cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Update of AUA Guideline on the Surgical Management of Female Stress Urinary Incontinence

Purpose: We updated the 1997 American Urological Association guideline on female stress incontinence.Materials and Methods: MEDLINE® searches of English language publications from 1994 and new searches of the literature published between December 2002 and June 2005 were performed using identified MeSH terms. Articles were selected for the index patient defined as the otherwise healthy woman who elected to undergo surgery to correct stress urinary incontinence or the otherwise healthy woman with incontinence and prolapse who elected to undergo treatment for both conditions.Results: A total of 436 articles were identified as suitable for inclusion in the meta-analysis, and an additional 155 articles were suitable for complications data only due to insufficient followup of efficacy outcomes in the latter reports. Surgical efficacy was defined using outcomes pre-specified in the primary evidence articles. Urgency (resolution and de novo) was included as an efficacy outcome due to its significant impact on qua...
Building China: precarious employment among migrant construction workers

In China, informal precarious work has exploded and now represents a majority of urban employment. This article explores precarious informal work by presenting a case study of migrant workers in the construction industry. Despite the fact that these workers are all unregistered migrants performing informal construction work, there exists a diversity of labour market situations, working conditions and work relations. This article introduces the concept of ‘employment configuration’ to analyse this diversity and to bring informal workers, who are operating outside of state regulations, back into our industrial labour relations framework. The concept of employment configuration also refocuses our attention from the dyadic worker–employer relationship to the more complex triad of the worker, the employer and the state, shedding light on varying sources of control and exploitation of these migrant workers.
The microcosmos of cancer

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, evolutionarily conserved, non-coding RNAs of 18–25 nucleotides in length that have an important function in gene regulation. Mature miRNA products are generated from a longer primary miRNA (pri-miRNA) transcript through sequential processing by the ribonucleases Drosha and Dicer1 (ref. 1). The first description of miRNAs was made in 1993 in Caenorhabditis elegans as regulators of developmental timing 2,3 . Later, miRNAs were shown to inhibit their target genes through sequences that are complementary to the target messenger RNA, leading to decreased expression of the target protein 1 (Box 1). This discovery resulted in a pattern shift in our understanding of gene regulation because miRNAs are now known to repress thousands of target genes and coordinate normal processes, including cellular proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. The aberrant expression or alteration of miRNAs also contributes to a range of human pathologies, including cancer. The control of gene expression by miRNAs is a process seen in virtually all cancer cells. These cells show alterations in their miRNA expression profiles, and emerging data indicate that these patterns could be useful in improving the classification of cancers and predicting their behaviour. In addition, miRNAs have now been shown to behave as cancer ‘drivers’ in the same way as protein-coding genes whose alterations actively and profoundly contribute to malignant transformation and cancer progression. Owing to the capacity of miRNAs to modulate tens to hundreds of target genes, they are emerging as important factors in the control of the ‘hallmarks’ of cancer 4 . In this Review, we summarize the findings that provide evidence for the central role of miRNAs in controlling cellular transformation and tumour progression. We also highlight the potential uses of miRNAs and miRNA-based drugs in cancer therapy and discuss the obstacles that will need to be overcome. miRNAs are cancer genes In 2002, Croce and colleagues first demonstrated that an miRNA cluster was frequently deleted or downregulated in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia 5 . This discovery suggested that non-coding genes were contributing to the development of cancer, and paved the way for the closer investigation of miRNA loss or amplification in tumours. Subsequently, miRNAs were shown to be differentially expressed in cancer cells, in which they formed distinct and unique miRNA expression patterns 6 , and whole classes of miRNAs could be controlled directly by key oncogenic transcription factors 7 . In parallel, studies with mouse models established that miRNAs were actively involved in tumorigenesis
Knowledge of skin test results among parents of asthmatic children.

Background. The control of asthma in children depends upon several factors, among which is the ability of parents to minimize the exposure of their children to specific allergens. If parents are ill-informed of the specific allergen sensitivity of their children, they may be unable to take the necessary steps to minimize exposure. Objectives. This study seeks to determine the ability of parents to recall accurately the skin test results for their children. Parents were low income, multicultural, urban residents. Methods. One hundred eligible children with persistent asthma, between 6 and 14 years old, who were skin test positive to dust mite or cockroach allergen, were recruited from a mobile asthma clinic in Los Angeles. Caretakers were interviewed in English or Spanish. From skin test results, sensitivity and specificity of parental recall of test results were computed. The sensitivity and specificity were further stratified on demographic and exposure characteristics. Results. The sensitivity was lowest for dogs (65%), but higher for all other allergens: cat 93%, roach 91%; dust mites 88%, and mold 81%. The range of specificity was from 40% to 83%. Thus, parents were more aware of positive than of negative test results. Stratification did not appreciably change the sensitivity or specificity results. Conclusions. We conclude that the sensitivity and specificity of parental response concerning skin test results is high regardless of cultural, demographic, or exposure levels of the child.
Density of surgeons is significantly associated with reduced risk of deaths from motor vehicle crashes in US counties.

