cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Diffusion tensor imaging in children with unilateral hearing loss: A pilot study

Objective: Language acquisition was assumed to proceed normally in children with unilateral hearing loss (UHL) since they have one functioning ear. However, children with UHL score poorly on speech-language tests and have higher rates of educational problems compared to normal hearing (NH) peers. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is an imaging modality used to measure microstructural integrity of brain white matter. The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate differences in fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) in hearing- and non-hearing-related structures in the brain between children with UHL and their NH siblings. Study Design: Prospective observational cohortSetting: Academic medical center.Subjects and Methods: 61 children were recruited, tested and imaged. 29 children with severe-to-profound UHL were compared to 20 siblings with NH using IQ and oral language testing, and MRI with DTI. 12 children had inadequate MRI data. Parents provided demographic data and indicated whether children had a need for an individualized educational program (IEP) or speech therapy (ST). DTI parameters were measured in auditory and non-auditory regions of interest (ROIs). Between-group comparisons were evaluated with non-parametric tests. Results: Lower FA of left lateral lemniscus was observed for children with UHL compared to their NH siblings, as well as trends towards differences in other auditory and nonauditory regions. Correlation analyses showed associations between several DTI parameters and outcomes in children with UHL. Regression analyses revealed relationships between educational outcome variables and several DTI parameters, which may provide clinically useful information for guidance of speech therapy. Discussion/Conclusion: White matter microstructural patterns in several brain regions are preserved despite unilateral rather than bilateral auditory input which contrasts with findings in patients with bilateral hearing loss.
Kinetics and Seepage Forces in Steady-State Ground-Water Flow

Formulas for (i) the components of acceleration, (ii) the volumetric gravitational, pressure-dependent, and friction forces, and (iii) stability conditions for aquifer solids in groundwater flowing under steady-state conditions are derived in this work. The tangential acceleration governs the magnitude of the average pore velocity along the flow path of ground water. The normal acceleration component arises from changes in the direction of the average pore velocity. The frictional force exerted by the aquifer matrix on ground water is derived via Newton’s second law of motion. It is shown that the friction force is of approximately the same magnitude (but opposite in direction) to the drag or seepage force exerted by moving ground water on the aquifer matrix. Loss of aquifer solids by ground-water motion may occur whenever the contact force that holds aquifer particles static is not sufficient to counterbalance the resultant of the drag force plus the buoyant unit weight of aquifer. The hydraulic shear force exerted by stream flow contributes to the detachment of channel-bottom particles, although this force is perpendicular to the ground-water induced drag force under uniform stream flow regime. Key variables governing the detachment of aquifer solids by moving ground water are the hydraulic gradient, flow-path geometry, and the unit weights of aquifer and ground water.
The Citizenship Deficit: On being a citizen child

Jacqueline Bhabha discusses what it means for a child to be a citizen in today's globalizing world, given that many of the cardinal attributes of citizenship – including the right to vote, to serve on a jury and to stand for public office – are denied children. No other group of citizens has such partial access to the benefits of membership. She suggests that citizenship is a neglected, undervalued status for children, because the attributes of citizenship are routinely evaluated from an adult-centred viewpoint. In conclusion, she suggests that, as a matter of equity and sensible public policy, children's citizenship needs to be given a different weight.
Temporary, Emergent Interorganizational Collaboration in Unexpected Circumstances: A Study of the Columbia Space Shuttle Response Effort

In an inductive case study of the Columbia space shuttle disaster response effort, we use observations, archival records, and in-depth interviews with representatives from several responding agencies to explore factors that facilitated this interorganizational collaboration. The Columbia response effort defies conventional theories of collaboration. Relative strangers from dissimilar agencies, without a designated leader or existing structure, quickly collaborated across organizational boundaries on an unprecedented and complex undertaking. We explain how four organizing actions enabled self-organizing and the two-staged development of trust and identity, ultimately leading to a successful unplanned collaboration. We rely on tenets of complexity theory to orient our case study and to propose a grounded theory of temporary, emergent interorganizational collaboration.
Minimum airgap flux linkage requirement for self-excitation in stand-alone induction generators

A minimum airgap flux linkage is required for the self-excitation and stable operation of an isolated induction generator feeding an impedance load. With the aid of bifurcation theory, it is shown that the minimum airgap flux linkage requirement is the value at which the derivative of the magnetizing inductance with respect to the airgap flux linkage is zero. This minimum airgap flux linkage determines the minimum or maximum load impedance and minimum excitation capacitance requirements. This result is demonstrated using single-phase and three-phase induction generators. >
Density-dependent demographic responses of a semelparous plant to natural variation in seed rain

