 years ago. During this time megakaryocytes were identified as the origin of blood platelets; marrow-derived megakaryocytic progenitor cells were functionally defined and then purified; and the primary regulator of the process, thrombopoietin, was cloned and characterized and therapeutic thrombopoietic agents developed. During this journey we continue to learn that the physiologic mechanisms that drive proplatelet formation can be recapitulated in cell-free systems and their biochemistry evaluated; the molecular underpinnings of endomitosis are being increasingly understood; the intracellular signals sent by engagement of a large number of megakaryocyte surface receptors have been defined; and many of the transcription factors that drive megakaryocytic fate determination have been identified and experimentally manipulated. While some of these biologic processes mimic those seen in other cell types, megakaryocytes and platelets possess enough unique developmental features that we are virtually assured that continued study of thrombopoiesis will yield innumerable clinical and scientific insights for many decades to come.
Discrimination reversal learning in newts

The results of field research suggest that, contrary to being behaviorally inflexible, some amphibians may have the ability to respond effectively to changing environments. The performance of seven newts (Triturus viridescens) was studied across 20 successive reversals of a spatial discrimination problem in a dry T-maze. Submersion in shaded water served as reinforcement for correct responses. The subjects showed a decrease in mean errors across reversals and across ordinal trials within sessions. These results are discussed in terms of the importance of using biologically relevant methodologies in the study of comparative animal learning.
Phonological awareness, speech development, and letter knowledge in preschool children

Phonological awareness has been shown to be one of the most reliable predictors and associates of reading ability. In an attempt to better understand its development, we have examined the interrelations of speech skills and letter knowledge to the phonological awareness and early reading skills of 99 preschool children. We found that phoneme awareness, but not rhyme awareness, correlated with early reading measures. We further found that phoneme manipulation was closely associated with letter knowledge and with letter sound knowledge, in particular, where rhyme awareness was closely linked with speech perception and vocabulary. Phoneme judgment fell in between. The overall pattern of results is consistent with phonological representation as an important factor in the complex relationship between preschool children’s phonological awareness, their emerging knowledge of the orthography, and their developing speech skills. However, where rhyme awareness is a concomitant of speech and vocabulary development, phoneme awareness more clearly associates with the products of literacy experience.
RNA-Seq optimization with eQTL gold standards

RNA-Sequencing (RNA-Seq) experiments have been optimized for library preparation, mapping, and gene expression estimation. These methods, however, have revealed weaknesses in the next stages of analysis of differential expression, with results sensitive to systematic sample stratification or, in more extreme cases, to outliers. Further, a method to assess normalization and adjustment measures imposed on the data is lacking. To address these issues, we utilize previously published eQTLs as a novel gold standard at the center of a framework that integrates DNA genotypes and RNA-Seq data to optimize analysis and aid in the understanding of genetic variation and gene expression. After detecting sample contamination and sequencing outliers in RNA-Seq data, a set of previously published brain eQTLs was used to determine if sample outlier removal was appropriate. Improved replication of known eQTLs supported removal of these samples in downstream analyses. eQTL replication was further employed to assess normalization methods, covariate inclusion, and gene annotation. This method was validated in an independent RNA-Seq blood data set from the GTEx project and a tissue-appropriate set of eQTLs. eQTL replication in both data sets highlights the necessity of accounting for unknown covariates in RNA-Seq data analysis. As each RNA-Seq experiment is unique with its own experiment-specific limitations, we offer an easily-implementable method that uses the replication of known eQTLs to guide each step in one’s data analysis pipeline. In the two data sets presented herein, we highlight not only the necessity of careful outlier detection but also the need to account for unknown covariates in RNA-Seq experiments.
Current Management of Urinary Incontinence

Urinary incontinence is an underreported, underdiagnosed, and undertreated condition erroneously thought by many patients to be a normal part of aging. This article briefly discusses transient urinary incontinence and then focuses on the different types of established incontinence. Specifically, the article discusses preferred terminology associated with urinary incontinence and describes the different types, causes, nonpharmacologic options, and pharmacologic options for managing overactive bladder syndrome, stress incontinence, and overflow incontinence. It briefly discusses mixed urinary incontinence and functional incontinence. The role of the pharmacist in working with patients, caregivers, and other health care professionals to optimize management of urinary incontinence is discussed throughout.
The use of a control computer in a chemistry department

The Chemistry Department of the Stony Brook Campus of the State University of New York is composed of a number of faculty members whose research experiments fall generally into two categories; (1) steady data acquisition and control tasks with relatively small data and demand rates, and (2) continuous scan-type measurements of various data rates. An IBM 1800 control system is employed as the nerve center of a computer-based experiment complex. This paper discusses the multi-experiment control system used at Stony Brook Chemistry, giving some details of experiments performed by faculty members as examples of its application. It is pointed out that one of the objectives of this computerized department is creation of a course in the use of computers in chemistry. Witha data-acquistition computer available in the department, the course can include actual bench practice in data acquisition and control tasks.
From model to mimic : age-dependent unpalatability in monarch butterflies

Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) are unpalatable to various vertebrate predators because their larvae sequester bitter and emetic cardiac glycosides (CGs) from milkweed plants (Asclepias spp.). Here we show that the concentration of the defensive CGs decrease as individual butterflies age, regardless of the CGs' initial amounts or specific chemical structures. Consequently, individual monarch butterflies can change from being unpalatable models to palatable mimics during their lifetime. Since monarchs breed continuously over the spring and summer in North America, freshly emerged adult butterflies may serve as noxious models for older individuals which become automimics as they age.
Bipolarons in boron icosahedra.

