cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
ADAPTIVE RUN-LENGTH ENCODING

Publisher Summary This chapter elaborates an adaptive run-length encoding method. Some compression techniques work in two dimensions, storing regions of the picture in a data structure such as a quadtree. High compression can be achieved this way for some images, but finding the best decomposition of the image can be difficult, and fast decompression of selected regions also can be hard. A less sophisticated but simpler image storage technique is known as run-length encoding. However, this scheme is not efficient for images where the colors change quickly. If each pixel in a scanline is different than the preceding pixel, then run-length encoding actually will double the size of the file relative to a straightforward dump, because each pixel will be preceded by a count byte with value 0. To handle this situation, the count byte is redefined as a signed 8-bit integer. If the value is zero or positive, it indicates a run of length one more than its value; but if the count is negative, it means that what follows is a dump. This is called adaptive run-length encoding. A straightforward application of this technique usually produces a smaller file than a raw dump, but not always.
Streptozotocin-Treated High Fat Fed Mice: A New Type 2 Diabetes Model Used to Study Canagliflozin-Induced Alterations in Lipids and Lipoproteins.

The pharmacological effects of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) medications on lipoprotein metabolism are difficult to assess in preclinical models because those created failure to replicate the human condition in which insulin deficiency is superimposed on obesity-related insulin resistance. To create a better model, we fed mice with high fat (HF) diet and treated the animals with low dose streptozotocin (STZ) to mimic T2DM. We used this model to evaluate the effects of canagliflozin (CANA), a drug that reduces plasma glucose by inhibiting the sodium-glucose transporter 2 (SGLT2), which mediates ~90% of renal glucose reabsorption] on lipid and lipoprotein metabolism. After 6 weeks of CANA (30 mg/kg/day) treatment, the increase in total plasma cholesterol in HF-STZ diabetic mice was reversed, but plasma triglycerides were not affected. Lipoprotein fractionation and cholesterol distribution analysis showed that CANA kept HDL-Cholesterol, LDL-Cholesterol, and IDL-Cholesterol levels steady while these lipoprotein species were increased in placebo- and insulin-treated control groups. CANA treatment of HF-STZ mice reduced post-heparin plasma lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity at 2 (−40%) and 5 (−30%) weeks compared to placebo. Tissue-specific LPL activity following CANA treatment showed similar reduction. In summary, CANA prevented the total cholesterol increase in HF-STZ mice without effects on plasma lipids or lipoproteins, but did decrease LPL, implying a potential role of LPL-dependent lipoprotein metabolism in CANA action. These effects did not recapitulate the effect of SGLT2 inhibitors on lipids and lipoproteins in human, suggesting that a better murine T2DM model (such as the ApoB100 humanized CETP-overexpressing mouse) is needed next.
Foreknowledge Without Determinism

A number of philosophers and theologians have argued that if God has knowledge of future human actions then human agents cannot be free. This argument rests on the assumption that, since God is essentially omniscient, God cannot be wrong about what human agents will do. It is this assumption that I challenge in this paper. My aim is to develop an interpretation of God’s essential omniscience according to which God can be wrong even though God never is wrong. If this interpretation of essential omniscience is coherent, as I claim it is, then there is a logically consistent position according to which God is essentially omniscient, God foreknows what human agents will do, and yet it is possible for human agents to do otherwise. Thus, the argument for theological fatalism fails.
Editorial: Introduction to the Theme: Synthesizing Results and Defining Future Directions of Geoscience Education Research

The community of geoscience education researchers (GER) has reached a critical juncture where it is taking inventory in regard to the work that has been accomplished and what questions still need t...
Microclimates and tree growth in three urban spaces

Microclimates characteristic of urban park, plaza, and canyon spaces were related to physiology and growth of even-aged sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua L.) street trees. Microclimates, tree growth, and physiological responses were characterized diurnally and seasonally. Park and plaza sites received unobstructed sunlight while the canyon was limited to four hours of direct solar radiation in midsummer. Potential seasonal insolation was 44% of the potential maximum at the canyon and over 90% at the park. Afternoon air temperatures and vapor pressure deficits were somewhat greater at the plaza than the other two sites, and potential pan evaporation was nearly 50% greater over the season. Tree growth at the plaza and canyon acclimated physiologically and developmentally to the prevailing environmental conditions. Thinner leaves and less trunk growth when compared with the park were indications of shade acclimation in the canyon trees. This did not, however, appear to affect crown size or shoot growth of canyon trees. In contrast, plaza trees were sparse and stunted, exhibiting diminished crown size and diameter increment when compared with trees at the other sites. Less favorable water relations suggested that chronically higher evaporative demand and limited soil resources restricted growth of the plaza trees. Park, plaza, and canyon designations of urban spaces can provide a useful framework for predicting microclimatic factors that can affect tree growth for an urban site. Long-term growth and development, however, within any of these urban spaces will depend on interactions with existing soil conditions.
PCR-based assay for mating type and diploidy in Chlamydomonas.