The link between reproductive and vegetative ecology of flowering plants is rarely explored, despite its importance for understanding population processes and fitness. This link can be studied by using experimental or natural variation in seed input to the soil to assess how reproductive success affects vital rates of offspring. We previously reported for Ipomopsis aggregata that per-seed probability of germinating is insensitive to density of seeds sown into plots, whereas per capita flower production among adults that grow from the seedlings declines in nonlinear fashion with density. Here we describe a parallel non-experimental study. We related seedling emergence to estimated natural seed input (‘seed rain’) in three populations across ten summers and monitored seedlings that emerged in the first two summers throughout their life histories. Seedling emergence in 1996 was linearly related to seed rain from plants that flowered in 1995. This density independent seed-to-seedling transition recurred over the next nine summers, but the slope varied with springtime precipitation. Total numbers of 1996 seedlings that survived to flower and numbers of flowers they produced increased linearly with seed rain in one population, but did not vary detectably in the other two, consistent with negative density dependence. In consequence λ (the dominant eigenvalue of a population projection matrix) decreased from high values at low densities of seed rain to a relatively constant low value with greater seed rain. We also detected density dependence in the 1995 seedling cohort in survival and flower production. The similarity of results from natural and experimental studies supports a conclusion of nonlinear density dependence and shows that characterizing it requires the full life history. For this plant species and others, studies of pollination and fecundity alone may not suffice to draw conclusions about population change or fitness.
Collaborative intrusion detection system

This paper presents an intrusion detection system consisting of multiple intelligent agents. Each agent uses a self-organizing map (SOM) in order to detect intrusive activities on a computer network. A blackboard mechanism is used for the aggregation of results generated from such agents (i.e. a group decision). In addition, this system is capable of reinforcement learning with the reinforcement signal generated within the blackboard and then distributed over all agents which are involved in the group decision making. Systems with various configurations of agents are evaluated for criteria such as speed, accuracy, and consistency. The results indicate an increase in classification accuracy as well as in its constancy as more sensors are incorporated. Currently this system is primarily tested on the data set for KDD Cup '99.
Prey of Nesting Ospreys on the Willamette and Columbia Rivers, Oregon and Washington

To more effectively use ospreys as a biomonitoring tool and to better assess contaminant pathways, the diet of nesting ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) was studied along the lower Columbia and upper mainstem Willamette rivers by evaluating prey remains collected from wire baskets constructed under artificial feeding perches installed near nest sites and from the ground beneath natural feeding perches and nests. Prey remains from 1997–2004 on the Columbia River and 1993 (previously published) and 2001 on the Willamette River were evaluated and compared. Largescale suckers (Catostomus macrocheilus) were the predominate fish species identified in collections from the Columbia River (61.5% [84.3% biomass]) and Willamette River (76.0% [92.7% biomass]). Prey fish diversity, when based only on ground collections, was higher in the Columbia (2.45) than the Willamette river (1.92) (P = 0.038). Prey fish diversity in collections from the Willamette River did not differ between this study (2001) and previous study (1993)...
Reply: Structural heart disease: tetralogy, transposition, and truncus, too?

We thank Dr. Daniels and colleagues for reading our paper [(1)][1] with interest and highlighting several important points in their letter to the editor. We completely agree that structural heart disease (SHD) and congenital heart disease (CHD) are relatively distinct specialties, and each provide
Sarah Hunter Kelly: Designing the House of Good Taste

ABSTRACTThrough discourse analysis, the researcher tracks the lifelong career of New-York-based interior designer Sarah Hunter Kelly (1896–1982) in three distinct phases: traditional projects featuring French antiques, a middle phase blending contemporary and traditional furnishings within mitigated Modern interiors in North Carolina, and a more clearly observed and articulated Modern expression in the New York World's Fair “House of Good Taste” exhibition. Material and visual analysis here suggest a hybrid approach to the interior design profession during its infancy and early development, peeling away distinctions later suggested between interior design and interior decoration. Kelly's career intertwines with her clients across a social network and with other design professionals as she articulates a clear vision for good taste based on Elsie de Wolfe's seminal work on interiors, extending and expanding that vision across a sixty-year practice.
Alzheimer’s Disease: An Overview

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive, neurodegenerative dementia currently affecting almost 5 000 000 people in the United States. This number is predicted to increase to about 16 000 000 people by the year 2050. This article contains an overview of the symptoms and stages of AD along with purported causes and potential treatments as well as preventative methods to reduce the risk of the disease.
Diverging fortunes: The evolution of gender wage gaps for singles, couples, and parents in China, 1989–2009

Since the 1980s, social scientists working in China have raised questions about whether market transition could harm the relative position of women in the workplace. However, little work has been done to investigate this possibility with longitudinal data that includes both urban and rural populations and covers recent years, or linked gender gaps in income explicitly to the retreat of the State sector. Moreover, most research has not considered the real possibility that trends in gender disparities might diverge depending on the family status of women, though studies in China, as elsewhere, suggest the existence of both employment and wage penalties for motherhood. Guided by feminist theories which emphasize that gender inequality should be examined at the intersections of different social institutions, we consider whether gender wage gap trends differ for single people, compared to married people and parents. Further, given the role posited for market transition in shaping emerging gender gaps, we ask w...
Three Old Problems about Polynomials with Real Roots