Background The concept of surgery and public health has been introduced in recent years, highlighting the impact of surgeons on improving public health outcomes, a relationship that has traditionally been ascribed to general practitioners. The purpose of this study is to quantify the effect of surgeon availability on deaths from motor vehicle crashes (MVC). Study Design Retrospective analysis of the Area Resource File from 2006 was performed. The primary outcome variable was the three-year (2001–2003) average in MVC deaths per 1 million population for each county. The primary independent variable was the density of surgeons per 1 million population in year 2003. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed, adjusting for density of general practitioners, urbanicity of the county, and socioeconomic status of the county. Results A total of 3,225 counties were analyzed. The median number of MVC deaths per million population was 226 (IQR 158–320). The median number of surgeon per million population was 55 (IQR 0–105), while the median number of general practitioners per million population was 424 (IQR 274–620). On unadjusted analysis, each increase of one surgeon per million population was associated with 0.38 fewer MVC deaths per million population (p Conclusions Higher density of surgeons is associated with significant reduction in deaths from MVCs. This highlights the need for 1) consideration of surgery as primary care and 2) development of inclusive surgical systems designed to provide care commensurate with patients' degree of injury.
Diagnostic Surgical Procedures for Pulmonary Disease: Review of a Two-Year Experience

A definitive diagnosis of pulmonary disease cannot be made, in a significant number of cases, without the employment of certain surgical procedures. A presumptive diagnosis may be reached with the aid of skin tests for tuberculosis, histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis, and blastomycosis, sputum smear and culture examinations for various organisms, fungal serological tests, and bronchoscopic study with cytologic and bacteriologic investigations of aspirated secretions as well as roentgenography. Not infrequently some of the positive results are not related to the disease under investigation and may lead to a false diagnosis and possibly misdirected therapy. A number of surgical procedures, aimed at diagnosis,18 have been employed in recent years in problem chest cases. These include lung biopsy, scalenus or paratracheal fat pad biopsy, pleural and pericardial biopsies, and exploratory thoracotomy. Today, these operations can be done with considerable safety as a result of improvements in the techniques of thoracic surgery, anesthesia, and pre- and post-operative management. The authors have employed lung biopsy when dealing primarily with diffuse pulmonary disease. Disseminated lung lesions caused by pneumoconiosis, tuberculosis, sarcoidosis, histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis, bIas
Experiences evaluating the effectiveness of JML-JUnit testing

This paper reports on the issues the authors encountered while evaluating the JML-JUnit unit testing strategy. Given a predefined set of parameter values, JML-JUnit can automatically provide unit tests for Java programs that have specifications. We present a mutation testing experiment that evaluates the effectiveness of this testing strategy, and the lessons learned from doing this experiment. We conclude that a benchmark will enable the testing research community to meaningfully assess testing approaches.
Regulation of Plasma High-Density Lipoprotein Levels by the ABCA1 Transporter and the Emerging Role of High-Density Lipoprotein in the Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease

High-density lipoproteins (HDL) protect against cardiovascular disease. HDL removes and transports excess cholesterol from peripheral cells to the liver for removal from the body. HDL also protects low-density lipoproteins (LDL) from oxidation and inhibits expression of adhesion molecules in endothelial cells, preventing monocyte movement into the vessel wall. The ABCA1 transporter regulates intracellular cholesterol levels in the liver and in peripheral cells by effluxing excess cholesterol to lipid-poor apoA-I to form nascent HDL, which is converted to mature alpha-HDL by esterification of cholesterol to cholesteryl esters (CE) by lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase. The hepatic ABCA1 transporter and apoA-I are major determinants of levels of plasma alpha-HDL cholesterol as well as poorly lipidated apoA-I, which interact with ABCA1 transporters on peripheral cells in the process of reverse cholesterol transport. Cholesterol in HDL is transported directly back to the liver by HDL or after transfer of CE by the cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) by the apoB lipoproteins. Current approaches to increasing HDL to determine the efficacy of HDL in reducing atherosclerosis involve acute HDL therapy with infusions of apoA-I or apoA-I mimetic peptides and chronic long-term therapy with selective agents to increase HDL, including CETP inhibitors.
Applications development by end-users: can quality be improved?

Abstract End-users frequently develop applications to use in their jobs but there is reason to be concerned about the quality of these applications. High error rates have been found in applications developed by end-users in the few empirical studies done. This paper examines one approach to improving application quality which is to provide end-users with training in systems analysis and design methods. The study was conducted via the Internet with real end-users. Though no significant difference was found for some measures of quality, there was a significant improvement in the overall design of an application after an end-user received analysis and design training. This is important information for business managers because a well designed application is more likely to remain accurate and useful over time.
DISPOSITIONS, PRIMITIVE ACTIVITIES, AND ESSENTIALLY ACTIVE OBJECTS