Characterizing Chlamydomonas The unicellular green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, is a powerful genetic model for the analysis of a variety of cellular functions. Critical assays for genetic anal...
Podcasting: contemporary patient education.

Portable video technology is a widely available new tool with potential to be used by pediatric otolaryngology practices for patient and family education. Podcasts are media broadcasts that employ ...
Nonsuicidal Self-Injury

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), which is direct and deliberate harm to oneself in the absence of any intent to die, is a dangerous behavior that commonly emerges during adolescence. NSSI is a clinically significant behavior because it is immediately harmful, and it is associated with suicidal behavior and diagnoses such as borderline personality disorder. Only recently has NSSI begun to receive substantial attention from the clinical psychology research community. Recent research suggests that adolescents engage in NSSI primarily because it decreases negative thoughts and feelings, and also because it serves as a means of influencing or communicating with others. NSSI is believed to result from an interaction of biological predispositions, psychological vulnerabilities, and environmental stressors. Currently, research is focusing on providing explanations regarding why people engage in NSSI rather than other maladaptive behaviors, and how best to treat this behavior. These research efforts are expected to further improve understanding of what factors can influence and prevent this harmful outcome.
A Radiating Near-Field 24 GHz Radar Stethoscope

A prototype 24 GHz radar stethoscope has been developed for the diagnosis of heart sounds when direct contact with the skin is contraindicated. It is shown that a vibration sensing, bi-static radar operating in the near-field has a sensitivity maximum at a non-zero range and that maximum is proportional to the square of the radar operating frequency. By placing the instrument in the near-field, close to, but not touching the skin, a 20 dB sensitivity increase can be demonstrated. The transmitter antenna has a hot spot in the near-field which further increases the stethoscope’s sensitivity. The instrument is a modified, Doppler radar based, commercial RF motion detector that transmits very low RF power. When used as a stethoscope it is shown to pose no radiation hazard to the patient or medical personnel. An example is given to illustrate that the non-contact radar stethoscope has an audio output that is comparable in characteristics and quality to a conventional, skin-contact, acoustic stethoscope.
Differentially Private Empirical Risk Minimization with Smooth Non-Convex Loss Functions: A Non-Stationary View

In this paper, we study the Differentially Private Empirical Risk Minimization (DP-ERM) problem with non-convex loss functions and give several upper bounds for the utility in different settings. We first consider the problem in low-dimensional space. For DP-ERM with non-smooth regularizer, we generalize an existing work by measuring the utility using l2 norm of the projected gradient. Also, we extend the error bound measurement, for the first time, from empirical risk to population risk by using the expected l2 norm of the gradient. We then investigate the problem in high dimensional space, and show that by measuring the utility with Frank-Wolfe gap, it is possible to bound the utility by the Gaussian Width of the constraint set, instead of the dimensionality p of the underlying space. We further demonstrate that the advantages of this result can be achieved by the measure of l2 norm of the projected gradient. A somewhat surprising discovery is that although the two kinds of measurements are quite different, their induced utility upper bounds are asymptotically the same under some assumptions. We also show that the utility of some special non-convex loss functions can be reduced to a level (i.e., depending only on log p) similar to that of convex loss functions. Finally, we test our proposed algorithms on both synthetic and real world datasets and the experimental results confirm our theoretical analysis.
Emissions from Advanced Ultra-Low-NO x Heavy-Duty Natural Gas Vehicles

Author(s): Li, Chengguo; Han, Yuwei; Jiang, Yu; Yang, Jiacheng; Karavalakis, Georgie; Durbin, Thomas D; Johnson, Kent
Sonographic and histopathologic characteristics of MMR-deficient endometrial cancer.

e17111Background: Mismatch repair (MMR) deficiency has emerged as a key biomarker in endometrial cancer with roles in prognosis and guiding therapy. However, the differences of sonographic features...
Calculating Leakage in Emulsion Liquid Membrane Systems from pH Measurements

Abstract Leakage of the internal phase droplets reduces the extraction efficiency of emulsion liquid membrane systems by spilling the stripping agent and previously extracted solute into the bulk phase. When the stripping agent is acid or base, internal phase leakage can be determined from bulk phase pH measurements. New equations for calculating leakage from these pH measurements are presented, which account for bulk phase chemistry and volume changes due to leakage and emulsion swell. We show that equations used in several studies published over more than 30 years include unidentified assumptions that can cause erroneous leakage estimates for systems with weak acid or base stripping agents or bulk phase solutions that are not initially neutral. Guidelines identifying when these approximate equations will underestimate leakage by 10% or more are presented. Based on these guidelines and calculations quantifying errors in examples from the literature, we expect that many results calculated from pH underestimate the actual leakage. The new equations use the same experimental data as the approximate equations with minimal increased complexity and are recommended whenever leakage is calculated from pH measurements in systems without solute extraction. Methods for extending the equations to systems with simultaneous solute extraction are described.
Reduction in respiratory mortality not associated with influenza in Russia: effect of the introduction of pneumococcal vaccination (PCV13), or improvement in care?

