cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Crisis Management and Ethics: Moving Beyond the Public-Relations-Person-as-Corporate-Conscience Construct

Over the past 40 years, scholars and practitioners of public relations have often cast public relations workers in the role of the public relations-person-as-corporate-conscience (PRPaCC). This work, however, maintains that this construct is so problematic that invoking it is of negligible use in addressing ethical issues that emerge during a crisis. In fact, a complex crisis, such as the Jahi McMath “brain death” case at Children’s Hospital Oakland (CHO, now UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland), demonstrates the need to abandon the PRPaCC construct to better engage affected stakeholders, including “outsiders” to the organization, who often determine whether an organization is facing a crisis. Through an examination of both the concept of the PRPaCC and the McMath crisis, this work makes the case for moving beyond the PRPaCC construct in favor of a more modest role for the public relations person: facilitating widespread ethical deliberation and discussion throughout an organization, potentially help...
Growth and characterization of aligned carbon nanotubes from patterned nickel nanodots and uniform thin films

Microstructures of well-aligned multiwall carbon nanotubes grown on patterned nickel nanodots and uniform thin films by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition have been studied by electron microscopy. It was found that growth of carbon nanotubes on patterned nickel nanodots and uniform thin films is different. During growth of carbon nanotubes, a nickel particle sits at the tip of each nanotube, and its [220] is preferentially oriented along the plasma direction, which can be explained by a channeling effect of ions coming into nickel particles in plasma. The alignment of nanotubes is induced by the electrical field direction relative to substrate surface.
Prosodic faithfulness to foot edges: the case of Turkish stress*

This paper presents a novel approach to capturing exceptional stress that relies on prespecification of foot edges in the input. Focusing on Turkish, this approach accounts for both regular and exceptional stress in a unified manner and within a single grammar, and unlike other approaches, does not overpredict. On this account, Turkish is a footless, but trochaic, language. Both regular and exceptional Turkish morphemes are subject to the same constraint ranking; exceptional morphemes are different only in that they have one or more syllables already footed in the input, although the type of foot (e.g. trochaicity, binarity) is determined by the constraints of the grammar. As regular morphemes vacuously satisfy these constraints (which act on the foot), trochees appear on the surface only if there is an input foot available (i.e. in words with exceptional morphemes), since the grammar itself has no apparatus to parse syllables into feet.
Assay and Properties of Serum Inhibitor of C'1-Esterase

Discussion and SummaryAn assay is described for measurement of a serum inhibitor of an esterase derived from preparations of the first component of complement (C'1-esterase). Esterolysis of N-acetyl-L-tyrosine ethyl ester by C'1-esterase is inhibited instantaneously and stoichiometrically by fresh human serum. Units of C'1-esterase and of serum inhibitor are defined. The inhibitor in human serum is stable at 45 for at least 4 months, at 37° for at least 24 hr. and at 48° for at least 30 min. It is completely inactivated during 30 min. incubation at 60° and is labile at 0° at pH values below 6. The inhibitor is inactivated at —5 in the presence of methanol concentrations of 15° or greater but is recovered quantitatively in a 40° ammonium sulfate supernatant fraction. These data are being applied to purification of the inhibitor from human serum. Purification procedures and properties of the purified inhibitor will be reported elsewhere.Monkey and guinea pig sera inhibit human C'1-esterase to about the same...
LIVER CELL DAMAGE PRODUCED BY PORTACAVAL SHUNTS.

SummaryDiversion of the portal blood flow from the liver in rats by construction of end-to-side portacaval shunts increased DNA synthesis in hepatocytes, presumably as a response to liver cell damage. Electron microscopically increased variability in staining and electron density, cytoplasmic vacuoles and mitochondrial changes were noted. The liver cell damage associated with diversion of the portal flow may account in part for some of the undesirable side effects associated with portacaval shunts in man.
Reiter's Syndrome

When a young man complains of urethritis, conjunctivitis or arthritis, the physician should suspect Reiter's syndrome. About three-fourths of patients will have urethritis first, but other symptoms usually crop up within one to five weeks. Gonorrhea, especially when it precipitates an attack of rheumatoid arthritis, may be difficult to tell from Reiter's syndrome.
Adenosine deaminase of cultured brain cells

Two types of adenosine deaminase (EC 3.5.4.4) were found in cultured cells of central-nervous-system origin. The predominant and more active enzyme was obtained in soluble form from the cytosol of mouse neuroblastoma (N-18), neonatal hamster astrocytes (NN), human oligodendroglioma (HOL) and human astrocytoma (Cox Clone). Particulate adenosine deaminase was probably associated with the plasma membrane. When radioactive adenosine was added to superfusates of monolayer cultures it was rapidly converted into inosine and hypoxanthine. The metabolic conversion required adenosine uptake by the cells, a probable transition through the intracellular ATP pool(s) and a rapid excretion into the superfusate of the catabolic products. We discuss the evidence that points to adenosine and its derivatives as neurohumoral modulators of central-nervous-system function.
Physician Characteristics Influence Referral to End-of-Life Care