(1988). Three Old Problems about Polynomials with Real Roots. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 95, No. 4, pp. 329-330.
Security challenge to using smartphones for SHM

Pervasive smartphones have demonstrated great potential in structural health monitoring (SHM) of civil infrastructures. Their sensing, processing, and communication capabilities along with crowdsourcing facility ease technical difficulties and reduce financial burdens of instrumentation and monitoring for SHM in civil infrastructures. However, smartphones are vulnerable to unintentional misuses and malicious attacks. This paper analyzes the vulnerabilities of smartphones in performing SHM and reveals the exploitation of those vulnerabilities. The work probes the attack surface of both devices and data. Device attack scenarios include hacking individual smartphones to modify the data stored on them and orchestrating smartphones to launch a distributed denial-of-service attack. Specifically, experiments are conducted to remotely access an Android smartphone and modify the sensing data of structural health stored on it. The work also presents a case study that reveals the sensitivity of a popular perturbation analysis method to faulty data delivered by a smartphone. The paper provides the direction of meeting the security challenge to using smartphones for SHM. As the first line of defense, device authentication is implemented in the smartphone to stop spoofing. Subsequently, message authentication is devised to maintain data integrity. There is a need to apply data science for the SHM immunity system against the sensitivity to data inaccuracy. The work also evaluates the cost-effectiveness of the proposed security measures, recommending varying levels of security to mitigate the adversaries to smartphones used in SHM systems. It calls for security solutions at the design stage of SHM systems rather than patching up after their implementations.
Interference Effects in Controlling Flame Response to Harmonic Flow Perturbations

This paper describes experiments and analysis of the response of a bluff-body stabilized flame to harmonic flow oscillations. A key point of this work is to demonstrate the very important role that interference between multiple disturbances, all propagating in the same direction but at different velocities, play on the flame response. We show that the flame exhibits complex, non-monotonic spatial variations in both gain and phase. Moreover, the spatial character of the flame response is shown to exhibit two fundamentally different behaviors, referred to here as “interference dominated” and “dissipation dominated” behaviors, depending upon the value of parameters such as vortex convection speed, decay rate, frequency, and mean flow velocity.
The Supreme Court as a Small Group

self-ratings on general health are more closely related to the attitudinal items and less closely related to a majority of the behavioral items than are self-ratings on health problems. Changes in Self-Ratings of Health: 7. A change in self-health rating from 1952 to 1954 is accompanied by a corresponding change in the attitudinal or behavioral correlates of health from 1952 to 1954, supporting the acceptability of self-ratings of health as valid measures of "perceived" health. 8. We find an increased relationship between self-health ratings and attitudinal or behavioral correlates of health when we limit our analysis to the consistent or non-changing respondents from 1952 to 1954.
An Improved Denoising Algorithm for The Night Digital Monitor Image

For the night digital monitor image of many noises the common denoising algorithms are compared,and the enhanced denoising method is designed combining morphology with median filter after balancing image smoothness,clearness and time complexity.The expriments confirm that the algorithm is feasible by the contrast of the effect of before and after denoising.
The Impact Assessment of Earthquake on Landslide Stability——A Case Study of Landslides in Nanqiao Village,Zhouqu,Gansu

Based on the equivalent of Druker-Prager(abbreviated DP) yield criterion and the Mohr-Coulomb(abbreviated MC) theory,by the simulation of ANSYS software,the influences of earthquake on the stability of landslide in Nanqiao village under the conditions of its weight and rainstorm respectively were estimated.The results show that on the different intensity level of seismic fortification by changing the reduction factor to calculate the maximum of the horizontal displacement and plastic strain.To distinguish the destruction of landslide based on the abrupt point occurs and the calculation does not converge and the plastic zone penetration.So the landslide stability factor of different seismic fortification intensity had been obtained.Under the condition of weight add earthquake and rainstorm add earthquake,the discrepancy of the stability factors is between 0.25 and 0.32,which offered the possible for the mutual verification and theoretical calculations of the two conditions.The comparative analysis of the Finite Element Strength Reduction and the Limit Equilibrium Method showed that the errors of less than 5% are primary,when considering earthquake the stability coefficient of landslide will decrease by 13% to 16%.And the accuracy and reliability of numerical simulation were verified further.The result of calculation is consistent with the actual results.So this research should be promoted in scientific research and the actual design.
Enhancing Effectiveness in Curriculum: Necessary Innovative Changes