Small-bipolaron hopping has been proposed as the mechanism of electrical transport in the boron carbides, compounds composed of boron-rich icosahedra linked by carbon-containing chains. We present a simple model of small-bipolaron formation and of the small-bipolaron hopping activation energy. We then consider, by means of a molecular-orbital calculational technique, a cluster model of bipolaron formation in a boron icosahedron set in charge-neutral surroundings. A lower limit of 3.7 eV is calculated for the bipolaron formation energy, of which 1.0 eV is related to site distortion and 2.7 eV to filling of icosahedral bonding orbitals. We have therefore established within our model that small-bipolaron formation will be energetically favored in the boron carbides.
Effects of norms and norm‐violations on inhibition and instigation of aggression

It was hypothesized that in a competitive interaction in which an opponent first used threats and fines a) subjects would use the highest level of coercion that could be justified by the available norms, b) subjects would be inhibited by a norm that justified using only low levels of coercion, but c) when the opponent used a magnitude of coercion which exceeded the norm, subjects would also violate the norm and retaliate with an equally high magnitude of coercion, and d) subjects would use the maximum levels of coercion when engaging in a competitive game without norms. These hypotheses were examined in a 3 × 2 factorial experiment in which the amount of coercion allowable by a norm (Low Norm, High Norm, and No Information) and the level of coercion (Low or High) were manipulated. As predicted, aggressive reactions by subjects were inhibited when the provoker conformed to a low norm by using a low level of coercion. On the other hand, subjects retaliated by using a high level of coercion when the level of coercion used by a provoker violated the norm. Subjects who could justify their behavior by the availability of a high punitive norm tended to use all of the coercive power available to them even when the provoker used a low level of coercion. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Urban-Rural Differences in a Memory Disorders Clinical Population

OBJECTIVES: To compare patient characteristics and family perceptions of patient function at one urban and one rural memory disorders clinic. DESIGN: Secondary, cross-sectional data analyses of an extant clinical database. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: First time visits (n = 956) at two memory disorders clinics. MEASUREMENTS: Patient and family-member demographics and assessment results for the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), activities of daily living (ADLs), the Memory Change and Personality Change components of the Blessed Dementia Rating Scale, and the Revised Memory and Behavior Problems Checklist. RESULTS: In both clinics, patients and family members were more likely female. The typical urban clinic patient was significantly more likely to be living in a facility and more educated than the typical rural patient. Urban and rural patients did not show significant differences in age- and education-adjusted MMSE scores or raw ADL/IADL ratings, but the urban family members reported more memory problems, twice as many personality changes, more-frequent behavior problems, and more adverse reactions to problems. CONCLUSION: Physicians who practice in both urban and rural areas can anticipate differences between patients, and their families, who seek a diagnosis of memory disorders. Our most important finding is that despite similarities in reported functional abilities, urban families appear to be more sensitive to and more distressed by patients' cognitive and behavioral symptoms than rural families. These differences may reflect different underlying needs, and should be explored in further research.
A lion in our village--the unconscionable tragedy of cholera in Africa.

The ancient scourge of cholera rages on in Africa. Drs. Eric Mintz and Richard Guerrant write that preventable cases and deaths result from a lack of essential infrastructure, inadequate health care delivery, and the failure of the global community to muster the political will necessary to extend the benefits of the sanitary and treatment revolutions to all people.
Individual differences in the performance and use of an expert system

Abstract This field investigation studied the use of an expert system technology to gain some additional insight into specifiic behavioral implications for information system designers. Twenty-eight engineers in an oil and gas exploration and production company participated in this study by solving a well pressure buildup analysis problem. Half of the subjects utilized a well test interpretation expert system to assist them while the other subjects solved the problem manually. The groups were balanced across age, cognitive style and trait anxiety. Independent variables consisted of the expert system treatment, dogmatism and experience with performing the task. Impact measures consisted of decision confidence, decision quality, decision time, state anxiety and a system success indicator for those subjects utilizing the expert system. Although decision confidence was higher in the group utilizing the expert system, there was no corresponding increase in decision quality. Also, experts utilizing the expert system experienced an increase in state anxiety, and rated the expert system significantly worse than the novices did. This may imply that expert system technology may be more useful or appropriate to novices than experts.
Impact of the Time-Out Process on Safety Attitude in a Tertiary Neurosurgical Department