Background. Pneumococcal vaccination (PCV13) for children (as well as older adults) in Russia was introduced in 2014, with no prior PCV7 use. While pneumonia hospitalization rates, both in children and adults did not decrease in the following years, respiratory mortality rates did decline with time. Moreover, there is a strong association between antibiotic, including multidrug resistance and PCV13 vaccine serotypes for S. pneumoniae in children in Russia, and presence of S. pneumoniae among sepsis cases in Russia during the recent years has been very low. Annual variability in influenza circulation may affect some of the changes in respiratory mortality rates. Methods. We applied the inference method from our recent study of influenza-associated mortality in Russia to relate monthly respiratory mortality rates between 09/2010 and 08/2019 to monthly indices of influenza circulation and baseline rates of mortality not associated with influenza, allowing for a potential trend in the baseline rates starting 2015. Results. Baseline rates of respiratory mortality not associated with influenza decreased with time starting from the 2014/15 season (with each season running from September to August), with the 2018/19 baseline rates of respiratory mortality per 100,000 individuals being lower by 12.41 (95% CI (10.6,14.2)) compared to the 2010-2014 period. Conclusions. While improvement in care might have contributed to the reduction in the rates of respiratory mortality not associated with influenza in Russia, the above temporally consistent reduction is compatible with the gradual replacement of vaccine serotypes in the transmission and carriage of S. pneumoniae following the introduction of PCV13. Further work is needed to better understand the impact of PCV13 on the epidemiology of respiratory infections and related mortality in Russia.
Outcomes of split-thickness skin grafting for foot and ankle wounds in patients with peripheral arterial disease

Introduction Tissue ischemia resulting from arterial insufficiency is a major factor affecting lower extremity wound healing in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Accelerated wound closure with split-thickness skin grafting (STSG) provides a durable barrier to infection and can prevent limb loss. Published STSG outcomes data are minimal in the post endovascular intervention population. Objective In this study, the authors examine factors predictive of STSG healing in patients with PAD following vascular intervention, including the effect of non-inline flow via arterial-arterial and non-arterial collateralization. Materials and methods Patients with PAD and wounds of the foot and ankle who underwent STSG between January 2014 and December 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. All patients received angiographic evaluation and endovascular or open revascularization where necessary. Effects of extremity revascularizations, STSG percent take, and amputation rate were evaluated. Results Thirty-five patients with 47 wounds underwent STSG. There were 21 men and 14 women with a mean age of 64 ± 13 years. Revascularization was required in 23 patients (25 extremities) before STSG, with balloon angioplasty for tibial artery lesions as the most common revascularization. Patent pedal arch was present in 8 patients; 35 patients had an absent or incomplete pedal arch. Patients with a fully patent pedal arch healed at a significantly higher rate than those with an absent or incomplete pedal arch at 1 month (62.5% vs. 17.1%, P ⟨ .05). At 90-day follow-up, 9 of 35 (25.7%) patients with 9 of 47 (19.1%) wounds were lost to follow-up, leaving 18 of 38 (47.37%) wounds healed and 20 (52.63%) still open. Ultimately, 36 of 47 (76.60%) wounds healed and 6 major amputations in 6 patients were required at a mean 502 ± 342 days follow-up. Conclusions These results suggest the importance of arterial-arterial connections such as the pedal arch to the healing potential of foot and ankle wounds after STSG in this high-risk patient population.
Report on soil-transmitted nematodiasis in national surveillance sites in Xiangcheng District in 2011

Objective To analyze the prevalence of soil-transmitted nematode infections in Xiangcheng District of Fujian Province in 2011.Methods Dazai village of Xiangcheng District of Zhangzhou City was selected in 2011.Kato-Katz method was used to detect the eggs of intestinal helminthes and cellophane tape was used to detect the eggs of pinworm among children age 3 to 12.Soil samples in the vegetable garden,orchard and other plantations were collected from 15 families and hookworm larvae in the soil were isolated,cultured and identified.Results A total of 1022 persons were detected.146 persons were infected with soil-transmitted nematodes and the infection rate was 14.29％.The infection rate of hookworm was 10.76％(110/1 022).Ascaris and Trichuris were not found.115 children were detected among them 36 were found infected with pinworm,the infection rate was 31.3％.10 soil samples from the vegetable garden were examined and 6 of them contained hookworm larvae.5 soil samples from the orchard were examined and 4 of them contained hookworm larvae.All of them were identified as New-World hookworm.Conclusion Comparing with the results of the first phase of the five-year surveillance results,a decreasing trend of the soil-transmitted nematode infections was revealed in 2011,but a relatively high rate of hookworm infection in children was noticed. Key words: Nematode infection; Soil-transmitted nematodiasis; Surveillance; Report
On the nature of saturated 2k- factorial designs for unbiased estimation of non-negligible parameters