The question of whether there could be a physical object that is necessarily constantly active has a long history, and it has recently arisen again in the literature on dispositions. I examine and critique two proposals for affirming the possibility of such an object. I then advocate a third option, one which is workable if paired with natural-kind essentialism. Finally I briefly outline three possible implications of this view for wider debates concerning the ontology of dispositions and natural kinds.
DNA Hypomethylation Contributes to Genomic Instability and Intestinal Cancer Initiation

Intestinal cancer is a heterogeneous disease driven by genetic mutations and epigenetic changes. Approximately 80% of sporadic colorectal cancers are initiated by mutation and inactivation of the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene, which results in unrestrained intestinal epithelial growth and formation of adenomas. Aberrant DNA methylation promotes cancer progression by the inactivation of tumor suppressor genes via promoter methylation. In addition, global DNA hypomethylation is often seen before the formation of adenomas, suggesting that it contributes to neoplastic transformation. Previous studies employed mice with a hypomorphic mutation in DNA methyltransferase 1 (Dnmt1), which exhibited constitutive global DNA hypomethylation and decreased tumorigenesis in the Apc(Min/+) mouse model of intestinal cancer. However, the consequences of intestinal epithelial-specific acute hypomethylation during Apc(Min/+) tumor initiation have not been reported. Using temporally controlled intestinal epithelial-specific gene ablation, we show that total loss of Dnmt1 in the Apc(Min/+) mouse model of intestinal cancer causes accelerated adenoma initiation. Deletion of Dnmt1 precipitates an acute response characterized by hypomethylation of repetitive elements and genomic instability, which surprisingly is followed by remethylation with time. Two months post-Dnmt1 ablation, mice display increased macroadenoma load, consistent with a role for Dnmt1 and DNA methylation in maintaining genomic stability. These data suggest that DNA hypomethylation plays a previously unappreciated role in intestinal adenoma initiation. Cancer Prev Res; 9(7); 534-46. ©2016 AACRSee related article by Lee and Laird, p. 509.
Comparison of Two Sampling Procedures for the Statistical Evaluation of the Performance of Atmospheric Dispersion Models in Estimating Centerline Concentration Values

Based on tests using sampling results from three tracer field studies of dispersion, it was ascertained that the criteria for selection of observed centerline concentration values needed to be restricted to the one to three values that are nearest to the computed center of mass and are within ±0.67σy. The redesigned bootstrap sampling provides sample averages of observed and modeled centerline concentration values from each group on each pass of the bootstrap sampling. This allows computation of any number of standard statistics for comparison measures, with the added benefit of being able to test whether differences seen are statistically significant. The redesigned bootstrap sampling procedure was tested using modeling results from three models for three tracer field studies. The NMSE statistic is seen to provide a robust assessment of which model’s values are nearest on average to that observed, and it is seen that other comparison measures are in reasonable accord with the conclusions one might reach based on the NMSE.
Effects of insoluble nano-particles on nanofluid droplet evaporation

Abstract A model is presented for predicting the evaporation behavior of liquid droplets containing nano-sized insoluble particles. The model is constructed based on, and supported by, the existing experimental result. Of particular interest are the evolution of droplet size, and evaporation rate constant prior to the shell formation (also called the first drying or evaporation stage), when the particles forms a compact shell at the droplet surface. As the droplet evaporation proceeds, increasingly more particles are “included” on its surface, reducing the effective liquid surface area for evaporation causing deviation from the classical d 2 -law for pure fluid droplet evaporation. Peclet number (Pe), a non-dimensional ratio of particle diffusion time to the droplet lifetime, and initial particle concentration ( Y vo ) are shown to play a role in the evaporation behavior prior to shell formation. The model predicts that: (1) the deviation from the classical d 2 -law is increasingly significant with increased Pe and Y vo ; (2) the time to shell formation decreases, and shell diameter increases, with increased Pe and initial particle concentration ( Y vo ). As a consequence, Y vo · Pe 1.8 is necessary for the first stage to exist at all. Within the limiting value, the combination of larger Pe and smaller Y vo produces larger hollow shells with low densities. For Y vo · Pe > 1.8 the shell forms instantly and evaporation occurs after liquid diffuses through, and wet, the shell. The effect of contact angle ( θ ) on the effective liquid surface area for evaporation is also discussed.
Biliary and urinary I131 excretion in euthyroid, hyper- and hypothyroid rats injected with labeled thyroxine.

SummaryBiliary and urinary excretion of radioiodine was studied following subcutaneous injection of tracer amounts of I131-labeled thyroxine in normal, hypo- and hyper-thyroid rats. Thyroidectomized and thiouracil-treated groups showed reduced biliary radioiodine elimination, as well as diminished bile volume during the 6-hour collection period. Hyperthyroid animals showed a marked increase, thiouracil-treated animals a decrease in urinary excretion of radioactive iodine over a 12-hour period. Radioiodine excretion in both bile and urine tended to be lower in the thiouracil-treated animals than in the thyroidectomized groups.
The significance of leaf detritus to mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) productivity from treeholes