Objective In July 2011, the UCLA Health System released its current time-out process protocol used across the Health System. Numerous interventions were performed to improve checklist completion and time-out process observance. This study assessed the impact of the current protocol for the time-out on healthcare providers' safety attitude and operating room safety climate. Methods All members involved in neurosurgical procedures in the main operating room of the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center were asked to anonymously complete an online survey on their overall perception of the time-out process. Results The survey was completed by 93 of 128 members of the surgical team. Overall, 98.9% felt that performing a pre-incision time-out improves patient safety. The majority of respondents (97.8%) felt that the team member introductions helped to promote a team spirit during the case. In addition, 93.5% felt that performing a time-out helped to ensure all team members were comfortable to voice safety concerns throughout the case. All respondents felt that the attending surgeon should be present during the time-out and 76.3% felt that he/she should lead the time-out. Unanimously, it was felt that the review of anticipated critical elements by the attending surgeon was helpful to respondents' role during the case. Responses revealed that although the time-out brings the team together physically, it does not necessarily reinforce teamwork. Conclusion The time-out process favorably impacted team members' safety attitudes and perception as well as overall safety climate in neurosurgical ORs. Survey responses identified leadership training and teamwork training as two avenues for future improvement.
Using explicit linguistic expressions of preference in social media to predict voting behavior

Probably the major approach to making predictions or recommendations about user behavior is by pairing unambiguous indicators of preference with attributes of the users who have given those indications. However, since the necessary preference data is often difficult to obtain, it is considered very valuable and often held closely by vendors and advertisers. On the other hand, while Twitter and other social media platforms provide a wealth of data about users by way of what they say or tweet, who or what they like or follow, etc., little work has been done to combine these data with indicators of preference for purposes of prediction or recommendation. In this paper we present a novel approach to mining preference data from natural language expressions in social media, which are then extrapolated to other individuals whose preferences are not known through predictive modeling. As an application for this approach, we describe the implementation of Tweetcast Your Vote, a publicly accessible system that predicted the voting decisions of Twitter users in the 2012 U.S. presidential election.
PHOSPHOCYTIDINES AS VERSATILE 3′‐PROTECTING GROUPS IN TRIESTER SYNTHESIS OF OLIGODEOXYRIBONUCLEOTIDES

Abstract Any oligodeoxyribonucleotide triester block with a 3′ aryl phosphate end can be protected by condensing its phosphodiester terminal with the 2′-hydroxyl group of N 4 , O 3 ′, O 5 ′-tribenzoylcytidine. As the final step in deprotection of the modified block, mild treatment with Pb ++ ion cleaves the new 3′-2′ linkage in such a way that the original 3′ terminal phosphate group of the oligomer is transferred to the ribonucleoside. This procedure eliminates the need for specialized terminator blocks in triester synthesis.
Anxiety sensitivity and panic attacks in a nonclinical population

Abstract In the present study, we administered the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) and a modified version of the Panic Attack Questionnaire (PAQ) to 425 college students to determine whether high anxiety sensitivity (‘fear of fear’) occurs in the absence of a history of unpredictable (‘spontaneous’) panic attacks, or whether such attacks are a necessary precursor to high anxiety sensitivity. Based on their ASI scores, subjects were assigned to either the high, medium, or low anxiety sensitivity groups. High anxiety sensitivity subjects more frequently reported both a personal and family history of panic than did subjects in the other groups. Nevertheless, two-thirds of the high anxiety sensitivity subjects had never experienced an unpredictable panic attack. This suggests that the fear of anxiety can be acquired in ways other than through personal experience with panic.
Turning the Gaze on Whiteness: Opacity, dispossession and the call to tarry

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. (James Baldwin, 2010)There is no way to understand what it means to be a person of color in the USA withou...
Developmental expression of p107 mRNA and evidence for alternative splicing of the p107 (RBL1) gene product.

Expression of p107, a protein with homology to the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor (pRB), was monitored during murine development. Northern blot tissue surveys identified two transcripts of 4.9 and 2.4 kb that hybridized to a p107 cDNA clone. Expression of both transcripts was detected in fetal tissues, with particularly high levels in the liver and heart. In contrast, p107 transcripts were markedly decreased in most adult tissues examined. Molecular cloning analyses revealed that the 4.9- and 2.4-kb transcripts encoded proteins with deduced molecular masses of 119 and 68 kDa, respectively. Genetic mapping studies suggested that the two p107 transcripts arose by alternative splicing of a common precursor. The protein encoded by the 2.4-kb transcript lacks the spacer and B motif of the {open_quotes}pocket domain,{close_quotes} a region of homology between p107 and pRB that is required for binding to cell cycle regulatory proteins. Structural modifications resulting from alternative splicing may this confer functional diversity upon the 119- and 68-kDa proteins. 52 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab.
Relay selection for AF SISO wireless relay networks under jamming environment with relay power constraint

A noncooperative amplify-and-forward (AF) wireless relay network consisting of a one-source-one-destination pair and N relays is investigated. The objective of this paper is to analytically derive the explicit optimal noncooperative relay amplifying matrices (or vector) under both jamming and no-jamming environments, with the relay power constraint based on the minimum mean square error (MMSE) criterion. The MMSE cost function behaviors will be analytically and numerically investigated using the relay amplifying vectors derived. Finally, the relay selection scheme for the noncooperative AF wireless relay network is presented using the maximum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) criterion under both jamming and no-jamming environments.