Abstract We contemplate an experimental situation in a 2 k -factorial experiment with acute resource crunch so that we need to conduct just a saturated design [SD] - with the understanding that precision of the estimates cannot be estimated from the data. It is known beforehand which effect(s)/interaction(s) are likely to be negligible. We examine the flexibility to the extent that an experimenter can make a choice of an SD in order to retain information on all the remaining [non-negligible] effects/interactions.
An Explainable Deep Learning Approach for Multimodal Electrophysiology Classification

In recent years, more biomedical studies have begun to use multimodal data to improve model performance. As such, there is a need for improved multimodal explainability methods. Many studies involving multimodal explainability have used ablation approaches. Ablation requires the modification of input data, which may create out-of-distribution samples and may not always offer a correct explanation. We propose using an alternative gradient-based feature attribution approach, called layer-wise relevance propagation (LRP), to help explain multimodal models. To demonstrate the feasibility of the approach, we selected automated sleep stage classification as our use-case and trained a 1-D convolutional neural network (CNN) with electroencephalogram (EEG), electrooculogram (EOG), and electromyogram (EMG) data. We applied LRP to explain the relative importance of each modality to the classification of different sleep stages. Our results showed that across all samples, EEG was most important, followed by EOG, and EMG. For individual sleep stages, EEG and EOG had higher relevance for classifying awake and non-rapid eye movement 1 (NREM1). EOG was most important for classifying REM, and EEG was most relevant for classifying NREM2-NREM3. Also, LRP gave consistent levels of importance to each modality for correctly classified samples across folds and inconsistent levels of importance for incorrectly classified samples. Our results demonstrate the additional insight that gradient-based approaches can provide relative to ablation methods and highlight their feasibility for explaining multimodal electrophysiology classifiers.
Breast Cancer Screening in Older Women

Screening mammography is shown to decrease breast cancer mortality in women aged 50–74 but the benefit for older women is not established. This chapter summarizes the evidence for breast cancer screening, reviews screening guidelines, and discusses considerations for continuing and stopping screening in older women.
Formation of a National Perinatal Nitrous Oxide Data Registry: The Intrapartum Nitrous Oxide Workgroup I-NOW

Background: There are a variety of labor analgesic options for parturients, such as intravenous opioids, neuraxial interventions, hydrotherapy, hypnosis, as well as inhaled nitrous oxide (N2O). Inhaled N2O has been utilized outside of the United States (U.S.) for decades but has only recently gained popularity in the U.S. as a labor analgesic. There are no current multi-center data registries evaluating N2O use as a labor analgesic regarding conversion rates, side effects, and delivery outcomes. Methods: We created the first multi-center N2O data registry to gather maternal and newborn outcome data from several institutions across the U.S. All centers were required to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which stated that at least 80% of all parturients utilizing N2O for labor would be included in the database. We hypothesized that the data would assist in counseling and consenting parturients regarding incidence of side effects, conversion rates and etiologies, as well as neonatal outcomes. This manuscript demonstrates the steps taken to create the data registry, including institutional enrollment, development of a data collection tool, selection of the data management system and administrator, organization of multiple institutional review boards, delineation of responsibilities and challenges encountered with implementation. Conclusion: The development of a multi-center data registry was successfully created as we saw a need for a safe data-sharing system to answer mutually determined research questions, and to collect strong data information in order to provide evidenced based data to patients and providers.
Associations Between Smoking Status and Physical and Mental Health-Related Quality of Life Among Individuals With Mobility Impairments.

Background In the general population, quitting smoking is associated with improved health-related quality of life (QoL), but this association has not been examined in smokers with chronic mobility impairments (MIs). Purpose We examined associations between smoking status and health-related QoL over 6 months, and whether relationships are moderated by depression and MI severity. Methods This is a secondary analysis of a smoking cessation induction trial among smokers with MIs (n = 241, 56% female, 36% Black) assessed at baseline, and 4 and 6 months after. Participants were grouped into "Smokers" (smoking at 4 and 6 months), "Abstainers" (quit at 4 and 6 months), "Relapsers" (relapsed at 6 months), and "Late-quitters" (quit at 6 months). Physical and mental health-related QoL was assessed with the Short-Form Health Survey. Depression was defined as scores ≥10 on the Patient Health Questionnaire, and MI severity by the use of skilled care for personal needs. Data were analyzed with linear mixed models. Results Aggregating across time, among nondepressed participants, compared with "Smokers," the "Abstainer," and "Late-quitter" groups improved their physical health scores. "Late-quitters" also improved compared with "Relapsers." Among the total sample, compared with "Smokers," "Abstainers" showed improvements in mental health scores overtime, whereas "Relapsers" improved their score at 4 months, and "Late-quitters" improved at 6 months. Conclusions Quitting smoking is associated with improvements in physical health-related QoL regardless of the severity of MI but only among those without depression at baseline. For mental health-related QoL, associations with quitting smoking were independent of baseline depression and severity of MI.
Beyond carbon in socioenvironmental assessment: Life cycle assessment as a decision support tool for net-zero energy systems