Relationship between leaf detritus and productivity of Aedes triseriatus (Say) from beech treeholes was studied. Leaf mass in treeholes was positively correlated with area of treehole entrance. Leaf packs in treeholes lost ca. 69% of their mass during the summer season. In the first experiment lasting 18 wk, there was no difference in number of mosquitoes emerged, average individual mass, development time, or total mass of males or females from treeholes without leaves or treeholes with leaves. Individual mosquitoes were not generally smaller in size with increasing date of emergence. Inorganic nutrient (nitrite, nitrate, phosphate, sulfate, and ammonia) and dissolved organic carbon concentrations in treehole water varied seasonally with rainfall and other factors but did not differ between groups of treeholes with or without leaves. Bacterial concentrations in treehole water were higher in nine treeholes before than after a rainfall, ranging overall from 1.92 × 106 to 54.70 × 106 cells per ml. In a second experiment lasting about seven weeks, there was no difference in larval mass between treeholes with leaves and those without leaves. Behavioral observations showed that larvae filtered treehole water and browsed tree bark and leaves. Overall, our results suggest that leaves are probably only one of many food resources for mosquito larvae in treeholes; bacteria in treehole water may be more important as food than microbiota attached to leaves.
Numerical Model of a Dynamic Resonant Wall Shear Stress Sensor

A novel dynamic resonant wall shear stress sensor concept based on an oscillating sensor operating near resonance is investigated numerically. The interaction between the oscillating sensor surface and the ∞uid above it is modelled using the unsteady boundary layer equations. The simulations show that the oscillating shear stress on the sensor surface due to its motion lags the sensor’s motion and is responsible for the sensitivity of the sensor to shear stress. Over a wide range of conditions, the efiect of the oscillating shear stress is well correlated by the Hummer number, the ratio of the steady shear force caused by the outside ∞ow to the oscillating viscous force created by the sensor motion. The oscillating shear stress predicted by the ∞uid model is used in a mechanical model of the sensor to predict the sensor’s dynamic motion. The results of the mechanical model show that the additional shear force causes a reduction in the oscillation amplitude, and the reduction monotonically increases. A static calibration curve is predicted that indicates that the sensor’s amplitude decreases non-linearly with increasing shear stress. These results agree qualitatively with experimental results, and thus the model provides a rigorous basis upon which further development of the dynamic resonant sensor can be pursued.
OUTCOMES WITH USE OF THE RETROGRADE APPROACH FOR CORONARY CHRONIC TOTAL OCCLUSION INTERVENTIONS IN A CONTEMPORARY MULTICENTER US REGISTRY

We sought to examine the efficacy and safety of chronic total occlusion (CTO) percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) using the retrograde approach. We compared the outcomes of the retrograde vs. antegrade only approach to CTO PCI among 1,301 procedures performed at 11 US centers between 2012 and
Enhancement of fibronectin expression in rat lung by ozone and an inflammatory stimulus.

This study investigated the relationship of fibronectin expression and induction of pulmonary inflammation by ozone (O3). Rats were exposed to 0.8 parts/million O3 to induce lung inflammation. A se...
Musculoskeletal symptoms and associated risk factors among African hair braiders

African hair braiders are potentially subject to work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) because they perform repetitive hand motions for many hours a day together with prolonged standing and/or prolonged sitting. A complete enumeration of African hair braiders was attempted in Oklahoma City (OKC) and Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW). Braiders were identified through the channels they typically use to offer services to clients. Potential risk factors and symptoms of WMSDs were assessed using an oral interview. Participation rates were 95% (18/19) in OKC and 83% (83/101) in DFW. More than 75% of braiders reported discomfort in the fingers, wrist/hand, upper back, and lower back. In multivariate analysis, years worked as a braider but not age was a significant risk factor (p < 0.005) for reported pain in the wrist/hand, time spent sitting during the work day was found to be a significant predictor (p < 0.05) of upper back pain and lower back pain, and time spent sitting and time spent standing during the work day were both significant predictors (p < 0.05) of shoulder pain. Braiders in OKC, where licensing requirements were stricter, were significantly more likely than braiders in DFW to work at home (67% vs. 4%, p < 0.001) and to report pain in the lower leg (p < 0.005) and ankle/foot (p < 0.05). The close-knit nature of the African hair braiding community makes it an appealing candidate for community-based participatory research aimed at further elucidating occupational health concerns and reducing risk.
Cardiac preservation. Current methods.

Summary Cardiac storage at this time is possible for a few days in experimental studies but only a few hours in the clinical setting. The principles of maintainance of a patent vascular tree, reduction of metabolism, adequate provision of nutrients, and removal of toxic products have been utilized in a variety of patterns. The best results have been obtained by perfusion in an interim host, which has been only partially mimicked by mechanical systems of incomplete biological systems such as the heartlung preparation. Hypothermia, hyperbaria, and metabolic inhibitors all appear to have a minor and perhaps additive role. Unfortunately, freezing, the method of greatest potential, has been the most resistant to successful experimental study.
Immunochromatography of fusarochromanone mycotoxins.

