cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Quality of Evidence to Compare Outcomes of Open and Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Prostatectomy

Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP) has gained widespread acceptance in the treatment of prostate cancer. While it increasingly is becoming the surgical approach of choice in many centers, limited data exist directly comparing it to radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP). This review examines the evidence comparing RALP to RRP. The outcomes evaluated are arranged into perioperative, oncologic, and functional outcomes. Of the 21 publications meeting our selection criteria, Level II, III, and IV evidence were found in 9, 1, and 11 articles, respectively. Overall, RALP was associated with lower blood loss, transfusion rates, length of stay, and higher cost when compared to RRP. Definitive conclusions regarding complications and oncologic and functional outcomes are not yet possible, and will require longer-term follow-up and well-designed randomized controlled trials.
α1-Adrenergic receptors in the brain: characterization in astrocytic glial cultures and comparison with neuronal cultures

Binding of [125I]HEAT to membranes prepared from primary cultures of astrocytic glial cells was time-dependent and 70-85% specific. Various adrenergic agonists and antagonists competed for [125I]HEAT binding according to the potencies of prazosin greater than, yohimbine greater than or equal to, clonidine, norepinephrine (NE), and propranolol. Scatchard analysis showed the Bmax of 209 fmol/mg protein and a Kd of 184 pM for [125I]HEAT binding by astrocytic glial membranes. Pretreatment of astrocytes with NE resulted in a dose-dependent downregulation of [125I]HEAT binding sites with a maximal response observed after 8 h at 100 microM NE. Removal of NE from cultures after pretreatment resulted in a time- and protein synthesis-dependent recovery of binding sites to control levels within 120 h. Incubation of astrocytic glial cultures with NE stimulated phosphoinositide (PI) hydrolysis in a time- and dose-dependent manner with a maximal stimulation of 2-fold observed in 60 min by 100 microM NE. Clonidine expressed differential effects on alpha 1-adrenergic receptors of the neuronal and astrocytic glial cultures. Pretreatment with 10 microM clonidine caused a 40% decrease in the Bmax of [125I]HEAT binding without influencing the Kd value in neuronal cultures. This downregulatory effect of clonidine was associated with a reduction in the ability of NE to stimulate PI hydrolysis in clonidine pretreated cells. In contrast to neuronal cultures, clonidine neither downregulated [125I]HEAT binding sites nor stimulated PI hydrolysis in glial cultures.
Juggling risk to reduce amputations: The three-ring circus of infection, ischemia and tissue loss-dominant conditions

Abstract Wound classification systems have evolved from linear systems describing only one factor to more matrix-oriented, allowing wider clinical applicability. We suggest that, in a similar fashion to wound classification, a flexible long-term management philosophy should be dynamic and conceptually inclusive. We visualize amputation prevention as the management of three partially intersecting rings whose complex interplay competes for dominance at any given time during the life of the patient and his or her limb. These rings of dominance involve tissue loss, ischemia, and infection and are constantly in motion. Once a patient has a wound or has healed a wound, one might consider this flexible approach to management and assessment. A question that might be asked would be: “At this moment, which ring does this patient's biggest problem lie? Infection? Ischemia? Tissue Loss? Combinations?” This approach may help the interdisciplinary team understand who is primarily responsible for care at any given time while understanding the dynamic nature of management of the high-risk patient.
Correlates of learning in a virtual classroom

Abstract The Virtual Classroom® consists of software enhancements to the basic capabilities of a computer-mediated communication system in order to support collaborative learning. Results of quasi-experimental field trials which included matched sections of college courses delivered in the traditional and virtual classrooms indicate that there is no consistent significant difference between the two modes in mastery of material by students, as measured by grades: in a computer science course, grades were better in the on-line section. Subjectively, most students report that the Virtual Classroom improves access to educational activities and is, overall, a "better" mode of learning. However, these favorable outcomes are contingent upon a number of variables, including student characteristics, adequate equipment access, and instructor-generated collaborative learning processes.
Bis[2-(1H-imidazol-2-yl-κN 3)-1H-imidazol-3-ium]silver(I) trinitrate

The synthesis of the title salt, [Ag(C6H7N4)2](NO3)3, was carried out employing a 1:2 molar ratio of 2,2′-biimidazole and silver nitrate respectively. The cation has crystallographically-imposed C2 symmetry with the metal atom in an almost linear coordination environment [N—Ag—N = 177.01 (17)°]. The crystal structure displays N—H⋯O and C—H⋯O hydrogen-bonding inter­actions.
Distortion of atomic orbitals within molecules