Abstract Decarbonizing the energy system is a crucial task for mitigating climate change. Although sustainability assessment methods like life cycle assessment (LCA) are designed for multicriteria sustainability evaluation, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions tend to dominate recommendations and analyses because of the clear relationship between a simple indicator and the many serious impacts of climate change. When faced with a choice among multiple net-zero GHG infrastructure options, however, GHG emissions are no longer available as an overall proxy for sustainability. The socioenvironmental assessment community thus faces a challenge in robustly evaluating relative sustainability for net-zero GHG energy systems and the systems that use them. Methodological issues like data collection and management, context-specific impact assessment, normalization, and multicriteria prioritization remain underdeveloped in part because they are less important in contexts where GHG emissions are assumed to dominate decisions. Broadly, the ability to robustly and rigorously manage and communicate epistemic uncertainty in true multicriteria sustainability assessment contexts remains underdeveloped in LCA because GHGs have been such a reliably dominant indicator. This piece argues that to survive as a relevant, useful tool in a zero-GHG future, LCA ought to mature as a decision support tool rather than as a pure assessment tool. Methodological attention focused on decision support, including robust approaches to sensitivity and scenario analysis, is particularly needed. Issue areas for LCA “beyond carbon” are categorized by LCA phase, illustrated with examples from carbon capture and storage (CCS) evaluations. Leveraging existing strengths of multicriteria sustainability assessment methodologies like LCA, and investing effort in strengthening their value for decision support, could improve long-term sustainability outcomes.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve: How Large Should it be?

In the wake of the 1973–1974 oil embargo, the U.S. Congress has legislated the creation of a Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), meant to reduce the nation’s vulnerability to similar supply interruptions. This study addresses the question about the appropriate overall size of the Reserve. On the one hand, it seeks answers to this and related questions under specific assumptions; on the other, it develops an analytical tool, implemented in a computer program, and available for further studies under different assumptions. The program runs on the Department of Energy (DOE) computer.
FOAF: Friend of a Friend

At this point, we have learned the major technical components for the Semantic Web, and it is time for us to take a look at some real-world examples. Starting from Friend of a Friend (FOAF) is a good choice since it is simple and easy to understand, yet it does tell us a lot about what the Semantic Web looks like, especially in the area of social networking.
Z -boson pole mass at two-loop order in the pure MS ̄ scheme

I obtain the complex pole squared mass of the $Z$ boson at full two-loop order in the Standard Model in the pure $\overline{\mathrm{MS}}$ renormalization scheme. The input parameters are the running gauge couplings, the top-quark Yukawa coupling, the Higgs self-coupling, and the vacuum expectation value that minimizes the Landau gauge effective potential. The effects of nonzero Goldstone boson mass are resummed. Within a reasonable range of renormalization scale choices, the scale dependence of the computed pole mass is found to be comparable to the current experimental uncertainty, but the true theoretical error is likely somewhat larger.
Characterization of a murine monoclonal antibody specific for an allotypic determinant on T cell antigen receptor.

Repeated immunization of normal C57L/J (H-2b) mice with peripheral T cells from BALB.B (H-2b) mice results in the production of antibodies which react with the T cell receptor. A monoclonal antibody-producing hybridoma, F23.1, was isolated from immunized C57L/J mice showing this property. This monoclonal antibody recognizes approximately 25% of peripheral T cells in BALB mice. It stains approximately the same fraction of T cells and precipitates the same heterodimer as the rat monoclonal antibody described previously that was made against isolated receptor material. The allotypic determinant recognized by this monoclonal antibody is present in most common laboratory strains (BALB, C57BL, CBA, A, DBA, C3H) and is absent in C57L, C57BR, and SJL mice. Sorting peripheral T cells from BALB.B or (SJL X BALB/c)F1 mice for the F23.1+ and F23.1- subsets revealed that both populations contain approximately the same CTL precursor frequency for alloantigen. Thus, the T cell receptor allotype defined by F23.1 is present on CTL. Furthermore, cytotoxicity mediated by an F23.1+ CTL line could be blocked specifically by the F23.1 monoclonal antibody. Under appropriate conditions, the monoclonal antibody F23.1 bound to Sepharose 4B beads can induce resting peripheral T lymphocytes of allotype-positive strains to proliferate.
Comparative visualization of protein structure-sequence alignments