The present paper describes an enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) used in combination with thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and liquid chromatography (LC) for determination of fusarochromanone (TDP) mycotoxins in barley, wheat, and a Fusarium culture grown in rice and corn. The mycotoxins were first extracted from the sample with 100% methanol and subjected to TLC or LC without additional cleanup treatment. Individual fractions eluted from TLC or LC were acetylated, then analyzed by ELISA. Determinations of TDP toxins at levels as low as 0.1 and 0.5 ng were achieved by ELISA in combination with LC and TLC, respectively. The detection limit for TDP-1 in barley and wheat was about 20 ppb by ELISA alone as compared with a detection limit of 5 ppb by a combination of ELISA with either TLC or LC. Overall analytical recovery (% of added) of TDP-1 added to barley and wheat at 5, 10, and 20 ppb of TDP-1 was 106.9 +/- 15.3 and 113.2 +/- 11.6 by LC-ELISA and 108.8 +/- 9.1 and 110.4 +/- 4.9 by TLC-ELISA, respectively. Analysis of extracts obtained from Fusarium equiseti R6137 grown in corn and rice by the combination of TLC and ELISA revealed that diacetyl-TDP was also produced by this fungus in addition to TDP-1 and TDP-2. Comparable results were obtained when fungal extracts were subjected to ELISA, LC, and immunochromatography (i.e., combination of ELISA with either TLC or LC).
Oppositional Discourses, Unnatural Practices: Gravity's History and "The '60s"

Re-reading Gravity's Rainbow today, it is possible to see from a critical distance how much it is a product of its particular historical situation. Pynchon's text is a novel of "The '60s"--not only because it is about that now mythic period, but because it is demonstrably of it as well. Specifically, many of the text's obsessive concerns--with "the War," with propaganda and psychological manipulation, with genocide and the treatment of racial/ethnic subcultures, and with the paranoiac entity called "The Firm" or "The System"--are concerns that reproduce in displaced forms the anxieties of an America At War both at home and abroad, caught up in the traumatic cultural upheavals of what we now nostalgically call "The '60s." It might seem excessively culturally deterministic to insist that the structure of the text, with its strange, destabilizing shifts in modes of cultural/textual production so blatantly at odds with each other, recapitulates the historical conditions of the period. But to say that the chaotic clash and clatter of competing codes that intersect in "the Zone" of the text reproduces the similarly dispersed array of forms-in-conflict that traversed the cultural field during the period of its production is not only defensible but, once brought into focus, almost self-evident. The text, like the decade it reproduces, is a conflictual site in which disparate discourses struggle to be heard against the general cacophony of languages that is the social text; and Gravity's Rainbow can most productively be examined, not as a fixed, static, and iconic text, but as a linguistic arena of contestation in which is enacted in dramatic form the battle against hegemony that V. N. Volosinov calls "the struggle for the sign."
Patients > or = age 40 years undergoing autologous or allogeneic BMT have regimen-related mortality rates and event-free survivals comparable to patients < age 40 years.

To evaluate the safety and efficacy of marrow transplantation for older adults, the regimen-related mortality and event-free survival for patients > or = 40 years were compared with those for patients or = 40 years at the time of transplant, including 40 who were > or = 50 years and 12 who were > or = 60 years. Eleven patients (16%) in the younger age group died from transplant-related complications compared with 4 (5%) in the older age group. The 4-year actuarial event-free survivals (EFS) for the younger and older age groups were 43% and 48%, respectively. After adjustment for covariates with prognostic significance, older age was marginally associated with improved event-free survival (P = 0.08). Of 92 consecutive patients undergoing allogeneic BMT during the same period, 62 patients were or = 40 years, including 8 patients > or = 50 years, and 1 patient > 60 years. Non-relapse mortality (including deaths from GVHD) occurred in 28 of the younger patients (45%) and 9 of the older patients (30%). The 3-year actuarial EFS for the younger patients was 26% vs. 56% for the patients > or = 40 years (P = 0.057). However, this difference was mainly due to the higher proportion of patients with CML and early-stage leukemia in the older age group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Get the Diagnosis: an evidence-based medicine collaborative Wiki for diagnostic test accuracy

Background Despite widespread calls for its use, there are challenges to the implementation of evidence-based medicine (EBM) in clinical practice. Methods In response to the challenges of finding timely, pertinent information on diagnostic test accuracy, we developed an online, crowd-sourced Wiki on diagnostic test accuracy called Get the Diagnosis (GTD, http://www.getthediagnosis.org). Results Since its launch in November 2008 till October 2015, GTD has accumulated information on 300 diagnoses, with 1617 total diagnostic entries. There are a total of 1097 unique diagnostic tests with a mean of 5.4 tests (range 0–38) per diagnosis. 73% of entries (1182 of 1617) have an associated sensitivity and specificity and 89% of entries (1432 of 1617) have associated peer-reviewed literature citations. Altogether, GTD contains 474 unique literature citations. For a sample of three diagnoses, the search precision (percentage of relevant results in the first 30 entries) in GTD was 100% as compared with a range of 13.3%–63.3% for PubMed and between 6.7% and 76.7% for Google Scholar. Conclusion GTD offers a fast, precise and efficient way to look up diagnostic test accuracy. On three selected examples, GTD had a greater precision rate compared with PubMed and Google Scholar in identifying diagnostic test information. GTD is a free resource that complements other currently available resources.
Dielectric dispersion in myoglobin solution