Abstract The importance of the flexibility of atomic orbitals in a molecular environment has been investigated for several phosphorous containing diatomic molecules. The results indicate the degree to which atomic Hartree-Fock orbitals are suitable for molecular electronic structure studies.
Carotenoids induce morphological changes in human mammary epithelial cell cultures

Abstract Epidemiological studies suggest that carotenoids may play a role in human breast carcinogenesis. To identify an anticarcinogenic mechanism, a laboratory model for examination of biologic effects is required. Efficacy of tetrahydrofuran (THF) for delivery of β‐carotene to a human mammary epithelial cell line has not been reported, and biologic effects of carotenoids on normal mammary epithelial cells or mammary epithelial cell lines have not been described. In these studies, we examined MCF‐10A cells treatedwith 0.04%, 0.10%, and 0.35% THF (vol/vol) for morphological signs of toxcity and determined effects of THF on cell proliferation over a seven‐day period. Cells treated with THF demonstrated a reduction in mean number of cells per dish (p < 0.05) but still underwent a 3.2‐ to 4.0‐fold increase in cell number over the seven days. MCF‐10A cells were also treated with a 7 μmolll solution of β‐carotene and examined for morphological changes and effects on cell growth. Exposure to this concentration...
The role of internal sphincter in chronic anal fissures

Changes in anal sphincteric manometric pressures in response to rectal distention were measured in eight patients with chronic anal fissures and were compared with those of ten controls. No statistically different resting pressures were noted between the two groups. Overshoot phenomenon was more commonly seen in patients with fissure. There were no differences in the anal sphincteric pressures after lateral internal sphincterotomy (LIS) or fissurectomy midline sphincterotomy (FMS). All fissures healed postoperatively, irrespective of the surgical technique (LIS or FMS) or the pressure readings. It can be concluded that the therapeutic effect of sphincterotomies might at least in part be due to anatomic widening of the anal canal rather than to decreased resting pressures of the internal sphincter.
Fatigue Reliability of Wind Turbine Fleets: The Effect of Uncertainty on Projected Costs

The cost of repairing or replacing failed components depends on the number and timing of failures. Although the total probability of individual component failure is sometimes interpreted as the percentage of components likely to fail, this perception is often far from correct. Different amounts of common versus independent uncertainty can cause different numbers of components to be at risk of failure. The FAROW tool for fatigue and reliability analysis of wind turbines makes it possible for the first time to conduct a detailed economic analysis of the effects of uncertainty on fleet costs. By dividing the uncertainty into common and independent parts, the percentage of components expected to fail in each year of operation is estimated. Costs are assigned to the failures and the yearly costs and present values are computed. If replacement cost is simply a constant multiple of the number of failures, the average, or expected cost is the same as would be calculated by multiplying by the probability of individual component failure. However, more complicated cost models require a break down of how many components are likely to fail. This break down enables the calculation of costs associated with various probability of occurrence levels, illustrating the variability more » in projected costs. Estimating how the numbers of components expected to fail evolves over time is also useful in calculating the present value of projected costs and in understanding the nature of the financial risk. « less
Tit-for-Tat among the Iroquois: a game theoretic perspective on inter-tribal political organization

The Iroquois have intrigued scholars since anthropology's Nineteenth Century beginnings, in part, because their system of the League epitomizes intertribal politics unsullied by the presence of the State. We suggest that the emergence of an inter-group form of political management lacking the usual hierarchical institutions of stratified and statist societies can arise in an environment of tribal warfare and mistrust, if there are rather minimal conditions governing social interaction. These conditions have been investigated by game theorists analyzing the Tit-for-Tat solution to the "Prisoner's Dilemma," by biologists studying the evolution of cooperation, and by social scientists analyzing competition and cooperation in human societies. The Prisoner's Dilemma model includes a number of predictions that can be tested in the Iroquois by means of archaeological and ethnohistorical data and most of these predictions are confirmed. We conclude that the formalisms of game theory as well as the individualistic orientation of evolutionary biology provide new insights into the study of social organization and political anthropology.
Physical And Reduced-Order Dynamic Analysis of MEMS

In this paper, we first present an efficient physical level simulation method for the dynamic analysis of electrostatic micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). This method is then used to analyze MEMS dynamics. Stiffness hardening or softening of MEM structures has been shown to depend both on the applied voltage and the geometry. The existence of multiple resonant peaks in the frequency response diagram has been presented. We have shown that a DC bias along with an appropriate AC bias can give fast switching at a considerably less peak power requirement. Finally, a reduced order model has been developed based on Karhunen-Loeve decomposition for the dynamic simulation of MEMS. Reduced order models are cheap in terms of memory and computational time and are needed to perform fast and efficient system-level composite circuit and micro-mechanical simulations.
Dramatizing Data: A Primer