This study proposed a set of interventions to improve the finan-cial analysis skills of students enrolled in both the face-to-face and in our online MBA courses. The intent of the GEB5878 and GEB5930 courses is to build the foundational skills necessary to produce quality graduate level work in subsequent advanced courses requiring industry portfolio papers and multiple case analyses. In the UWF MBA curriculum, there is a heavy empha-sis on financial data analysis and synthetization. By instituting new pedagogical techniques into the two classes, students demonstrated an ability to synthesize the financial analysis data and draw appropriate conclusions from the information. The interventions were testing by comparing mean test scores of a control group without the additional financial analysis training to an experimental group which did receive the training. The results of this analysis clearly support the positive effects of the interventions proposed herein.
Evaluation of the activity of an academic rheumatology consult service over 10 years : Using data to shape curriculum

OBJECTIVE: We reviewed rheumatology consults over the last 10 years at a major academic medical center and used these data to revise our fellowship curriculum. METHODS: The medical records of all patient consults from 1994 to 2003 at a university hospital were reviewed with regard to reason for consult, demographic data, and final rheumatologic diagnosis. For comparison we reviewed one year of data from our veterans hospital rheumatology consult service during this same period. RESULTS: A total of 1409 patients were seen on the university hospital consult service between 1994 and 2003. The 5 top reasons for consultation in descending order were: vasculitis, lupus, gout, rheumatoid arthritis, and soft-tissue rheumatic conditions. Specific diagnoses within each category are presented. The number of consults increased significantly over the 10 year period when compared to total hospital admissions. A total of 163 inpatient consults were seen at our veterans hospital in 2001. Crystal arthritis and noninflammatory regional musculoskeletal conditions were the top 2 reasons for consult requests. Many of these consults came from the primary care clinic and required a procedure or simple treatment plan. CONCLUSION: The rheumatology consultation service at our university hospital has become busier over the last 10 years. Since many of the patients had complex problems, we have modified our curriculum approach in response to the information. The veterans hospital data suggest that part of our educational efforts might be directed toward the services requesting rheumatology consultation.
Prenatal Cerebellar Disruptions: Neuroimaging Spectrum of Findings in Correlation with Likely Mechanisms and Etiologies of Injury

There is increasing evidence that the cerebellum is susceptible to prenatal infections and hemorrhages and that congenital morphologic anomalies of the cerebellum may be caused by disruptive (acquired) causes. Starting from the neuroimaging pattern, this report describes a spectrum of prenatal cerebellar disruptions including cerebellar agenesis, unilateral cerebellar hypoplasia, cerebellar cleft, global cerebellar hypoplasia, and vanishing cerebellum in Chiari type II malformation. The neuroimaging findings, possible causative disruptive events, and clinical features of each disruption are discussed. Recognition of cerebellar disruptions and their differentiation from cerebellar malformations is important in terms of diagnosis, prognosis, and genetic counselling.
Effects of antidepressant treatments on ‘whole body’ norepinephrine turnover

Monoamine theories of depression postulate that a relative lack of either norepinephrine (Schildkraut, 1965; Bunney and Davis, 1965) or serotonin (Ashcroft et al., 1966; Coppen, 1967) at certain critical synapses in the central nervous system (CNS) are associated with symptoms of ‘endogenous’ depression. Based on these theories, Prange et al. (1974) have developed a ‘permissive monoamine’ hypothesis of bipolar affective disorders. They suggest that a continuously low serotonergic tone permits wide fluctuations in CNS norepinephrinergic activity, low activity being associated with depressive and high with manic symptoms. Janowsky et al. (1972) have emphasized that a cholinergic-norepinephrinergic imbalance may be important in generating affective symptoms. In their view, an increased cholinergic tone and a reduced norepinephrinergic activity is characteristic of depression, whereas a relatively low cholinergic tone and a high norepinephrinergic activity is associated with mania.
Hadoop in the Cloud to Analyze Climate Datasets

Abstract Climate datasets are archives of change in the environment of the Earth over time. To understand the impact of change, these datasets need to be analyzed, and patterns of change discovered. Climate datasets belong to the Spatial Big Data domain; they are very large, and hence traditional methods of processing them are not adequate. Cluster computing using the Hadoop framework has emerged as a promising approach for analyzing large datasets that seeks to parallelize computations on a cluster. However, spatial and temporal dimensions of climate datasets pose challenges to cluster computing, and require new tools to be developed. In this Chapter, selected Hadoop-based applications for processing gridded datasets and satellite imagery are presented, and their merits and limitations are discussed. A brief discussion on Apache Spark is also presented to highlight the promises it brings to the domain of climate dataset analysis.
Extended ocular drug delivery systems for the anterior and posterior segments: biomaterial options and applications

ABSTRACTIntroduction: The development of new therapies for treating various eye conditions has led to a demand for extended release delivery systems, which would lessen the need for frequent application while still achieving therapeutic drug levels in the target tissues.Areas covered: Following an overview of the different ocular drug delivery modalities, this article surveys the biomaterials used to develop sustained release drug delivery systems. Microspheres, nanospheres, liposomes, hydrogels, and composite systems are discussed in terms of their primary materials. The advantages and disadvantages of each drug delivery system are discussed for various applications. Recommendations for modifications and strategies for improvements to these basic systems are also discussed.Expert opinion: An ideal sustained release drug delivery system should be able to encapsulate and deliver the necessary drug to the target tissues at a therapeutic level without any detriment to the drug. Drug encapsulation should be a...
Modeling central metabolism and energy biosynthesis across microbial life.