Because physicians are the gatekeepers to end-of-life care services and their referral patterns vary, those patterns are worthy targets for intervention.
A Technical Evaluation of Wireless Connectivity from Patient Monitors to an Anesthesia Information Management System During Intensive Care Unit Surgery

Surgical procedures performed at the bedside in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia were documented using paper anesthesia records in contrast to the operating rooms, where an anesthesia information management system (AIMS) was used for all cases. This was largely because of logistical problems related to connecting cables between the bedside monitors and our portable AIMS workstations. We implemented an AIMS for documentation in the NICU using wireless adapters to transmit data from bedside monitoring equipment to a portable AIMS workstation. Testing of the wireless AIMS during simulation in the presence of an electrosurgical generator showed no evidence of interference with data transmission. Thirty NICU surgical procedures were documented via the wireless AIMS. Two wireless cases exhibited brief periods of data loss; one case had an extended data gap because of adapter power failure. In comparison, in a control group of 30 surgical cases in which wired connections were used, there were no data gaps. The wireless AIMS provided a simple, unobtrusive, portable alternative to paper records for documenting anesthesia records during NICU bedside procedures.
A new basal chaeomysticete (Mammalia: Cetacea) from the Late Oligocene Pysht Formation of Washington, USA

Modern baleen-bearing mysticetes are descendant from archaic, toothed mysticetes known from the Late Eocene and Oligocene of the Pacific Ocean. These toothed mysticetes, such as aetiocetids and mammalodontids, dominate the Oligocene fossil record. However, larger bodied eomysticetids have recently been described from the Oligocene of the Pacific and western Atlantic. These eomysticetids lack functional teeth as adults and are thus considered to be the earliest members of Chaeomysticeti. A new fossil from the Olympic Peninsula, Washington State, including a partial skull, tympanic bullae, mandibles and postcrania, is here described as Sitsqwayk cornishorum gen. et sp. nov. S. cornishorum is a Late Oligocene mysticete lacking functional teeth and is the most phylogenetically basal chaeomysticete. Accordingly, S. cornishorum exhibits a mosaic of aetiocetid and eomysticetid characteristics. The presence of S. cornishorum in the North Pacific, and its phylogenetic position relative to the eomysticetids from the Southern Ocean, suggests a possible a North Pacific point of origin for Chaeomysticeti.
The World of Viruses

Virology is the study of viruses. The first viruses were discovered in 1898 and were identified by their ability to pass through filters that were too small to allow the passage of bacteria. Since that time, scientists have been studying viruses to better understand how to prevent epidemics and pandemics, and research on viruses has revealed an abundance of information on how living systems work. Viruses are the most abundant biological entities on Earth and infect all living things, and yet they are not considered to be alive. They share several characteristics with living organisms, but are unable to reproduce independently and maintain metabolic activities. In addition, they do not undergo cell division, like living organisms do, but assemble newly made components from scratch after gaining entry into a cell and its machinery. Viruses appeared around the same time that life began on Earth, but their origin is a much debated issue. The precellular hypothesis proposes that viruses existed before or alongside cells, whereas the escape hypothesis suggests that viruses were once components of living cells. The regressive hypothesis proposes that viruses were once living intracellular parasites that lost their ability to reproduce independently.
A Survey of High Order Schemes for the Shallow Water Equations

In this paper, we survey our recent work on designing high order positivity- preserving well-balanced finite difference and finite volume WENO (weighted essen- tially non-oscillatory) schemes, and discontinuous Galerkin finite element schemes for solving the shallow water equations with a non-flat bottom topography. These schemes are genuinely high order accurate in smooth regions for general solutions, are essentially non-oscillatory for general solutions with discontinuities, and at the same time they preserve exactly the water at rest or the more general moving water steady state solutions. A simple positivity-preserving limiter, valid under suitable CFL condi- tion, has been introduced in one dimension and reformulated to two dimensions with triangular meshes, and we prove that the resulting schemes guarantee the positivity of the water depth.
Predictive Scheduling Framework for Electric Vehicles With Uncertainties of User Behaviors

The randomness of user behaviors plays a significant role in electric vehicle (EV) scheduling problems, especially when the power supply for EV supply equipment (EVSE) is limited. Existing EV scheduling methods do not consider this limitation and assume charging session parameters, such as stay duration and energy demand values, are perfectly known, which is not realistic in practice. In this paper, based on real-world implementations of networked EVSEs on University of California at Los Angeles campus, we developed a predictive scheduling framework, including a predictive control paradigm and a kernel-based session parameter estimator. Specifically, the scheduling service periodically computes for cost-efficient solutions, considering the predicted session parameters, by the adaptive kernel-based estimator with improved estimation accuracies. We also consider the power sharing strategy of existing EVSEs and formulate the virtual load constraint to handle the future EV arrivals with unexpected energy demand. To validate the proposed framework, 20-fold cross validation is performed on the historical dataset of charging behaviors for over one-year period. The simulation results demonstrate that average unit energy cost per kWh can be reduced by 29.42% with the proposed scheduling framework and 66.71% by further integrating solar generations with the given capacity, after the initial infrastructure investment. The effectiveness of kernel-based estimator, virtual load constraint, and event-based control scheme are also discussed in detail.
Circulating levels of endocannabinoids respond acutely to voluntary exercise, are altered in mice selectively bred for high voluntary wheel running, and differ between the sexes.