Due to the lack of “how-to” pieces in the methods literature, a theatre artist who later became an ethnographer offers this personal primer in playwriting with qualitative data. Ethnodramatic research representation should be chosen not for its novelty but for its appropriateness as a medium for telling a participant’s story credibly, vividly, and persuasively. An overview of such fundamental playwriting principles as plotting, characterization, monologues, dialogue, and staging is given. The author also proposes that collaborative ventures between ethnographers and theatre practitioners should be initiated to heighten the artistic quality of ethnotheatrical presentations.
REDUCTION OF POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS IN SHRIMP BY PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL METHODS

Polychlorinated biphenyls in the environment may constitute a potential health hazard to edible fishery products, which are caught in polluted waters, and/or packaged in materials containing PCBs. Since many state and federal agencies are concerned with the toxicity of PCBs in seafoods, this project was designed to develop physical and chemical methods (ultraviolet radiation and treatment with sodium nitrite) for eliminating these compounds from shrimp. Shrimp were treated with 1% sodium nitrite solution followed by 100 ppm solution of Aroclor 1254 and Aroclor 1260, mixtures of PCB containing 54% and 60% chlorine respectively. A parallel experiment was performed without sodium nitrite pretreatment. All samples were analyzed after sun drying for 12, 24, 36 and 48 hr. PCBs were recovered by extraction, Florisil column cleanup and gas chromatography. Individual chlorinated biphenyls were identified by combined GC and MS. Complete reduction of PCBs was observed for both Aroclor 1254 and 1260 in sodium nitrite treated shrimp after 30 and 48 hr respectively. Untreated samples exhibited complete degradation after a lag of 6 and 12 hr respectively for each of the PCB mixtures. Pretreatment of shrimp with 1 % sodium nitrite considerably accelerated the reduction of PCBs. The rate of reduction was dependent on the percentage chlorine content of the PCB. Sun drying induced a stepwise reductive dechlorination with higher chlorinated biphenyls breaking to lower chlorinated biphenyls. The complete phenomena of degradation was presumed to be either one or a combination of reductive dechlorination, polymerization and isomerization processes. Since sun drying is a common practice in many parts of the world, this process could eliminate or reduce toxic polychlorinated biphenyls from seafoods.
Training for physical tasks in virtual environments: Tai Chi

We present a wireless virtual reality system and a prototype full body Tai Chi training application. Our primary contribution is the creation of a virtual reality system that tracks the full body in a working volume of 4 meters by 5 meters by 2.3 meters high to produce an animated representation of the user with 42 degrees of freedom. This - combined with a lightweight (<3 pounds) belt-worn video receiver and head-mounted display - provides a wide area, untethered virtual environment that allows exploration of new application areas. Our secondary contribution is our attempt to show that user interface techniques made possible by such a system can improve training for a full body motor task. We tested several immersive techniques, such as providing multiple copies of a teacher's body positioned around the student and allowing the student to superimpose his body directly over the virtual teacher None of these techniques proved significantly better than mimicking traditional Tai Chi instruction, where we provided one virtual teacher directly in front of the student. We consider the implications of these findings for future motion training tasks.
Stroke Genome-Wide Association Studies The Large Numbers Imperative

See related article, pages 825–832. With a swiftly moving, highly technical field, it helps to have a reliable guide. In this issue of Stroke, Lanktree et al1 provide a timely overview of genomic analysis applied to stroke.1 Readers find a clear and concise synopsis of single-nucleotide polymorphisms, copy number variations, listings of the strengths and limitations of genome-wide association studies (GWAS), and a distillation of the findings from GWAS performed in 6 cohorts (5 of which were ischemic stroke cohorts). The review also covers a topic not usually found in clinical reviews, namely techniques to visually display quantitative information. Excellence in statistical graphics should, among other things, avoid distorting what the data have to say, present many numbers in a small space, and make large data sets coherent.2 The Manhattan and quantile–quantile plots are excellent examples of statistical graphics that have become invaluable for interpreting GWAS results. Along with visualization comes interpretation of data in the context of GWAS. Clinical investigators are well aware of the problem of multiple testing from such settings as interim and subgroup analyses in clinical trials, which can lead to wildly spurious conclusions, such as concluding that aspirin only helped individuals of certain astrological signs in the second International Study of Infarct Survival.3 GWAS simply escalates the problem of multiple testing by orders of magnitude. Because single-nucleotide polymorphism-based GWAS test hundreds of thousands …
Morphological variability and molecular phylogeny of the nematophagous fungus Monacrosporium drechsleri