Automatically generated bacterial metabolic models, and even some curated models, lack accuracy in predicting energy yields due to poor representation of key pathways in energy biosynthesis and the electron transport chain (ETC). Further compounding the problem, complex interlinking pathways in genome-scale metabolic models, and the need for extensive gapfilling to support complex biomass reactions, often results in predicting unrealistic yields or unrealistic physiological flux profiles. To overcome this challenge, we developed methods and tools ( http://coremodels.mcs.anl.gov ) to build high quality core metabolic models (CMM) representing accurate energy biosynthesis based on a well studied, phylogenetically diverse set of model organisms. We compare these models to explore the variability of core pathways across all microbial life, and by analyzing the ability of our core models to synthesize ATP and essential biomass precursors, we evaluate the extent to which the core metabolic pathways and functional ETCs are known for all microbes. 6,600 (80 %) of our models were found to have some type of aerobic ETC, whereas 5,100 (62 %) have an anaerobic ETC, and 1,279 (15 %) do not have any ETC. Using our manually curated ETC and energy biosynthesis pathways with no gapfilling at all, we predict accurate ATP yields for nearly 5586 (70 %) of the models under aerobic and anaerobic growth conditions. This study revealed gaps in our knowledge of the central pathways that result in 2,495 (30 %) CMMs being unable to produce ATP under any of the tested conditions. We then established a methodology for the systematic identification and correction of inconsistent annotations using core metabolic models coupled with phylogenetic analysis. We predict accurate energy yields based on our improved annotations in energy biosynthesis pathways and the implementation of diverse ETC reactions across the microbial tree of life. We highlighted missing annotations that were essential to energy biosynthesis in our models. We examine the diversity of these pathways across all microbial life and enable the scientific community to explore the analyses generated from this large-scale analysis of over 8000 microbial genomes.
Copper catalysed aerobic oxidation of benzylic alcohols in an imidazole containing N4 ligand framework

The catalytic aerobic oxidation of benzylic alcohols to corresponding aldehydes has been investigated employing a tetradentate copper(ii) complex that incorporates N-methyl imidazole (NMI) as an integral part of an N4-ligand framework. The complex [L3-Cu]2+ [(L3 = 1-methyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazol-2-yl)methyl(2-ethyl)amine] has been synthesized, characterized by spectroscopic and structural techniques, and its catalytic activity towards the aerobic oxidation of benzylic alcohols studied under ambient conditions. Catalytic turnover required addition of the nitroxyl radical initiator TEMPO. No oxidation was observed with hydroxyl radical initiators H2O2 or tetrabutylammonium hydroperoxide. Additional NMI enhanced turnover with yields up to 99% within 4 hours. The relative quantities of substrate, catalyst, TEMPO, and NMI were systematically varied in a series of experiments to determine optimal conditions. The effect of oxygen at various flow rates as an alternate to ambient aerobic conditions was also investigated.
DIAGNOSTIC VALUE OF METABOLITE PROFILING IN HYPERTROPHIC CARDIOMYOPATHY

Background: It is sometimes challenging to distinguish hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) from other cardiac conditions such as hypertensive heart disease. The present study utilized metabolite profiling, a novel technology that measures serum concentrations of biochemical substances, to distinguish
Contemporary Influenza Diagnostics: Renewed Focus on Testing Patients.

Merckx and coworkers' systematic review and metaanalysis compares the diagnostic accuracy of novel and traditional rapid tests for influenza. The editorialist believes that this review should promp...
Evaluation of Selected Cotoneaster spp. for Resistance to Hawthorn Lace Bug

Four Cotoneaster species were evaluated for resistance to hawthorn lace bug. In a preference study using adults, the lace bugs preferred C. x watereri Exell. ‘Brandekeir’ when compared to the other...
Opening Doors in Northern Chile: The International School of Arica