Abstract The endocannabinoid system serves many physiological roles, including in the regulation of energy balance, food reward, and voluntary locomotion. Signaling at the cannabinoid type 1 receptor has been specifically implicated in motivation for rodent voluntary exercise on wheels. We studied four replicate lines of high runner (HR) mice that have been selectively bred for 81 generations based on average number of wheel revolutions on days five and six of a six-day period of wheel access. Four additional replicate lines are bred without regard to wheel running, and serve as controls (C) for random genetic effects that may cause divergence among lines. On average, mice from HR lines voluntarily run on wheels three times more than C mice on a daily basis. We tested the general hypothesis that circulating levels of endocannabinoids (i.e., 2-arachidonoylglycerol [2-AG] and anandamide [AEA]) differ between HR and C mice in a sex-specific manner. Fifty male and 50 female mice were allowed access to wheels for six days, while another 50 males and 50 females were kept without access to wheels (half HR, half C for all groups). Blood was collected by cardiac puncture during the time of peak running on the sixth night of wheel access or no wheel access, and later analyzed for 2-AG and AEA content by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. We observed a significant three-way interaction among sex, linetype, and wheel access for 2-AG concentrations, with females generally having lower levels than males and wheel access lowering 2-AG levels in some but not all subgroups. The number of wheel revolutions in the minutes or hours immediately prior to sampling did not quantitatively predict plasma 2-AG levels within groups. We also observed a trend for a linetype-by-wheel access interaction for AEA levels, with wheel access lowering plasma concentrations of AEA in HR mice, while raising them in C mice. In addition, females tended to have higher AEA concentrations than males. For mice housed with wheels, the amount of running during the 30 min before sampling was a significant positive predictor of plasma AEA within groups, and HR mice had significantly lower levels of AEA than C mice. Our results suggest that voluntary exercise alters circulating levels of endocannabinoids, and further demonstrate that selective breeding for voluntary exercise is associated with evolutionary changes in the endocannabinoid system.
A Rational Approach to Tumor Imaging in the Abdomen

A wide array of imaging studies is now available for the detection, characterization and staging of known and suspected intra-abdominal neoplasms. Imaging studies are also invaluable for monitoring tumor response to various treatments. Both radiologists and referring clinicians often face the dilemma of determining the best imaging approach towards establishing a specific diagnosis given a set of clinical findings. With the increasing availability of a wide variety of imaging technologies, there is often a tendency to perform a large number of examinations before drawing a conclusion. This “shotgun” approach not only subjects the individual patient to unnecessary discomfort and risk, but also is not tolerated in the new, cost-conscious health care environment.
The Gift That Keeps on Giving

A 61 year-old female with history of genital herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection; immunosuppressive treatment for myasthenia gravis and hypogammaglobulinemia complained of back pain that was followed by lower extremity weakness and difficulty urinating. She was found to have transverse myelitis based on MRI imaging of spine.
Technology in Traditional Continuing Education

Despite numerous attempts and projects, television, videotapes, and even film have not drastically changed the traditional methods physicians have used for the past thirty years for continuing education.2 Reading, lectures, and discussions with colleagues remain the most popular forms of lifelong learning. In a 1968 survey of Utah physicians designed to assist with educational needs, C. Hilmon Castle found that television, radio, audiotapes, and records occupied less than 15 per cent of the hours spent by physicians in continuing education.3 For the most part, these media have been used to bring lectures and panel discussions to the physician’s home or office. Technology to date has thus used traditional classroom approaches.
Tourism and ethnicity: The brotherhood of coconuts

Abstract This paper relates the impact of tourism development in the coastal area of Malindi, Kenya, to the stimulation and negotiation of ethnic conflict within the host community. The thesis is that tourism acts as a catalyst for the re-interpretation of identity among members of the local community who depend on or are otherwise affected by the industry and its many businesses. One implication is that the observed inter-ethnic relationships within this community should be understood as having been mitigated by tourism. A further implication is that the tourist contact may result in unforeseen outcomes that may or may not favor further tourism development.
Sol-gel synthesis and gas adsorption properties of CuCl modified mesoporous alumina

Cuprous chloride (CuCl) modified unsupported γ-alumina membranes and adsorbent granules were synthesized by sol-gel processing followed by wet-impregnation of CuCl. The CuCl coated γ-alumina remains mesoporous with a uniform pore size distribution and a large surface area. The mesoporous alumina granules, prepared by a sol-gel oil-drop process, exhibit excellent mechanical strength and attrition resistance. The CuCl modified γ-alumina preferentially adsorbs ethylene and carbon monoxide, with a saturated adsorption capacity of 0.67 and 0.78 mmol/g, respectively. Both equilibrium capacity and kinetic rate for adsorption of ethylene and carbon monoxide on the CuCl modified γ-alumina are much larger than those for ethane and carbon dioxide. These results indicate the potential use of the sol-gel derived CuCl modified γ-alumina for separation of ethylene or carbon monoxide from its gas mixture containing ethane or carbon dioxide.
Prenatal and early life exposures to ambient air pollution and development