An isolate of the nematode-trapping fun- gus Monacrosporium drechsleri was collected from cul- tures of the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne arenaria that had been maintained on tomato roots in green- house pots in Beltsville, Maryland. The plant-parasitic nematodes Heterodera glycines, Meloidogyne incognita and Pratylenchus zeae and the free-living nematodes Caenorhabditis elegans and Panagrellus redivivus were placed on colonies of M. drechsleri grown in Petri dishes to study ability of the isolate to trap various nematode hosts. None of the nematodes placed near adhesive knobs were motile within 1 d. To determine where M. drechsleri fits within the existing phylogeny of nematode-trapping fungi, the ITS1-ITS2 regions of rDNA and the nuclear gene EF1-a were sequenced for the new isolate of M. drechsleri, for the species M. parvicolle and M. lysipagum, and for an isolate of M. ellipsosporum distinct from the one listed in GenBank. Parsimony trees were constructed showing the closest molecular relative of M. drechsleri to be the newly sequenced isolate of M. ellipsosporum; the latter had a highly divergent sequence from the sequence re- corded in GenBank for a different isolate of M. ellip- sosporum. Unique, consistent and discrete morpho- logical characters are absent in these related taxa, so an independent molecular character should be con- sidered essential for their accurate identification.
Multiple Sclerosis and Seizure Prevalence

Investigators from Oslo University Hospital and other centers in Norway studied changes in the prevalence and incidence of multiple sclerosis (MS) in Vestfold County, Norway, in the period 1983-2003.
Plasma amino acid response in young men given diets devoid of single essential amino acids

Studies were conducted on the response of plasma amino acid levels in young, male MIT students to diets lacking in phenylalanine-tyrosine, threonine, lysine, valine, leucine or isoleucine. A purified L-amino acid mixture was the sole source of dietary "protein" and supplied a nitrogen level equivalent to about 0.5 g egg protein (N X 6.25) per kilogram body weight. The subjects were studied during a 3-day control period while consuming their usual diet and during a 12-day period of receiving the experimental diet. Blood samples were taken at 8 AMafter an 11-hour overnight fast and 3 hours after breakfast during the control period and again after 4, 8 and 12 days during the amino acid diet period. The initial fasting plasma levels of phenylalanine, lysine, isoleucine and leucine were reduced by less than 30% during the 12-day period of consuming diets deficient in the respective amino acid, whereas the levels of threonine and valine were reduced by approximately 50% within 4 days after initiation of the respective amino acid-free diet. The leucine-free diet resulted in a significant in crease in the levels of valine and isoleucine in fasting and postprandial plasma whereas the valine- and isoleucine-free diets did not affect the fasting levels of the other branched-chain amino acids. These results are discussed in relation to the plasma amino acid approach for estimating human amino acid requirements. J. Nutr. 102: 1147-1158, 1972.
Preliminary evidence for medication effects on functional abnormalities in the amygdala and anterior cingulate in bipolar disorder.

Rationale: Abnormal amygdala and fronto- cortical responses to emotional stimuli are implicated in bipolar disorder (BD) and have been proposed as po- tential treatment targets. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate amygdala and frontocortical res- ponses to emotional face stimuli in BD and the influen- ces of mood-stabilizing medications on these responses. Methods: Functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed while 17 BD participants (5 unmedicated) and 17 healthy comparison (HC) participants viewed faces with happy, sad, fearful, or neutral expressions. Results: The group by stimulus-condition interaction was significant (p<0.01) for amygdala activation, with the greatest effects in the happy face condition. Relative to HC, amygdala increases were greater in unmedicated BD, but lower in medicated BD. Rostral anterior cingulate (rAC) activation was decreased in unmedicated BD compared to HC; however, BD participants taking medication demons- trated rAC activation similar to HC participants. Conclusions: Although the sample sizes were small, these preliminary results suggest that BD is associated with increased amygdala and decreased rAC response to emotional faces. The findings also provide preliminary evidence that mood-stabilizing medications may reverse abnormalities in BD in the response of an amygdala- frontal neural system to emotional stimuli.
Motor resonance and linguistic focus.

Previous studies have demonstrated that verbal descriptions of actions activate compatible motor responses (Glenberg & Kaschak, 2002; Zwaan & Taylor, 2006). The present study replicates previous findings showing that, within a sentence, such activation is localized on the verb that denotes the action. Moreover, motor resonance is found to yield to linguistic focus. If a postverbal adverb maintains focus on a matching action (“slowly” or “quickly”), motor resonance occurs, but if the adverb shifts the focus to the agent (e.g., “obediently” or “eagerly”), a cessation of motor resonance ensues. These findings are discussed within the context of theories of motor resonance, action understanding, mental simulation, and linguistic focus.
Compiling for Hierarchical Shared Memory Multiprocessors