Myoglobin, the red pigment of muscle tissue, exhibits in aqueous solution two major regions of dielectric dispersion [1-3]. Between these a much smaller dispersion has been inferred to exist [3,9]. The three, denoted β,δ,γ, are considered to arise from reorientation of protein, bound water, and solvent water respectively [1]. Herein are described further efforts to characterize the δ dispersion and to choose an appropriate model to represent the experimental results.
Review of Demography and Evolutionary Ecology of Hadza Hunter-Gatherers by Nicholas Blurton Jones : (Cambridge University Press, 2016).

Review of Demography and Evolutionary Ecology of Hadza Hunter-Gatherers by Nicholas Blurton Jones Monique Borgerhoff Mulder Human Nature An Interdisciplinary Biosocial Perspective ISSN 1045-6767 Volume 28 Number 1 Hum Nat (2017) 28:117-127 DOI 10.1007/s12110-016-9280-9
Defect chemistry of SrBi2Ta2O9 and ferroelectric fatigue endurance

The defect chemistry and charge transport properties of doped and undoped SrBi2Ta2O9 (SBT) were studied by making 4-point dc equilibrium electrical conductivity, thermopower, ionic transport number, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements. Results of high temperature equilibrium dc conductivity, thermoelectric power, and transport number measurements as a function of oxygen activity in the temperature range 650–725°C revealed that undoped SBT displays a broad centrally located plateau of ionic conductivity with an activation energy of mobility of 0.94 eV and a prominent upturn at high oxygen activity, caused by p-type conductivity. The effects of acceptor and donor dopants are consistent with a 1–2% net acceptor excess in the undoped compound. It has been observed that there is substantial (several percent) cation place exchange between the Sr2+ and Bi3+ in SBT. It is proposed that the net acceptor excess in undoped SBT consists of disordered Sr2+ substituting for Bi3+ in the fluorite-like bismuth oxide layers which are locally compensated by oxygen vacancies. The formation of the net donor excess by disordered Bi3+ substituting for Sr2+ in the perovskite-like layers does not manifest itself as n-type conductivity behavior, because the band gap is large and the mobility is highly thermally activated. The superior intrinsic ferroelectric fatigue endurance of SBT is attributed to the lack of mobile charged defects in the perovkite-like layers which create the ferroelectric response of the compound. The metallic bismuth presence on the surface of undoped SBT, as revealed by qualitative XPS measurements, is believed to result from long exposure to the highly reducing conditions in the XPS system.
Reversible Permeabilization of Cell Membranes via Lysenin Channels

The selective nature of the cell-membrane hinders the permeability of drugs, fluorescent probes, and other macromolecules into living cells. To introduce foreign molecules as well as preserve cell viability, reversible permeabilization of the cell membrane is required. To achieve this aim, several techniques have been proposed including microinjection, electroporation, optoporation, and lipophilic and peptide carriers. These methods are either highly invasive, inefficient, limited to single-cell, require sophisticated instruments, or need tedious conjugation process. Therefore, we proposed a simple yet efficient method of controlled transport of exogenous molecules into viable cells using the pore-forming toxin lysenin. Lysenin inserts a large conducting pathway into the lipid bilayer membrane containing sphingomyelin, hence allowing cell-impermeable molecules to cross the membrane barrier. In addition, the lysenin pore is irreversibly blocked by biologically inert chitosan molecules. In this way, the lysenin-induced pore formation and the activity act as a nano-valve. In our work, we temporarily permeabilized mammalian cells ATDC5 with lysenin channels and loaded the membrane-impermeable fluorescent dye propidium iodide. The process was blocked by the addition of chitosan and the viability of the cells was assessed by using viable-cell indicators. Similarly, we employed lysenin channels to introduce the cell-impermeant actin marker phalloidin into the cells. These results indicate that lysenin channel can be used as a simple and efficient tool to deliver bioactive molecules into living cells.
Macrocycle based hydroxamate chelators for stable complexation of 89Zr