Abstract Background Residential proximity to major roadways, and prenatal exposures to particulate matter 2.5 ) and ozone (O 3 ) are linked to poor fetal outcomes but their relationship with childhood development is unclear. Objectives We investigated whether proximity to major roadways, or prenatal and early-life exposures to PM 2.5 and O 3 increase the risk of early developmental delays. Study design Prospective cohort. Settings New York State excluding New York City. Participants 4089 singletons and 1016 twins born between 2008 and 2010. Exposures Proximity to major roadway was calculated using road network data from the NY Department of Transportation. Concentrations of PM 2.5 and O 3 estimated by the Environmental Protection Agency Downscaler models were spatiotemporally linked to each child's prenatal and early-life addresses incorporating residential history, and locations of maternal work and day-care. Outcomes Parents reported their children's development at ages 8, 12, 18, 24, 30 and 36 months in five domains using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire. Generalized mixed models estimated the relative risk (RR) and 95% CI for failing any developmental domain per 10 units increase in PM 2.5 and O 3 , and for those living Results Compared to those >1000 m away from a major roadway, those resided 50–100 m [RR: 2.12 (1.00–4.52)] and 100–500 m [RR: 2.07 (1.02–4.22)] away had twice the risk of failing the communication domain. Prenatal exposures to both PM 2.5 and ozone during various pregnancy windows had weak but significant associations with failing any developmental domain with effects ranging from 1.6% to 2.7% for a 10 μg/m 3 increase in PM 2.5 and 0.7%–1.7% for a 10 ppb increase in ozone. Average daily postnatal ozone exposure was positively associated with failing the overall screening by 8 months [3.3% (1.1%–5.5%)], 12 months [17.7% (10.4%–25.5%)], and 30 months [7.6%, (1.3%–14.3%)]. Findings were mixed for postnatal PM 2.5 exposures. Conclusions In this prospective cohort study, proximity to major roadway and prenatal/early-life exposures to PM 2.5 and O 3 were associated with developmental delays. While awaiting larger studies with personal air pollution assessment, efforts to minimize air pollution exposures during critical developmental windows may be warranted.
Tipificación de candida albicans por el método del resistograma, modificado

Se presenta un caso clinico de un varon de 63 anos con una rara infeccion en las unas de los pies por Polypaecilum lnsolitum Smith, agente etiologico fungicp oportunista no descrito con anterioridad en el pais y raro en la literatura. La anamnesis del paciente incluye antecedentes antiguos de alcoholismo cronico, cirrosis hepatica compensada, neumopatias repetidas y antecedentes de TBC pulmonar. Ademas presenta lesiones dermiticas cronicas de ambas extremidades inferiores, con ulceras infectadas a repeticion de evolucion superior a los 30 anos. Se aportan datos micro y macromorfologicos para su diagnostico diferencial
Renal MR angiography

Renal MR angiography is frequently performed for noninvasive assessment of the renal arteries, usually in the setting of hypertension or renal insufficiency unresponsive to medical therapy. A variety of techniques are currently available, and examinations can be performed with or without intravenous gadolinium contrast agents. The most common contrast-enhanced and non-contrast techniques will be reviewed, along with their advantages and disadvantages, followed by a discussion of the various clinical indications for renal MRA, including an examination of the true accuracy of renal MRA for detecting clinically significant renal artery stenosis. Finally, recent and future developments in the field are assessed.
How Electrostatic Coupling Enables Conformational Plasticity in a Tyrosine Kinase

Protein kinases are important cellular signaling molecules involved in cancer and a multitude of other diseases. It is well-known that inactive kinases display a remarkable conformational plasticity; however, the molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Conformational heterogeneity presents an opportunity but also a challenge in kinase drug discovery. The ability to predictively model various conformational states could accelerate selective inhibitor design. Here we performed a proton-coupled molecular dynamics study to explore the conformational landscape of a c-Src kinase. Starting from a completely inactive structure, the simulations captured all major types of conformational states without the use of a target structure, mutation, or bias. The simulations allowed us to test the experimental hypotheses regarding the mechanism of DFG flip, its coupling to the αC-helix movement, and the formation of regulatory spine. Perhaps the most significant finding is how key titratable residues, such as DFG-Asp, αC-Glu, and HRD-Asp, change protonation states dependent on the DFG, αC, and activation loop conformations. Our data offer direct evidence to support a long-standing hypothesis that protonation of Asp favors the DFG-out state and explain why DFG flip is also possible in simulations with deprotonated Asp. The simulations also revealed intermediate states, among which a unique DFG-out/α-C state formed as DFG-Asp is moved into a back pocket forming a salt bridge with catalytic Lys, which can be tested in selective inhibitor design. Our finding of how proton coupling enables the remarkable conformational plasticity may shift the paradigm of computational studies of kinases which assume fixed protonation states. Understanding proton-coupled conformational dynamics may hold a key to further innovation in kinase drug discovery.
Real zeros of SONC polynomials