Issues related ro cumpiling for shared memory multiprocessors with multilevel memory hierarchies are discussed. In particular, a method using simple and regular sections for parallelizing nested iterative loops with constant dependence distances is described.
Estimating the Probability That Historical Populations of Fish Species Are Extirpated

Abstract A dilemma fishery managers sometimes face is how to state with reasonable confidence that a rare fish species has been extirpated from a given system. Data on abundance and distribution are typically scarce for rare species and are mostly in the form of incidental observations, such as fisheries bycatch or museum collections. An objective and quantitative method of evaluating the status of a rare fish species in selected systems—one that is based on incidental observations and that could be used to provide a first warning to managers that a species may be extirpated—would be highly desirable. In this paper, we review two methods that use incidental observations for estimating the probability that a species is extirpated, and we demonstrate the methods with available data sets for Atlantic sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus and Alabama sturgeon Scaphirhynchus suttkusi. Special considerations should be made when applying the methods to data sets for fish species. We recommend against using or combining ...
Colloid‐Enhanced Ultrafiltration of Chlorophenols in Wastewater: Part III. Effect of Added Salt on Solubilization in Surfactant Solutions and Surfactant–Polymer Mixtures

Abstract The solubilization of three phenolic solutes in micellar solutions and surfactant–polymer mixtures is studied: 2‐monochlorophenol (MCP), 2,4‐dichlorophenol (DCP), and 2,4,6‐trichlorophenol (TCP). The equilibrium dialysis (ED) technique is used to determine the solubilization equilibrium constant as a function of added NaCl concentration. The added salt enhances the solubilization ability of surfactant micelles, but it only slightly affects the solubilization constant of surfactant–polymer aggregates. The solubilization constant for the surfactant–only systems is greater than that for the surfactant–polymer systems. In the micellar solution, the solute with a low water solubility shows a greater solubilization constant than the solute with a higher water solubility; the solubilization constants increase in the order MCP < DCP < TCP. However, in the surfactant–polymer mixtures, the solubilization constant of DCP can exceed that of TCP due to two opposing effects: ion‐dipole interaction, and water s...
Reading Mathematics: More than Words and Clauses; More than Numbers and Symbols on a Page

Reading comprehension research in mathematics has focused primarily on the teaching of generic content area reading strategies (Alvermann D, Moore D, Secondary school reading. In: Barr R, Kamil M, Mosenthal P, Person PD (eds) Handbook of reading research, vol II. Longman, New York, pp 951–983, 1991; Pearson PD, Fielding L, Comprehension instruction. In: Barr R, Kamil M, Mosenthal P, Pearson PD (eds) Handbook of reading research, vol II. Longman, New York, pp 815–860, 1991). In contrast, mathematics education research has focused on ensuring that students understand and can translate the symbols and register of mathematics (Crandall et al., 1989) to and from everyday language to solve problems. Both approaches have been used to support the treatment of mathematics as a fixed body of facts and procedures that are to be acquired by the learner. More recent thinking, however, views school mathematics as a “way of knowing” (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Professional standards for teaching mathematics. Author, Reston, 1991, Principles and standards for school mathematics. Author, Reston, 2000; Siegel M, Fonzi J, Read Res Q 30:635, 1995) and incorporates “mathematical texts” as affordances that can support students’ development of mathematical literacy (Draper RJ, Siebert D, Rethinking texts, literacies, and literacy across the curriculum. In: Draper RJ, Broomhead P, Jensen AP, Nokes JD, Siebert D (eds) (Re)Imagining content area literacy instruction. Teachers College Press, New York, pp 20–39, 2010; Siegel M, Fonzi J, Read Res Q 30:632–673, 1995). From our work as an interdisciplinary team, we argue for an interdisciplinary perspective of reading comprehension as applied to reform-oriented mathematics-teaching practices. We begin by reviewing the literature on adolescents’ reading comprehension of mathematics and then present a small study investigating how sixth and seventh grade students approached reading math textbooks. We end by proposing a revised definition of reading comprehension for mathematics grounded in the results of our study. In building on multiple theories we redefine reading comprehension in mathematics using the work of Rosenblatt (The reader, the text, the poem. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, 1978, 1982), Kintsch (1988), and Halliday (Language as a social semiotic. Edward Arnold, London, 1978) to respectively incorporate the transactional, constructivist, and language-dependent nature of thinking and reasoning necessary to create meaning and successfully comprehend mathematical texts.
Directiveness in Clinical Supervision