Protein fold recognition (threading) involves the prediction of a protein's three-dimensional shape based on its similarity to a protein whose structure is known. Fold predictions are low resolution; no effort is made to rotate the protein's component amino acid side chains into their correct spatial orientations. Rather, the goal is to recognize the protein family member that most closely resembles the target sequence of unknown structure and to create a sensible alignment of the target to the structure (i.e., a structure-sequence alignment). To complement this structure prediction method the authors have implemented a low resolution molecular graphics tool. Since amino acid side chain orientation is not relevant in fold recognition, amino acid residues are represented by abstract shapes or glyphs much like Lego/sup TM/ blocks. They also borrow techniques from comparative streamline visualization to provide clean depictions of the entire protein structure model. By creating a low resolution representation of protein structure, they are able to approximately double the amount of information on the screen. This implementation also possesses the advantage of eliminating distracting and possibly misleading visual clutter resulting from the mapping of protein alignment information onto a high resolution display of a known structure.
The Urinary Output of Catechol Derivatives Including Adrenaline in Normal Individuals, in Essential Hypertension, and in Myocardial Infarction

Based on Shaw's specific test, the adrenaline content of the urine of some normal individuals was considerably higher than has been reported by those using the von Euler technic (adsorption at an alkaline pH, elution and bioassay). One patient with myocardial infarction showed highly significant amounts on four occasions. The marked elevation in the Kroneberg-Schumann catechol ratio for hypertension patients as compared with normals, reported by these authors, was not confirmed by our findings. In three cases of myocardial infarction the ratio was elevated. Our ratios for normals confirm the original work.
Anatomical Features of Modellnaia siamensis (Mollusca, Bivalvia, Unionidae)

Although conchologically an etheriid mussel, M. siamensis from northeastern Thailand is, according to anatomical and larval features, an unionid. Its unique character states among the Unionidae are: relatively distant spacing of septa in all four demibranchs in both, males and females, absence of a foot in adults, and generation of subelliptical glochidial larvae. This species is seemingly a phylogenetic relic.
Impact of splenomegaly on therapeutic response and I‐131‐LYM‐1 dosimetry in patients with B‐lymphocytic malignancies

BACKGROUND Patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) frequently have splenomegaly, which has been reported to cause poor tumor targeting of radiolabeled antibodies. Consequently, patients with splenomegaly have been ineligible for some trials of radioimmunotherapy because of the assumption that they would not benefit. METHODS Forty-nine patients with NHL and five with CLL received an initial dose of 131I-Lym-1 ranging from 740-8140 MBq. Six patients had prior splenectomy. The remaining 48 patients had spleen volumes ranging from 140-2830 ml determined using x-ray computed tomography. Medical Internal Radiation Dose Committee formalism was used to determine dosimetry, and spleen volume was used to adjust the S value for the spleen of each patient. RESULTS Spleen radiation dose decreased as spleen volume increased, although there was a positive correlation (r = 0.75) between spleen volume and spleen cumulated activity. There was no clear relationship between spleen volume and tumor radiation dose, although tumor radiation doses were low in five patients whose spleen volumes were greater than or equal to 970 ml. There was no apparent relationship between spleen volume and therapeutic response to 131I-Lym-1. Two of five patients whose spleen volumes were greater than or equal to 970 ml responded despite low tumor radiation doses, whereas two of six patients with prior splenectomy did not respond. CONCLUSIONS The results of this study provide no clear evidence that patients with splenomegaly should be excluded from radioimmunotherapy trials because of the assumption that they will not benefit. Splenomegaly was associated with decreased radiation dose to the spleen, and to tumors only for extraordinarily large spleens. Cancer 1997; 80:2553-7. © 1997 American Cancer Society.
Characterization of bacteriophages virulent for Clostridium perfringens and identification of phage lytic enzymes as alternatives to antibiotics for potential control of the bacterium.

Abstract There has been a resurgent interest in the use of bacteriophages or their gene products to control bacterial pathogens as alternatives to currently used antibiotics. Clostridium perfringens is a gram-positive, spore-forming anaerobic bacterium that plays a significant role in human foodborne disease as well as non-foodborne human, animal, and avian diseases. Countries that have complied with the ban on antimicrobial growth promoters in feeds have reported increased incidences of C. perfringens-associated diseases in poultry. To address these issues, new antimicrobial agents, putative lysins encoded by the genomes of bacteriophages, are being identified in our laboratory. Poultry intestinal material, soil, sewage, and poultry processing drainage water were screened for virulent bacteriophages that could lyse C. perfringens and produce clear plaques in spot assays. Bacteriophages were isolated that had long noncontractile tails, members of the family Siphoviridae, and with short noncontractile tails, members of the family Podoviridae. Several bacteriophage genes were identified that encoded N-acetylmuramoyl- l -alanine amidases, lysozyme-endopeptidases, and a zinc carboxypeptidase domain that has not been previously reported in viral genomes. Putative phage lysin genes (ply) were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant lysins were amidases capable of lysing both parental phage host strains of C. perfringens as well as other strains of the bacterium in spot and turbidity reduction assays, but did not lyse any clostridia beyond the species. Consequently, bacteriophage gene products could eventually be used to target bacterial pathogens, such as C. perfringens via a species-specific strategy, to control animal and human diseases without having deleterious effects on beneficial probiotic bacteria.
Saint-Venant end effects for materials with negative Poisson's ratios