276 Objectives 89Zr is among the frontrunners of radionuclides utilized for ImmunoPET applications due to its suitable half life and emission characteristics. Incorporation of 89Zr onto monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) has to be carried out under especially mild conditions, yielding a highly kinetically inert radiolabeled conjugate. Bifunctional desferrioxamine (DFO) remains the gold standard for this purpose, but has been shown to release 89Zr over time, leading to persistent bone uptake.(ref 1) We aimed to design and test novel 89Zr complexes with increased kinetic inertness when compared with 89Zr(DFO). Methods We hypothesized that preorganization of the chelator would allow for higher kinetic inertness and result in less 89Zr release over time. We synthesized 4 novel macrocyclic polyamines bearing hydroxamate arms of variable lengths and number, using the macrocycles to provide a greater degree of preorganization then linear DFO. We evaluated the corresponding 89Zr-complexes for their FMO-gap using molecular modeling, radiolabeling properties, inertness to 50mM EDTA, DTPA and rat plasma (1h, 24h, 48h, 72h). Based on our results obtained with the non-funcitonalized ligands L1-L4, we synthesized two bifunctional versions of L4. Both bifunctionals were conjugated to the antibody trastuzumab and compared for their distribution to DFO-trastuzumab in mice bearing xenografts of HER2+ and HER2- human breast cancer. Results One of the chelators, L4, labeled 89Zr in 30 minutes at room temperature quantitatively and was fully kinetically inert in all challenge experiments. The inertness of 89ZrL4 to transchelation in rat plasma was found to be greater then 89ZrDFO at all investigated timepoints. We synthesized bifunctional versions of L4 and conjugated them to trastuzumab. Evaluation of the antibody conjugates is ongoing. Conclusions Preorganization of the coordinating hydroxamates improves complex inertness. However, a certain degree of flexibility of the coordinating arms must be retained to allow for the rapid complexation under mild conditions, consistent with conditions required to maintain the integrity of mAbs.
Response to pembrolizumab in patients with mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

714Background: Mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) colorectal cancer (CRC) has been shown to be responsive to blockade with anti-programmed death-1 (PD-1) antibodies. We describe a cohort of 17 patients with dMMR mCRC receiving treatment with pembrolizumab. Methods: Patients were identified through review of the Mayo Clinic electronic medical record (EMR) and chemotherapy administration records from May 2015 through September 2016. All patients with dMMR mCRC who received treatment with pembrolizumab were included. The EMR was reviewed to identify demographic, clinical, pathologic and treatment details. Overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS) and disease control rate (DCR=CR+PR+SD) are reported. Time to event analysis was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: A total of 17 patients were included in this analysis; median age at diagnosis was 48.5 years (range 25-93); 59% were female. Most primary tumors were right sided (n=12; 71%), 4 (24%) were left sided and 1 (5%) was a tumor of...
Charge Trapping versus Exciton Delocalization in CdSe Quantum Dots

The spectroscopic and photophysical similarities and differences between charge trapping by surface ligands on CdSe quantum dots and charge delocalization into the shell in excited CdSe core/shell nanocrystals are discussed. Optical absorption and resonance Raman spectroscopies are used to study small CdSe quantum dots coated with organic ligands that accept electrons (methyl viologen) or holes (phenothiazine, 4-methylbenzenethiol), as well as with semiconductor shells that delocalize electrons (CdS) or holes (CdTe). The organic ligands have only a small effect on the optical absorption spectrum and contribute negligibly to the resonance Raman spectra, indicating little participation of ligand orbitals in the initial excitation. The semiconductor shells more strongly red-shift the absorption spectrum by delocalizing the electron and/or hole into the shell, and vibrations of the shell appear in the resonance Raman spectrum, showing that the shell is involved in the vertical excitation. The qualitative diff...
Knowledge Graphs for Social Good: An Entity-centric Search Engine for the Human Trafficking Domain

Web advertising related to Human Trafficking (HT) activity has been on the rise in recent years. Answering entity-centric questions over crawled HT Web corpora to assist investigators in the real world is an important social problem, involving many technical challenges. This paper describes a recent entity-centric knowledge graph effort that resulted in a semantic search engine to assist analysts and investigative experts in the HT domain. The overall approach takes as input a large corpus of advertisements crawled from the Web, structures it into an indexed knowledge graph, and enables investigators to satisfy their information needs by posing investigative search queries to a special-purpose semantic execution engine. We evaluated the search engine on real-world data collected from over 90,000 webpages, a significant fraction of which correlates with HT activity. Performance on four relevant categories of questions on a mean average precision metric were found to be promising, outperforming a learning-to-rank approach on three of the four categories. The prototype uses open-source components and scales to terabyte-scale corpora. Principles of the prototype have also been independently replicated, with similarly successful results.
Distributed inference-based multi-robot exploration

This work proposes a technique for distributed multi-robot exploration that leverages novel methods of map inference. The inference technique uses observed map structure to infer unobserved map features. The team then coordinates to explore both the inferred and observed portions of the map. Individual robots select exploration poses by accounting for expected information gain and travel costs. Disputes are settled using local auctions of expected travel costs. The benefits of inference-informed exploration are demonstrated in both simulated explorations and hardware trials. The proposed technique is compared against frontier and information-based exploration approaches with varying numbers of agents and communication strengths. Map inference is evaluated using publicly available sensor datasets. The proposed inference technique improves the correctly estimated subset of the environment by an average of 34.47% (maximum 108.28%) with a mean accuracy of 95.1%. This leads to a 13.15% reduction in the cumulative exploration path length in the trials conducted.
Reciprocity and the Evolution of the Market