This article, first published in 1993 but not previously available on SSRN, explores the attitudes and practices of clinical law teachers relating to issues of “directiveness” in their clinical supervision. The inquiry focuses on the tension between the educational value of student autonomy and clinicians’ professional interest in ensuring high quality client representation. The authors conducted a survey of clinicians teaching at law schools throughout the United States. After discussing the attributes of directive and nondirective approaches to clinical supervision, the article turns to discussion and analysis of the survey results. In responding to survey questions about how supervisors should behave in situations involving decision making, information sharing, and task performance, most clinicians endorsed relatively nondirective approaches. However, in responding to questions about client service obligations, a large majority also endorsed an ideal of providing clinic clients with the “best possible” service, drawing on the combined best efforts of the supervising attorneys as well as the students. The authors discuss the tension between this view of client service and the educational goals of clinical programs, a tension particularly acute for clinicians who believe in a nondirective model. The article also examines clinicians’ perceptions of tension between educational and client service goals. Nearly all survey respondents reported experiencing concern about directiveness in their supervision, and most felt that at times they supervise more directively than they should. Responses to questions about how clinicians actually supervise also suggested that their practices are often more directive than their beliefs. The article explores variables that may affect a clinical teacher’s beliefs and practices. In conclusion, the authors suggest that clinicians favoring a nondirective approach should be open with students about the necessity, and normalcy, of occasional supervisor intervention to safeguard client interests. They also suggest that clinical teachers need to carefully draw a distinction between the “best possible” client service, which may be impossible to achieve without having supervisors take over performance in a way that undermines a clinic’s educational objectives, and highly competent, even excellent, client service, which can coexist with substantial student autonomy.Appendices to the article provide a copy of the survey, a tabulation of the responses, and comments written by survey respondents on a variety of issues relating to directiveness.
Renaissance of Urolithiasis

Introduction and Objective With the discovery of classic works from Greece and Rome, the opening of the New World with new medications, and the influx of new diseases, the Renaissance was more than just a revival of the classics. Stone disease was possibly on the rise as well. Perhaps related to a diet high in purines, bladder stones began to become increasingly significant.
Vacuum-mixing cement does not decrease overall porosity in cemented femoral stems: AN IN VITRO LABORATORY INVESTIGATION

The role of vacuum mixing on the reduction of porosity and on the clinical performance of cemented total hip replacements remains uncertain. We have used paired femoral constructs prepared with either hand-mixed or vacuum-mixed cement in a cadaver model which simulated intra-operative conditions during cementing of the femoral component. After the cement had cured, the distribution of its porosity was determined, as was the strength of the cement-stem and cement-bone interfaces. The overall fraction of the pore area was similar for both hand-mixed and vacuum-mixed cement (hand 6%; vacuum 5.7%; paired t-test, p = 0.187). The linear pore fractions at the interfaces were also similar for the two techniques. The pore number-density was much higher for the hand-mixed cement (paired t-test, p = 0.0013). The strength of the cement-stem interface was greater with the hand-mixed cement (paired t-test, p = 0.0005), while the strength of the cement-bone interface was not affected by the conditions of mixing (paired t-test, p = 0.275). The reduction in porosity with vacuum mixing did not affect the porosity of the mantle, but the distribution of the porosity can be affected by the technique of mixing used.
Cholesterol granuloma development following temporal bone surgery

ObjectiveTo describe the clinical presentation and management of patients with cholesterol granulomas (CGs) that develop following temporal bone surgery.Study DesignCase series with chart review.SettingTwo independent tertiary academic referral centers.Subjects and MethodsA multicenter retrospective review was performed to identify all patients between 2001 and 2014 who were diagnosed with a CG that developed following temporal bone surgery. Patients with a history of idiopathic petrous apex CGs were excluded, as were those with <6 months of follow-up after diagnosis. Demographic and clinical data were recorded at presentation, and the main outcome measure was symptom evolution over time.ResultsA total of 20 patients met inclusion criteria (median age, 55.0 years; 70.0% female), and their cases were analyzed. Diagnosis was made, on average, 149.5 months (median, 94.5; range, 13.0-480.0) following a temporal bone operation, which was for chronic ear disease in 75.0% of cases. The most common presenting sym...
Segmental stiff skin syndrome (SSS): A distinct clinical entity.

Background Stiff skin syndrome (SSS) is a noninflammatory, fibrosing condition of the skin, often affecting the limb girdles. Objective We present 4 new patients with SSS with largely unilateral, segmental distribution. To date, reported cases of SSS have been grouped based on generally accepted clinical and histopathologic findings. The purpose of this study was to analyze differences in clinical and histopathologic findings between previously reported SSS cases. Methods This is a retrospective review of 4 new cases and 48 previously published cases of SSS obtained from PubMed search. Results Of 52 total cases, 18 (35%) were segmentally distributed and 34 (65%) were widespread. The average age of onset was 4.1 years versus 1.6 years for segmental versus widespread SSS, respectively. Limitation in joint mobility affected 44% of patients with segmental SSS and 97% of patients with widespread SSS. Histopathologic findings were common between the 2 groups. Limitations This was a retrospective study of previously published cases limited by the completeness and accuracy of the reviewed cases. Conclusions We propose a distinct clinical entity, segmental SSS, characterized by a segmental distribution, later age of onset, and less severe functional limitation. Both segmental SSS and widespread SSS share common diagnostic histopathologic features.
Abnormal palate morphogenesis in mouse embryos induced by riboflavin deficiency.