Results are presented from an analysis of Saint-Venant end effects for materials with negative Poisson's ratio. Examples are presented showing that slow decay of end stress occurs in circular cylinders of negative Poisson's ratio, whereas a sandwich panel containing rigid face sheets and a compliant core exhibits no anomalous effects for negative Poisson's ratio (but exhibits slow stress decay for core Poisson's ratios approaching 0.5). In sand panels with stiff but not perfectly rigid face sheets, a negative Poisson's ratio results in end stress decay, which is faster than it would be otherwise. It is suggested that the slow decay previously predicted for sandwich strips in plane deformation as a result of the geometry can be mitigated by the use of a negative Poisson's ratio material for the core.
Optical manipulation and control of real-time PCR in cell encapsulating microdroplets by IR laser

This study presents an optical microfluidic platform and method for performing real-time polymerase chain reactions of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell DNA within droplet-in-oil micro-reactors. Illumination of the droplets using a low-power (20–40 mW) infrared (IR) laser at 1,460 nm provides a simple approach for droplet manipulation and rapid thermal cycling. The nanoliter droplet volumes allow for extremely fast amplification times, from cell lysis to assay completion in 15 min or less. Droplets containing lysis buffer and subsequently master mix solutions are optically positioned in mineral oil to coalesce with droplets containing live cells on a Petri dish surface for reverse-transcription polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCR). The optical PCR setup is also shown to amplify DNA in droplets containing single or multiple cells and distinguish between methylated and unmethylated BRCA1 promoters in microdroplets containing sample at the single-cell level. Melting curves generated using IR heating indicates a melting temperature of 86 °C for the 255-bp amplicon. The results are consistent with standard PCR and methylation-specific protocols performed in a commercial system. The simplicity of the droplet-in-oil Petri dish platform provides an easy and efficient tool for DNA analysis from live cells, and can be integrated with other microfluidic technologies for complex and large-scale assays.
Feminist Voices on Sex Work: Implications for Social Work

Sex work and prostitution are the focus of debate among feminists. This article explores the long history of the debate on sex work and presents recommendations for a policy statement for the profession.
Intracranial Metastatic Disease Spares the Limbic Circuit: A Review of 697 Metastatic Lesions in 107 Patients

Purpose We report the incidence of metastatic involvement of the limbic circuit in a retrospective review of patients treated at our institution. This review was performed to assess the feasibility of selectively sparing the limbic system during whole-brain radiotherapy and prophylactic cranial irradiation. Methods and Materials We identified 697 intracranial metastases in 107 patients after reviewing contrast-enhanced CT and/or MR image sets for each patient. Lesions were localized to the limbic circuit or to the rest of the brain/brain stem. Patients were categorized by tumor histology (e.g., non-small-cell lung cancer, small-cell lung cancer, breast cancer, and other) and by total number of intracranial metastases (1-3, oligometastatic; 4 or more, nonoligometastatic). Results Thirty-six limbic metastases (5.2% of all metastases) were identified in 22 patients who had a median of 16.5 metastases/patient (limbic metastases accounted for 9.9% of their lesions). Sixteen metastases (2.29%) involved the hippocampus, and 20 (2.86%) involved the rest of the limbic circuit; 86.2% of limbic metastases occurred in nonoligometastatic patients, and 13.8% occurred in oligometastatic patients. The incidence of limbic metastases by histologic subtype was similar. The incidence of limbic metastases in oligometastatic patients was 4.9% (5/103): 0.97%, hippocampus; 3.9%, remainder of the limbic circuit. One of 53 oligometastatic patients (1.9%) had hippocampal metastases, while 4/53 (7.5%) had other limbic metastases. Conclusions Metastatic involvement of the limbic circuit is uncommon and limited primarily to patients with nonoligometastatic disease, supporting our hypothesis that it is reasonable to selectively exclude or reduce the dose to the limbic circuit when treating patients with prophylactic cranial irradiation or whole-brain radiotherapy for oligometastatic disease not involving these structures.
Real-time probabilistic data association over streams

The Probabilistic Data Association (PDA) problem involves identifying correspondences between items over data sequences on the basis of similarity functions. PDA has long been a topic of interest in many application areas such as real-time tracking and surveillance. Despite its significance, however, it has largely been ignored by the event-processing community. Our work rectifies this situation by studying PDA in the context of continuous event processing.Specifically, we formulate PDA as a continuous probabilistic ranking problem with constraints and efficiently solve it using fast constraint resolution. Our solutions are built on a top-k approximation to the problem guided by resource-aware optimization techniques that adaptively utilize the available resources to produce real-time results. User-defined data association constraints are used to restrict the solution space and quickly eliminate inconsistent solution candidates. We also derive the runtime complexity of our solutions and experimentally evaluate these solutions using a prime PDA application: real-time tracking of moving objects within a camera network. Our evaluation results demonstrate the superiority of our solutions over traditional constraint programming formulations.
Aggregation of Direct Dyes Investigated by Molecular Modeling