In the northern Chilean city of Arica, Abigail Uribe had a dream of inviting the country’s youngest citizens to learn English in the region’s first bilingual school. The International School of Arica, referred to locally as TISA, opened its doors in 2007 with 43 students, toddlers through age 6. By the second year the number of students had doubled, and the school now houses a 2nd-grade class, with the expectation that grades would be added as the students continue to progress. A native of Santiago, Uribe moved to Arica, a city just 9 miles from the border with Peru, and was initially looking for a way to ensure that her own young children could have a quality bilingual learning experience. Her desire was timely, as Chile’s “English Opens Doors” program had begun in 2003 as the Ministry of Education’s endeavor to improve English as a foreign language teaching and guarantee that all Chilean students have access to English instruction at school. Even in this era of change, opening “a bilingual school in the desert,” as Uribe calls it, was not without its challenges. Large cosmopolitan cities such as Santiago have much greater access to English-speaking staff, resources, and families who are seeking to provide their children with education in two languages. This chapter presents a case study of the International School of Arica, based on observations and interviews during the author’s 3-month stay in the city, with the hope that TISA may serve as a model for those in other remote areas who seek to promote and develop bilingual programs. In particular, the chapter examines the school’s creation, including recruitment of students and teachers; the school’s structure and curriculum; parents’ reasons for placing children in TISA and response to their children’s bilingual development; the community’s response to the school’s opening; and the state of TISA today.
Positive claims of conscience and objections to immigration law.

Unlike conscientious objection, in which a physician refuses to participate in a legally and professionally permitted service, positive claims of conscience are those in which the physician claims a conscience-based obligation to provide a service that is prohibited.
Ethanol increases endothelial nitric oxide production through modulation of nitric oxide synthase expression.

Moderate alcohol consumption has been shown to reduce the risk of ischemic heart disease potentially through its effect on specific endothelial-derived compounds. We tested the hypothesis that ethanol increases the expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and nitric oxide (NO) production in bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAEC). Primary cultures of BAEC grown to confluence under standard conditions were treated 3-6 h with 0.1% ethanol in the presence of indomethacin. Ethanol induced a significant increase in both basal and stimulated NO production as determined by chemiluminescence method. This effect was accompanied by a rapid increase of eNOS protein and mRNA expression levels. eNOS mRNA increased two-fold within 3 h and gradually declined, but the increased levels of mRNA persisted for >24 h. A similar increase of eNOS expression was observed in human umbilical endothelial cells exposed to ethanol. These results demonstrate that ethanol augments both basal and stimulated NO production and that this effect is associated with increased eNOS protein and mRNA expression levels. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that the reduced incidence of ischemic heart disease associated with alcohol may be related, at least in part, to the modulation of vascular endothelial cell production of NO
Numerical Solution of Singular Perturbation Problems and Hyperbolic Systems of Conservation Laws

We have recently, with Bjorn Engquist and various students, developed simple upwind finite difference and element methods approximating nonlinear partial differential equations. These methods are used to approximate (l) general systems of nonlinear hyperbolic conservation laws, (2) nonlinear singular perturbation problems, and (3) particular physical problems involving the equations of compressible fluid dynamics.
Use of hydroxyurea to alter drug resistance of human tumor cells.

Tumor resistance to chemotherapeutic agents is a commonly observed problem in oncology patient care. The mechanisms that tumor cells develop to escape toxicity from drugs are poorly characterized. One of the most important factors for our lack of understanding of drug resistance is that patient tumor specimens are infrequently studied directly. Most of our knowledge has been obtained from in vitro studies with tumor cell lines, with a limited number of variables affecting the outcome. Using tumor cell lines, information has been acquired to formulate mechanisms whereby cells may survive chemotherapeutic interventions.
A Strong Form of the Mountain Pass Theorem and Application

Variational methods are a strong tool in proving existence of solutions of differential equations. In this paper we prove a strong form of the mountain pass theorem which was prompted by the need of a theorem which, besides an existence statement for critical points, gives in addition information about the “fine structure” of the functional near to them. The abstract theorems are based on results in [H1,H2,H3] and [EH1,EH2]. Related results have been also obtained in [PS1,PS2].
Technical Note: Deriving ventilation imaging from 4DCT by deep convolutional neural network.

Purpose Ventilation images can be derived from four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) by analyzing the change in HU values and deformable vector fields between different respiration phases of computed tomography (CT). As deformable image registration (DIR) is involved, accuracy of 4DCT-derived ventilation image is sensitive to the choice of DIR algorithms. To overcome the uncertainty associated with DIR, we develop a method based on deep convolutional neural network (CNN) to derive ventilation images directly from the 4DCT without explicit image registration. Methods A total of 82 sets of 4DCT and ventilation images from patients with lung cancer were used in this study. In the proposed CNN architecture, the CT two-channel input data consist of CT at the end of exhale and the end of inhale phases. The first convolutional layer has 32 different kernels of size 5 × 5 × 5, followed by another eight convolutional layers each of which is equipped with an activation layer (ReLU). The loss function is the mean-squared-error (MSE) to measure the intensity difference between the predicted and reference ventilation images. Results The predicted images were comparable to the label images of the test data. The similarity index, correlation coefficient, and Gamma index passing rate averaged over the tenfold cross validation were 0.880 ± 0.035, 0.874 ± 0.024, and 0.806 ± 0.014, respectively. Conclusions The results demonstrate that deep CNN can generate ventilation imaging from 4DCT without explicit deformable image registration, reducing the associated uncertainty.
Improving outcomes in ambulatory anesthesia by identifying high risk patients

Purpose of reviewCurrently, outcome data in ambulatory anesthesia are somewhat limited though results are quite good with low reported rates of mortality and major morbidity. As patient comorbidities and surgical invasiveness increase, identifying those patients at higher risk will help to focus qua
Uncemented Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty as Initial Treatment for Comminuted Proximal Humerus Fractures.