Abstract We provide a complete and explicit characterization of the real zeros of sums of nonnegative circuit (SONC) polynomials, a recent certificate for nonnegative polynomials independent of sums of squares. As a consequence, we derive an exact determination of the number B n + 1 , 2 d ″ for all n and d. B n + 1 , 2 d ″ is defined to be the supremum of the number of zeros of all homogeneous n + 1 -variate polynomials of degree 2d in the SONC cone. The analogously defined numbers B n + 1 , 2 d and B n + 1 , 2 d ′ for the nonnegativity cone and the cone of sums of squares were first introduced and studied by Choi, Lam, and Reznick. In strong contrast to our case, the determination of both B n + 1 , 2 d and B n + 1 , 2 d ′ for general n and d is still an open question. Moreover, we initiate the study of the exposed faces of the SONC cone. In particular, we explicitly consider small dimensions and analyze dimension bounds on the exposed faces. When comparing the exposed faces of the SONC cone with those of the nonnegativity cone we observe dimensional differences between them.
Classifying Drugs by their Arrhythmogenic Risk Using Machine Learning

All medications have adverse effects. Among the most serious of these are cardiac arrhythmias. Current paradigms for drug safety evaluation are costly, lengthy, conservative, and impede efficient drug development. Here, we combine multiscale experiment and simulation, high-performance computing, and machine learning to create a risk estimator to stratify new and existing drugs according to their proarrhythmic potential. We capitalize on recent developments in machine learning and integrate information across 10 orders of magnitude in space and time to provide a holistic picture of the effects of drugs, either individually or in combination with other drugs. We show, both experimentally and computationally, that drug-induced arrhythmias are dominated by the interplay between two currents with opposing effects: the rapid delayed rectifier potassium current and the L-type calcium current. Using Gaussian process classification, we create a classifier that stratifies drugs into safe and arrhythmic domains for any combinations of these two currents. We demonstrate that our classifier correctly identifies the risk categories of 22 common drugs exclusively on the basis of their concentrations at 50% current block. Our new risk assessment tool explains under which conditions blocking the L-type calcium current can delay or even entirely suppress arrhythmogenic events. Using machine learning in drug safety evaluation can provide a more accurate and comprehensive mechanistic assessment of the proarrhythmic potential of new drugs. Our study paves the way toward establishing science-based criteria to accelerate drug development, design safer drugs, and reduce heart rhythm disorders.
Numerical analyses of a laboratory test of a geothermal bridge deck externally heated under controlled temperature

Abstract Hydronically heated bridges, whose shallow geothermal energy is extracted from underground loops, are often used for bridge deicing. However, the existing heated deck designs employ embedded pipe loops, which are only applicable to new bridges. A new externally heated hydronic bridge deck has been developed for existing bridges. Heating tests of the hydronic deck were performed in an environmental chamber under conditions of controlled water and ambient temperature. In order to model the newly tested hydronic deck and understand the heat transfer processes, a 3-dimensional multi-physics model of the heated deck was developed in COMSOL. Transient analysis of the model was first performed and fully calibrated with the laboratory tests, and a thermal contact model was used to model a poor contact at the bottom of the bridge deck. The calibrated finite element model was further verified by the steady-state results of 15 environmental chamber tests. The heating responses of the heated deck at freezing ambient temperatures were also simulated and showed the same trend as those simulated at above-freezing conditions. Heat flux and heat energy balance were performed on the heated deck to determine the heat energy flow and heating efficiency. The numerical analysis indicates that approximately 76% of total supplied heat can be transferred to the deck top surface independent of the variation of ambient temperature. Close to the bridge deck surface, one-dimensional upward heat transfer can be assumed for heat flux analysis within the heated bridge deck. The developed model is capable of accurately modeling the heat transfer processes in the externally heated deck, and can be used for design analyses of such a system.
PySke: Algorithmic Skeletons for Python

PySke is a library of parallel algorithmic skeletons in Python designed for list and tree data structures. Such algorithmic skeletons are high-order functions implemented in parallel. An application developed with PySke is a composition of skeletons. To ease the write of parallel programs, PySke does not follow the Single Program Multiple Data (SPMD) paradigm but offers a global view of parallel programs to users. This approach aims at writing scalable programs easily. In addition to the library, we present experiments performed on a highperformance computing cluster (distributed memory) on a set of example applications developed with PySke.
A Comparison of Etomidate, Ketamine, and Methohexital in Emergency Department Rapid Sequence Intubation.