Molecular modeling simulating aqueous conditions is used to elucidate the formation of aggregates of sulfonated chromophores, including Congo Red and Trypan Blue. The relative energies involved in the aggregation process are calculated and geometric features of the molecules and their aggregates are discussed. Parallel stacking facing one another occurs with slight shifts along the long axes of the chromophores to accommodate the sterically demanding sulfonate groups. The Connolly surfaces and volumes of the indi vidual molecules as well as their aggregates are determined.
Facial emotion processing in acutely ill and euthymic patients with pediatric bipolar disorder

ABSTRACT Objective: Past investigations indicate facial emotion-processing abnormalities in pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD) subjects. However, the extent to which these deficits represent state- and trait-related factors is unclear. We investigated facial affect processing in acutely ill and clinically stabilized children with PBD and matched healthy subjects. Method: Subjects ( N = 86) consisted of unmedicated/acutely ill ( n = 29) and medicated/clinically stabilized ( n = 29) PBD youths and matched healthy subjects ( n = 28) who completed tasks of facial affect identification and differentiation. Results: Subjects with PBD, regardless of clinical and treatment status, showed marked impairments in the ability to correctly identify emotionally intense happy and sad facial expressions, with both groups tending to misjudge extreme facial expressions as being moderate to mild in intensity. However, when differentiating subtle variations of happy or sad expressions, only unmedicated/acutely ill PBD patients performed more poorly than healthy subjects. Younger age at onset was associated with more impaired emotion processing only in the PBD sample. PBD subjects with comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) performed more poorly than subjects without ADHD when processing sad facial expressions, but not happy ones. Conclusions: This study found evidence of both state-of-illness and trait-related deficits in emotion processing in PBD. Treatments are needed to better reduce this impairment and to reduce its developmental impact on interpersonal functioning.
Model-driven brain shift compensation.

Abstract Surgical navigation systems provide the surgeon with a display of preoperative and intraoperative data in the same coordinate system. However, the systems currently in use in neurosurgery are subject to inaccuracy caused by intraoperative brain deformation (brain shift), since they typically assume that the intracranial structures are rigid. Experiments show brain shift of up to 1 cm, making it the dominant error in the system. We propose a biomechanical-model-based approach for brain shift compensation. Two models are presented: a damped spring–mass model and a model based on continuum mechanics. Both models are guided by limited intraoperative (exposed brain) surface data, with the aim to recover the deformation in the full volume. The two models are compared and their advantages and disadvantages discussed. A partial validation using intraoperative MR image sequences indicates that the approach reduces the error caused by brain shift.
Bernard Schwartz, MD, PhD, Founding Chair of Ophthalmology, Tufts University School of Medicine, and Founding Editor of Survey of Ophthalmology

Bernard Schwartz, MD, PhD (1927-2007) was first and foremost a scholar. He was a teacher, serving as Professor of ophthalmology for many years at Tufts University; an administrator, chairing the department of ophthalmology for over 20 years; a clinician, practicing primarily in the field of glaucoma; a scientist with a broad interest in ophthalmic research; an historian, especially of medical history; and an editor, primarily of Survey of Ophthalmology. Throughout all of his activities, the central theme was always scholarship.
“I’m Not Abusing or Anything”: Patient–physician communication about opioid treatment in chronic pain

A B S T R A C T Objective: To characterize clinical communication about opioids through direct analysis of clinic visits and in-depth interviews with patients. Methods: This was a pilot study of 30 patients with chronic pain, who were audio-recorded in their primary care visits and interviewed after the visit about their pain care and relationship with their physicians. Emergent thematic analysis guided data interpretation. Results: Uncertainties about opioid treatment for chronic pain, particularly addiction and misuse, play an important role in communicating about pain treatment. Three patterns of responding to uncertainty emerged in conversations between patients and physicians: reassurance, avoiding opioids, and gathering additional information. Results are interpreted within the framework of Problematic Integration theory. Conclusion: Although it is well-established that opioid treatment for chronic pain poses numerous uncertainties, little is known about how patients and their physicians navigate these uncertainties. This study illuminates ways in which patients and physicians face uncertainty communicatively and collaboratively. Practice implications: Acknowledging and confronting the uncertainties inherent in chronic opioid treatment are critical communication skills for patients taking opioids and their physicians. Many of the communication behaviors documented in this study may serve as a model for training patients and physicians to communicate effectively about opioids.
A theoretical study of wind‐velocity and wind‐direction in curved air‐currents

The problem of wind-distribution in the vertical has so far been treated only for straight-line flow. In this case we have equilibrium between the pressure-gradient force, the Coriolis force, and the frictional force, if we assume steady motion. The solution is the well-known Ekman spiral. In many instances, however, the simple assumption of straight-line flow does not hold. In the inner part of cyclones and especially in tropical cyclones the curvature of the isobars is large enough to give an appreciable centrifugal force which enters in the balance of forces. In anticyclones the influence of the centrifugal force is probably much smaller since the winds in the interior are feeble.