Objectives To determine whether uncemented implants would provide similar outcomes while avoiding the complications associated with cement in the treatment of elderly patients with proximal humerus fractures (PHFs) with primary reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA). Design Case series. Setting A single Level I trauma center. Patients/participants A prospectively obtained cohort of 30 patients who underwent uncemented RTSA as initial treatment for a comminuted PHF: 4 male, 26 female; average age 71 ± 11 years. Intervention Uncemented RTSA. Main outcome measures (1) Radiographic analysis, (2) postoperative clinical range of motion, and (3) functional outcome scores: the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Shoulder score and the Simple Shoulder Test score. Results Radiographic analysis showed 97% achieved stable humeral stem fixation and 70% had healing of the tuberosities in anatomical position. Average range of motion was 130 ± 31 degrees of forward flexion, 32 ± 18 degrees of external rotation, and internal rotation to the midlumbar spine. Average American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Shoulder score was 82.0 ± 13.5 (with an average pain rating of 0.8 ± 1.3), and average Simple Shoulder Test score was 69.4% ± 19.1%. Conclusions Our data show that treatment of comminuted PHFs in elderly patients with uncemented RTSA can consistently produce good clinical outcomes with a low rate of complications and suggest that cement may not be necessary for RTSA in the trauma setting. Level of evidence Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
A proposal for a new classification of "unfavorable risk criteria" in patients with stage I endometrial cancer.

Background Randomized trials describe differing sets of high–intermediate risk criteria. Objective To use the National Cancer Database to compare the impact of radiation therapy in patients with stage I endometrial cancer meeting different criteria, and define a classification of “unfavorable risk.” Methods Patients with stage I endometrial cancer between January 2010 and December 2014 were identified in the National Cancer Database and stratified into two cohorts: (1) patients meeting Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG)-99 criteria only for high–intermediate risk, but not Post-Operative Radiation Therapy in Endometrial Carcinoma (PORTEC)-1 criteria and (2) those meeting PORTEC-1 criteria only. High-risk stage I patients with both FIGO stage IB (under FIGO 2009 staging) and grade 3 disease were excluded. In each cohort, propensity score-matched survival analyses were performed. Based on these analyses, we propose a new classification of unfavorable risk. We then analyzed the association of adjuvant radiation with survival, stratified by this classification. Results We identified 117,272 patients with stage I endometrial cancer. Of these, 11,207 patients met GOG-99 criteria only and 5,920 patients met PORTEC-1 criteria only. After propensity score matching, adjuvant radiation therapy improved survival (HR=0.73; 95% CI 0.60 to 0.89; p=0.002) in the GOG-99 only cohort. However, there was no benefit of adjuvant radiation (HR=0.89; 95% CI 0.69 to 1.14; p=0.355) in the PORTEC-1 only cohort. We, therefore, defined unfavorable risk stage I endometrial cancer as two or more of the following risk factors: lymphovascular invasion, age ≥70, grade 2–3 disease, and FIGO stage IB. Adjuvant radiation improved survival in stage I patients with adverse risk factors (HR=0.74; 95% CI 0.68 to 0.80; p Conclusion Our study showed that adjuvant radiation was associated with an overall survival benefit in patients meeting GOG-99 criteria only; however, no survival benefit was seen in patients meeting PORTEC-1 criteria only. We propose a definition of unfavorable risk stage I endometrial cancer: ≥2 risk factors from among lymphovascular invasion, age ≥70, grade 2–3 disease, and FIGO stage IB disease.
The Control on the Sum of Bearing Rate in the Population System

Mainly studying the control equation of population′s distribution parameter.When the control variable,β(t) is changed.We can find two step functions such as n(t) and βn(t),Meanwhile approximating β(t).Moreover,having a result that n→∞,the sum of the population keep invariantly.
Nucleocytoplasmic Transport in Ribosome Biogenesis

The assembly of ribosomes in eukaryotic cells affords numerous opportunities to investigate mechanisms of nuclear-cytoplasmic transport. All stages of the assembly process involve both RNA and protein molecules moving into the nucleus, some being exported out, and still others being exported from the nucleus only to re-enter subsequently. What are the basic mechanisms that bring about the proper subcellular localization of ribosomal and non-ribosomal components involved in ribosome assembly? Are there aspects to the transport of ribosomal materials unique to these macromolecules and their multicomponent complexes or does nuclear-cytoplasmic transport of ribosomal components occur through the same pathways and mechanisms applicable to other cellular constituents? In addition, ribosome assembly takes place amid little if any pool of free ribosomal components; correspondingly, should a component either be produced in excess or prevented from assembly (usually through artificial conditions created by molecular biologists) that component is degraded very rapidly (Larson et al, 1991); thus, one might also ask whether there are mechanisms that coordinate the nuclear-cytoplasmic traffic of ribosomal components and accessory assembly factors.
Evolution of bridging fiber stress in titanium metal matrix composites at elevated temperature