Abstract Background Rapid sequence intubation (RSI) is routinely used for emergent airway management in the emergency department (ED). It involves the use of induction, and paralytic agents help facilitate endotracheal tube placement. Objective In response to a previous national drug shortage resulting in the use of alternative induction agents for RSI, we describe the effectiveness and safety of ED RSI with ketamine or methohexital compared with etomidate. Methods We conducted a retrospective, single-center observational study from March 1–August 31, 2012 describing RSI with etomidate, ketamine, and methohexital. All adult patients undergoing RSI in the ED who received etomidate prior to its shortage and methohexital or ketamine during the shortage were included. Results The study included 47, 9, and 26 patients in the etomidate, ketamine, and methohexital groups, respectively. Successful intubation on the first attempt occurred in 74.5%, 55.6%, and 73.1% of the etomidate, ketamine, and methohexital groups, respectively. The mean number of intubation attempts and time to intubation seemed to be similar in all groups. At least three intubation attempts were required in 22.2% and 7.7% of the ketamine and methohexital groups, respectively, compared with none in the etomidate group. Two aspirations were observed in the etomidate group. Conclusion Methohexital and etomidate had similar rates of successful intubation on the first attempt and seem to be more effective than ketamine. Etomidate may reduce the need for three or more intubation attempts. Larger, prospective studies are needed to determine if ketamine or methohexital are more effective than etomidate for RSI.
Inhibition of RNA synthesis by 5-fluorouridine accounts for its cyto toxicity on colorectal cancer cells in vitro

1362 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or occasionally fluorodeoxyuridine (FUdR) are used in combination therapy to treat patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). 5-FU and FUdR are metabolized to 5-fluro-2’-deoxyuridine monophosphate (FdUMP). FdUMP competes with deoxyuridine monophosphate (dUMP) to be the substrate for thymidylate synthase (TS), an important enzyme in the formation of dTMP. Incorporation of fluorinated analogues into DNA causes replication defect leading to eventual cell death. The other lesser-known fluoropyrimidine analogue is 5-fluorouridine (FUR). However, the mode of action of 5-FU, FUdR and FUR is not completely understood. Therefore we investigated the mechanisms of action of 5FU, FUdR and FUR. Here we compared their cytotoxicity in colorectal cancer cell lines Colo320HSR, CCL 221 and HT29. To unravel the mode of action of fluorouridines, we rescued the treated cells with deoxythymidine (dThd) or uridine (Urd). We established time and dose dependent cell kill for the listed fluoropyrimidine analogues. Following drug treatment we quantitated the TS transcript level in Colo320HSR cells in vitro. Additionally, we conducted in vivo animal toxicity studies with 5FU, FUdR and FUR. The in vitro studies showed that FUdR and FUR have very similar IC50 values of 19, 29, 14 & 23, 52, 41 nM in Colo320HSR, CCL 221 and HT29 cells respectively. In contrast, 5-FU required 3300, 8732, 6062 nM to obtain the same degree of cell kill. Rescue studies performed with 10 μM deoxythymidine (dThd) inhibited the cytotoxic effect of FUdR but not of FUR. On the other hand 1 mM Urd rescued the cells from the toxic effects of FUR only. This suggests that 5FU and FUdR interferes with DNA synthesis and FUR with transcription. Time and dose dependent cytotoxicity studies reveal existence of an inverse relationship between the duration of exposure and concentration of 5-FU used. Exposure of Colo320HSR cells to 1 μM of 5FU for 1 h was ineffective. Increasing the duration from 1h to 5 or 24 hrs and dosage from 1 μM to 5 or 10 μM resulted in 20% and 60% growth inhibition. Similar cytotoxic studies using FUdR demonstrated that it was more effective than 5FU. In contrast FUR inhibited cell growth at all concentrations and exposure times. Reverse transcriptase PCR analysis following drug treatment showed FUR exhibited maximum inhibition of TS transcription in vivo. Among the three fluoropyrimidine analogues FUR was found to be most toxic in BALB/C mice. Our studies demonstrated that FUR is the most potent anti tumor agent among the fluoropyrimidines. In general their cytotoxicity depends on dose and duration of treatment. Fluoropyrimidines exert dual regulation on TS gene expression. Initially they induce its expression with eventual suppression following prolonged exposure. Severe inhibitory effect of FUR on TS gene expression and its RNA mediated cell kill may explain its superiority over the other two fluoropyrimidine analogues tested.
ExFaux: A Weakly Supervised Approach to Explainable Fauxtography Detection

Fauxtography is a category of multi-modal posts that spreads misleading information on various online social platforms (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Reddit). A fauxtography post usually consists of an image, a text description and comments from its readers. In this paper, we focus on an explainable fauxtography detection problem where the goal is to explain which a specific component of a post leads to the fauxtography decision. This problem is motivated by the limitations of current fauxtography detection solutions that only focus on the detection but ignore the important explanation aspect of their results. Two critical challenges exist in solving our problem: i) it is difficult to accurately identify the "guilty" component of a fauxtography post given the fact that different components of the post and their associations could all lead to the fauxtography; ii) it is expensive and time-consuming to obtain a good training set with fine-grained labels of fauxtography posts in terms of explainability, making the corresponding solutions weakly supervised in nature. To address the above challenges, we develop ExFaux, an end-to-end graph-based fauxtography explanation framework, to effectively explain which part of the post contributes to its fauxtography. We evaluate the ExFaux by creating a real-world dataset from online social media (Twitter and Reddit). The results show that ExFaux not only detects the fauxtography posts more accurately than the state-of-the-arts but also provides well-justified explanations to its results.
GADGETS: A genetic algorithm for detecting epistasis using nuclear families.