The graphic of the CSN model, its descriptive algorithms, and the equation of our social brain represent a dynamically reciprocal neural architecture. Our social brain is structured for give and take—for social exchange. In this chapter I show how the market evolved from this dynamic.
Computer Graphics Companion

This is a volume of articles spanning a wide range of topics in computer graphics: the basics of graphics software and hardware; entertainment topics, including movies and animation; and mathematics, science and engineering topics including scientific visualization, medical applications, and computer-aided design, engineering and manufacturing. The book includes a set of profiles written by computer graphics professionals that gives a personal look at the background it takes to work in the field, as well as some of the actual applications of concepts discussed in the technical articles. These professionals are working in scientific visualization, location-based entertainment, animation, knowledge transfer, rendering, graphics hardware and the arts. An extensive list of websites for graphics organizations, demonstration software and graphics hardware and software vendors is also included.
THEORY OF THE ANOMALOUS MÖSSBAUER FRACTION OF FERRITIN

ABSTRACT Mossbauer studies on the antiferromagnetic biological molecule FERRITIN and its proven synthetic counterpart polysaccharide iron complex (P.I.C.) have revealed an anomalous drop in the f-factor (also referred to as the “Mossbauer fraction”) as the temperature rises above 30K for mammalian ferritin and 60K for P.I.C. There is a coincident initial disappearance of the hyperfine splitting above around the same temperatures as a result of superparamagnetic relaxation. Data treated with FFT procedures to eliminate the thickness effect still exhibit this anomaly. We have investigated the effect of superparamagnetic relaxation on the f-factor. Spinlattice relaxation was excluded based upon a calculation of the rate of energy transfer from the spin system to the lattice. We have found the following process as a plausible explanation of the anomaly: Superparamagnetic switching above 60K for P.I.C. and 30K for ferritin brings about a dynamical displacement of the Mossbauer nucleus through magnetostriction. These displacements in turn produce a Doppler broadening of the Mossbauer spectrum that effectively reduces the apparent f-factor. The temperature dependence of the theoretically calculated f-factor agrees qualitatively with experiment. Finally, there is semi-quantitative agreement if the as yet unknown dimensionless magnetostriction constant were to be on the order of 10−3.
2018 AFHVS presidential address

In this address I discuss agricultural plastic use and plastic pollution mitigation strategies. I focus on agricultural plastic mulches, which offer many benefits to farmers, such as weed control, better moisture retention, and increased yield. The removal and disposal of widely used polyethylene (PE) plastic mulch, however, have detrimental environmental and health impacts. Are biodegradable plastic mulches a promising alternative? Biodegradable plastic mulches ideally offer the same benefits as PE plastic mulch, but biodegrade in soil or composting environments. I describe social science research findings from a large USDA-funded project focused on the performance and adoptability of biodegradable plastic mulches for U.S. specialty crop production. I also provide agrifood scholars with ideas for future research on plastics.
In situ transmission electron microscopy observations of rechargeable lithium ion batteries

Abstract Rechargeable Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are commonly used power source in everyday electrical devices. Understanding the real-time atomistic evolution of the electrodes in a LIB is indispensable since the performance of a LIB is governed by electrochemical reactions and possible mechanical degradation of the electrodes during the operation of a battery. With advances in high resolution transmission electron microscopy and microfabrication techniques, it has been possible to investigate the evolution of solid electrolyte interphase, electrolyte decomposition, and the response of the electrode upon lithiation-delithiation at the atomic scale. This article provides a comprehensive review of the current understanding of lithiation-delithiation mechanisms in LIBs.
AN UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCE OF BARIATRIC SURGERY: CARDIAC OXALOSIS

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction can present with clinical and imaging findings suggestive of an infiltrative cardiomyopathy. In some cases, endomyocardial biopsy is required for definitive diagnosis. A 64 year old male with a history of bariatric surgery with jejunoileal bypass,
How end-user programmers debug visual web-based programs: An information foraging theory perspective

Abstract Web-active end-user programmers squander much of their time foraging for bugs and related information in mashup programming environments as well as on the web. To analyze this foraging behavior while debugging, we utilize an Information Foraging Theory perspective. Information Foraging Theory models the human (predator) behavior to forage for specific information (prey) in the webpages or programming IDEs (patches) by following the information features (cues) in the environment. We qualitatively studied the debugging behavior of 16 web-active end users. Our results show that end-user programmers spend substantial amounts (73%) of their time just foraging. Further, our study reveals new cue types and foraging strategies framed in terms of Information Foraging Theory, and it uncovers which of these helped end-user programmers succeed in their debugging efforts.
From strange attractors to real-world data : Evaluating a bedform model by measuring the distance between state-space plots

A new nonlinear data-analysis technique compares the typical sequences in different time or spatial series. The method quantitatively compares delay-coordinate embedded state-space plots by treating them plots as probability distributions. Thus its application is not limited to data generated by deterministic systems, and does not require knowledge of a system's dimension. In a preliminary application, comparing state-space plots of natural and model-generated eolian ripples suggests that the interactions in them have similarities with those in nature, and that this method can be of use as an additional model evaluation tool.