SummaryRetardation of palatine shelf movement was found to be the morphogenetic basis for the cleft palates induced in DBA strain mouse embryos by a riboflavin-deficient, galactoflavin-containing diet.
Bilirubin Resorption in Obstructive Jaundice

SummaryBilirubin did not appear in the blood or thoracic duct lymph when the intrabiliary pressure was lower than the secretory pressure of the liver. Obstruction of the common duct by raising the intrabiliary pressure above the secretory pressure of the liver resulted in bilirubinemia of approximately constant level, and in the appearance of bilirubin in the lymph in concentrations which increased as the intrabiliary pressure was increased.
Epileptic Syndromes and Photosensitive Seizures

The clinical features of different types of photic-induced seizures and epileptic syndromes characterized by visual sensitivity are reviewed from the University of Pisa, Italy, and Centre St Paul, Marseille, France.
Abstract 3813: Recruitment of macrophages, NK cells, and dendritic cells with metronomic cyclophosphamide-induced regression of gliosarcoma xenografts

Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC Metronomic chemotherapy displays improved therapeutic activity over conventional schedules for several malignancies in both preclinical and clinical studies. In particular, metronomic cyclophosphamide treatment (140 mg/kg BW every 6 days) induces dramatic, near-complete regression of established xenografts of human U251 and rat 9L gliosarcomas in s.c. scid mouse models, whereas maximum tolerated dose cyclophosphamide effects only moderate tumor growth delays. Furthermore, metronomic cyclophosphamide-induced regression of 9L tumors is accompanied by reduced microvessel density, induction of thrombospondin-1 (TSP1) and impaired drug uptake, all of which are consistent with the prevailing view that anti-angiogenesis is a major factor in the therapeutic effectiveness of metronomic chemotherapy. However, VEGF receptor inhibition induces substantially greater anti-angiogenesis in these tumor models but does not induce tumor regression. Therefore, we sought to investigate other non-anti-angiogenic mechanisms to explain the substantial regression and have found that it is strongly associated with recruitment of the host innate immune system. In regressing 9L and U251 tumors, host (mouse) PEDF (pigment epithelium-derived factor; Serpinf1) and PAI-1 (plasminogen activation inhibitor-1; Serpine1) expression is increased, with the levels of PEDF RNA being strongly correlated (r=0.89) with TSP1 RNA in large sets of 9L and U251 tumors isolated various times after initiation of metronomic cyclophosphamide therapy. Notably, PAI-1 and TSP1 are both expressed by tumor-associated macrophages. Metronomic cyclophosphamide also increased Fas, which stimulates macrophage activation, and the macrophage marker CD68, supporting the involvement of tumor-associated macrophages. Fas is also associated with cytotoxic lymphocytes, such as NK cells, and NK cell markers and cytotoxic effectors were dramatically increased in metronomic cyclophosphamide-treated tumors. Furthermore, dendritic cell markers important for cell-target interactions and antigen presentation were increased by metronomic cyclophosphamide treatment. Cytokines and chemokines were also up regulated in the metronomic cyclophosphamide-treated tumors, suggesting that chemokine and cytokine gradients help mobilize the host innate immune system in regressing 9L and U251 tumors. These findings highlight the ability of metronomic chemotherapy to induce macrophage, natural killer cell, and dendritic cell recruitment, thereby activating innate immunity leading to regression of established gliosarcomas and potentially other tumor types. Supported by NIH grant CA49248 (to DJW). Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3813.
Stereochemistry of the Thermal Isomerizations of trans-1-Ethenyl-2-phenylcyclopropane to 4-Phenylcyclopentene

The stereochemical course of the thermal isomerization of trans-1-ethenyl-2-phenylcyclopropane to 4-phenylcyclopentene at 216.4 °C in the gas phase has been uncovered through syntheses and kinetic studies based on chiral d9-labeled analogs. This example of the vinylcyclopropane-to-cyclopentene rearrangement takes place with the participation of all four stereochemically distinct paths, the relative contributions (±3%) being 58% si, 8% ar, 24% sr, and 10% ai. The stereochemical outcome is determined by alternative diradical transition structures of comparable energy, rather than by orbital symmetry control.
Three-Dimensional Ni/TiO2 Nanowire Network for High Areal Capacity Lithium Ion Microbattery Applications