Motivation Epistasis may play an etiologic role in complex diseases, but research has been hindered because identification of SNP-SNP interactions requires exploration of immense search spaces. Current approaches using nuclear families accommodate at most several hundred candidate SNPs. Results GADGETS detects epistatic SNP-sets by applying a genetic algorithm to case-parent or case-sibling data. To allow for multiple epistatic sets, island sub-populations of SNP-sets evolve separately under selection for evident joint relevance to disease risk. The software evaluates the identified SNP-sets via permutation testing and provides graphical visualization. GADGETS correctly identified epistatic SNP-sets in realistically simulated case-parent triads with 10,000 candidate SNPs, far more SNPs than competitors can handle, and it outperformed competitors in simulations with many fewer SNPs. Applying GADGETS to family-based oral clefting data from dbGaP identified SNP-sets with possible epistatic effects on risk. Availability GADGETS is part of the epistasisGA package at https://github.com/mnodzenski/epistasisGA. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Probabilistic seismic hazard analysis for spatially distributed infrastructure considering the correlation of spectral acceleration across spectral periods

Regional seismic hazard analyses are necessary to assess the infrastructure performance within a region and ensure that mitigation funds are utilized effectively by probabilistically considering th...
Metabolism and Functions of Monocytes and Macrophages

Mononuclear phagocytes comprise a cell line that includes primitive forms in the bone marrow (monoblasts and promonocytes), intermediate cells in the blood (monocytes), and mature forms in the tissues (macrophages). Tissue macrophages are heterogeneous and include alveolar macrophages, Kupffer’s cells, the macrophages of the splenic sinusoids, and a variety of other forms. The concept of a continuum of cells from bone marrow precursors through the monocyte to the tissue macrophages is important to the understanding of the function and metabolism of these cells. Mononuclear phagocytes at different levels of maturation have distinctive morphologic, functional, and metabolic characteristics.
Convergence of Sequences of Characteristic Functions

In lesson 12, the uniqueness theorem established the one-to-one correspondence between a CDF and a CF. In this lesson we will see that a similar correspondence exists between sequences of CDFs and sequences of CFs. Roughly speaking, if X, X1X2… are random variables (vectors), and φ, φ1φ2… their corresponding CFs, then as \(n \to \infty ,{X_{n}}\mathop{ \to }\limits^{D} X iff {\varphi _{n}} \to \varphi\)
Stability analysis of the second order /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator

The stability of the second order /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator proposed by Candy (1985) is proven for any properly bounded DC input. It is found, however, that there exists a class of AC inputs for which this /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ modulator is unstable over most of the dynamic range of the input. The possible extension of the methods used for the second order system to higher order systems is discussed as well. >
Stability of Slopes by Logarithmic-Spiral Method

A logarithmic-spiral method programmed for a computer is presented for determining the factor of safety of a simple slope. The method differs from Taylor's in that the friction angle of the logarithmic spiral is not a constant but varies with the factor of safety. The method yields a factor of safety with respect to strength, instead of that with respect to cohesion. Furthermore, the inability of Taylor's method to obtain a factor of safety, when the slope angle is smaller than the angle of internal friction of the soil, is circumvented. The result of this study shows that the factor of safety for a simple slope can be determined effectively by the logarithmic-spiral method. It was found that the factor of safety obtained from the logarithmic-spiral method checked closely with that from the ICES-LEASE computer program, based on the simplified Bishop method, as well as from the finite element program developed by the U.S.Bureau of Mines.
Cafe Indiana: A Guide to Indiana's Down-Home Cafes

Reviewed Medium: book Authors: Joanne Raetz Stuttgen Year: 2007 Pages: 288 Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press ISBN: 978-0-299-22494-3 (soft cover). Prices: $19.95 USD(soft cover).
Artisanship, Innovation and Indigenous Modernity in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea: Ataizo Mutahe's Vessel Flutes

Cet article presente une etude des flutes en terre fabriquees par Ataizo Mutahe pour le marche touristique a Goroka, dans les Hautes-Terres orientales de Papouasie-Nouvelle- Guinee. Le travail d’Ataizo est important parce qu’il bouscule les idees recues sur la nature de la tradition et de la modernite autochtones par rapport a la production et l’utilisation des instruments musicaux en Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinee. Bien que ces flutes soient faites a la main, avec des materiaux et des technologies locales, sur la base de modeles d’instruments anciens de la region, elles representent une invention recente et sont entierement fabriquees pour une utilisation non-locale. Cet article soutient que les flutes d’Ataizo representent un modele important a travers lequel les iterations distinctement locales de la modernite peuvent etre apprehendees et les formes et pratiques artistiques locales (ainsi que celles qui ont ete introduites) peuvent etre percues comme des sources de modernite musicale en Papouasie- Nouvelle-Guinee. Ce faisant, cet article revient sur le travail de Marshall Sahlins sur la modernite autochtone dans le Pacifique, affirmant que sa theorie est trop engagee dans une division structuraliste entre les cultures de l'Occident et du Pacifique pour voir comment le habitants de Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinee utilisent les resources afin d'articuler une modernite quotidiene comme celle d'Ataizo.
Cultural Effects on Phenetic Distances Among Postclassic Mexican and Southwest United States Populations