This paper deals with the determination of stress evolution in bridging fibers during fatigue crack growth in a SM1240/Timetal-21S composite using the finite element method. Several parameters affecting this evolution were considered, namely, the process-induced residual stress, the creep characteristics of the matrix layer surrounding the fiber, the test temperature, and the loading frequency. In support of these calculations, a series of elevated temperature fatigue crack growth tests was conducted to identify the crack growth behavior of the composite when subjected to different temperatures at both high and low loading frequencies. Results of this numerical/experimental work were then utilized in conjunction with a postulated fiber fracture criterion based on the notion that a competition exists between the increase in the axial fiber stress and the continuous degradation of the fiber strength due to cyclic wear induced by the interface frictional shear stress. The conclusions of this study show that the axial stress in the bridging fibers increases with an increase in temperature and with a decrease in both the loading frequency and the matrix grain size. A combination of high-temperature, low-frequency, and small-matrix grain size would enhance creep deformation of the matrix, thus leading to an increase in the rate of the load transfer from the matrix to the bridging fibers. Furthermore, the presence of a compressive residual stress state in the bridging fibers retards the time-dependent increase of their axial stress. The fatigue strength of the bridging fibers was estimated to range from 720 to 870 MPa within the temperature range of 500 to 650°C. This strength was found to depend on both the temperature and the loading frequency.
Detection of DNA and poly-l-lysine using CVD graphene-channel FET biosensors

A graphene channel field-effect biosensor is demonstrated for detecting the binding of double-stranded DNA and poly-l-lysine. Sensors consist of chemical vapor deposition graphene transferred using a clean, etchant-free transfer method. The presence of DNA and poly-l-lysine are detected by the conductance change of the graphene transistor. A readily measured shift in the Dirac voltage (the voltage at which the graphene's resistance peaks) is observed after the graphene channel is exposed to solutions containing DNA or poly-l-lysine. The 'Dirac voltage shift' is attributed to the binding/unbinding of charged molecules on the graphene surface. The polarity of the response changes to positive direction with poly-l-lysine and negative direction with DNA. This response results in detection limits of 8 pM for 48.5 kbp DNA and 11 pM for poly-l-lysine. The biosensors are easy to fabricate, reusable and are promising as sensors of a wide variety of charged biomolecules.
Combined use of the ketogenic diet and vagus nerve stimulation in pediatric drug-resistant epilepsy.

Objective Patients with drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) pose considerable management challenges for patients, their families, and providers. Both the vagus nerve stimulator (VNS) and the ketogenic diet (KD) have been shown to be safe and effective in treating DRE. Nevertheless, information is lacking regarding treatment with combination of both modalities. This study reports the efficacy and tolerability of combining VNS and KD in a pediatric cohort with intractable epilepsy. Methods This is a retrospective review of 33 patients (0-17 years) with DRE treated with VNS and KD at a single pediatric level IV epilepsy center. We compared seizure reduction rates for each patient at baseline and at every clinic visit for 24 months after adding the second nonpharmacological therapy. The frequency of adverse events on the combined therapy was collected to assess safety and tolerability. Results There were a total of 170 visits for all patients while on the combined therapy. At 88% (95% CI: 83%-93%) of the visits, patients reported some reduction in seizure frequency. The proportion of patients reporting a greater than 50% seizure reduction over all visits was 62% (95% CI: 55%-69%). The proportion of a patient's visits with at least a greater than 50% reduction in seizure frequency had a median of 71% (IQR 33%-100%). Continued improvement was seen over time of combined treatment; for every one-unit time unit change (one month), there was a 6% increase in the odds of having a reduction in seizure frequency of >50% (OR = 1.06, 95% CI: 1.01-1.11). Significance This study shows that combining the VNS and KD in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy is well tolerated and reduces seizure frequency more than either one modality used alone and that the benefits in terms of seizure reduction continue to increase with the length of treatment.
Patient-Reported Outcomes in Lupus.

Patient-reported outcome (PRO) was identified as a core systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) outcome in 1999. More than 20 years later, however, generic PRO measures evaluating impact in SLE are used mainly for research. Generic and disease-targeted PRO tools have unique advantages. Significant progress in identification of patient disease-relevant PRO concepts and development of new PRO tools for SLE has occurred over the past 20 years. Further research needs to focus on responsiveness and minimally important differences of existing, promising PRO tools to facilitate their use in SLE patient care and research.