The Southwest United States (US) and Mesoamerica are often thought of as disparate regional networks separated by Northern Mexico. Chaco Canyon in the Southwest US, Tlatelolco in Central Mexico and Casas Grandes in Northern Mexico, all had large inter-regional trade centres that economically connected these networks. This study investigated how factors such as geographic distance, shared migration history, trade and political interaction affected biological relationships and population affinities among sites in Mexico and in Southwest US during the Postclassic period (ad 900 ~ 1520). Distances based on cultural and geographic variables derived from archaeological and ethnohistoric data were compared with phenetic distances obtained from dental morphological traits. The results of Mantel tests show trade (corr = 0.441, p = 0.005), shared migration history (corr = 0.496, p = 0.004) and geographic distance (corr = 0.304, p = 0.02) are significantly correlated with phenetic distances, whereas political interaction (corr = 0.157, p = 0.133) is not. Partial Mantel tests show trade (corr = 0.223, p = 0.049) and shared migration history (corr = 0.493, p = 0.003) remain significant when controlling for similarities with geographic distance, although the correlation for trade and phenetic distance is lowered. Geographic distance is not significant when similarities with trade (corr = 0.067, p = 0.681) and shared migration history (corr = 0.148, p = 0.127) are controlled. These results highlight the importance of economic relationships and shared migration history across geographic regions in interpreting biological relationships among contemporaneous populations in prehistoric Mexico and the Southwest US. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Ethanol withdrawal acts as an age-specific stressor to activate cerebellar P38 kinase

Abstract We investigated whether protein kinase P38 plays a role in the brain-aging changes associated with repeated ethanol withdrawal (EW). Ovariectomized young, middle-age and older rats, with or without 17β-estradiol (E2) implantation, received a 90-day ethanol with repeated withdrawal. They were tested for active pP38 expression in cerebellar Purkinje neurons and whole-cerebellar lysates using immunohistochemistry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. They were also tested for the Rotarod task to determine the behavioral manifestation of cerebellar neuronal stress and for reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial protein carbonyls to determine oxidative mechanisms. Middle-age EW rats showed higher levels of pP38-positive Purkinje neurons/cerebellar lysates, which coincided with increased mitochondrial protein oxidation than other diet/age groups. Exacerbated motor deficit due to age–EW combination also began at the middle-age. In comparison, ROS contents peaked in older EW rats. E2 treatment mitigated each of the EW effects to a different extent. Collectively, pP38 may mediate the brain-aging changes associated with pro-oxidant EW at vulnerable ages and in vulnerable neurons in a manner protected by estrogen.
The Antishock Iliosacral Screw

Acute traumatic pelvic ring injuries are associated with life-threatening hemorrhage related to pelvic instability. Rapid and effective methods to mechanically stabilize the pelvic injury are often a prerequisite for patient survival. Most of these methods have significant disadvantages because of either difficult application or limited efficacy. Pelvic antishock clamp placement is difficult and dangerous, and circumferential pelvic antishock sheeting is not universally effective in reducing and stabilizing the pelvic ring. We describe a technique of acute posterior pelvic ring reduction and stabilization using a percutaneously inserted iliosacral screw as a resuscitation adjunct.
Reforming the Reform: Attempting Social Solidarity and Equity in Chile's Privatized Social Security System

This article analyzes the pension reform carried out by Chile's Bachelet administration in 2008. The goal of the reform was to expand the privatized pension system introduced by the Pinochet milita...
Advances from genetic clues in pancreatic cancer

A major aim of cancer research is the construction of molecular genetic profiles that characterize each type of human neoplasm. Such a profile has recently achieved considerable resolution for pancreatic exocrine adenocarcinoma. Tools are now available to address the inheritance of risk, the nature of the precursor lesions, the challenges involved in the development of clinical screening approaches, and a deeper understanding of the malignant extreme of the neoplastic spectrum.
Challenges in dry etching: uniformity, selectivity, pattern dependencies, damage, and cleaning

Abstract The anisotropic etching of submicron features which have larger aspect ratios is causing a shift from low-density, reactive ion etching to etching with high-density remote plasma sources in combination with rf biasing of the wafer electrode to control the ion energy. The development of the new reactors and processes is creating many new challenges: the creation of uniform ion and neutral fluxes, the development of sensor and process control algorithms, and the development of dry cleaning processes so that these processes can be clustered with cleaning and deposition in an all dry sequence. These challenges are discussed along with several examples of pertinent current research.