The areal capacity of nanowire-based microbatteries can be potentially increased by increasing the length of nanowires. However, agglomeration of high aspect ratio nanowire arrays could greatly degrade the performance of nanowires for lithium ion (Li-ion) battery applications. In this work, a three-dimensional (3-D) Ni/TiO2 nanowire network was successfully fabricated using a 3-D porous anodic alumina (PAA) template-assisted electrodeposition of Ni followed by TiO2 coating using atomic layer deposition. Compared to the straight Ni/TiO2 nanowire arrays fabricated using conventional PAA templates, the 3-D Ni/TiO2 nanowire network shows higher areal discharging capacity. The areal capacity increases proportionally with the length of nanowires. With a stable Ni/TiO2 nanowire network structure, 100% capacity is retained after 600 cycles. This work paves the way to build reliable 3-D nanostructured electrodes for high areal capacity microbatteries.
Water cluster confinement and methane adsorption in the hydrophobic cavities of a fluorinated metal-organic framework.

Water cluster formation and methane adsorption within a hydrophobic porous metal organic framework is studied by in situ vibrational spectroscopy, adsorption isotherms, and first-principle DFT calculations (using vdW-DF). Specifically, the formation and stability of H2O clusters in the hydrophobic cavities of a fluorinated metal–organic framework (FMOF-1) is examined. Although the isotherms of water show no measurable uptake (see Yang et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 18094), the large dipole of the water internal modes makes it possible to detect low water concentrations using IR spectroscopy in pores in the vicinity of the surface of the solid framework. The results indicate that, even in the low pressure regime (100 mTorr to 3 Torr), water molecules preferentially occupy the large cavities, in which hydrogen bonding and wall hydrophobicity foster water cluster formation. We identify the formation of pentameric water clusters at pressures lower than 3 Torr and larger clusters beyond that pressure. The...
Machado de Assis and Pascal

Pedro Meira Monteiro revisits Machado’s dialogues with the seventeenth-century French philosophers he was known to have read. Monteiro aims to understand how the French moralists, especially Blaise Pascal, enabled Machado to explore the limitations and shortcomings of the modern conception of an autonomous subject, most strikingly in his late work. This chapter studies the influence of moralists in how Machado portrays individuals who cannot escape from the mundane mechanics of passions and self-interest. Thus, a difference between the Brazilian and the French writer emerges: where Pascal proposes a leap of faith, Machado invents a narrator who is stuck in those mechanics and whose characters can be the victims of a meaningless, purely material world.
The Dynamic Susceptibility of Strongly Interacting Systems

We have just seen that in nonferromagnetic metals the presence of interactions leads to magnetic excitations of a wavelike nature called spin waves. In this chapter we shall investigate these excitations in magnetically ordered systems.
Residual Volume and Total Lung Capacity to Assess Reversibility in Obstructive Lung Disease.

BACKGROUND: Reversibility of obstructive lung disease is traditionally defined by changes in FEV1 or FVC in response to bronchodilators. These may not fully reflect changes due to a reduction in hyperinflation or air-trapping, which have important clinical implications. To date, only a handful of studies have examined bronchodilators' effect on lung volumes. The authors sought to better characterize the response of residual volume and total lung capacity to bronchodilators. METHODS: Responsiveness of residual volume and total lung capacity to bronchodilators was assessed with a retrospective analysis of pulmonary function tests of 965 subjects with obstructive lung disease as defined by the lower limit of normal based on National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey III prediction equations. RESULTS: A statistically significant number of subjects demonstrated response to bronchodilators in their residual volume independent of response defined by FEV1 or FVC, the American Thoracic Society and European Respiratory Society criteria. Reduced residual volume weakly correlated with response to FEV1 and to FVC. No statistically significant correlation was found between total lung capacity and either FEV1 or FVC. CONCLUSIONS: A significant number of subjects classified as being nonresponsive based on spirometry have reversible residual volumes. Subjects whose residual volumes improve in response to bronchodilators represent an important subgroup of those with obstructive lung disease. The identification of this subgroup better characterizes the heterogeneity of obstructive lung disease. The clinical importance of these findings is unclear but warrants further study.
Why people walk: modeling foundational and higher order needs based on latent structure

AbstractResearchers are probing motivational factors influencing individuals’ choice to walk. A review of the literature reveals a great deal of variability in the motivators considered. This study identified 15 motivators commonly associated with walkability for use in a pedestrian-intercept survey to measure their influence on pedestrian mode choice to walk in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of Vancouver, Canada. The results were analyzed using analytical factor analysis and indicated a hierarchical needs model with four significant factors including lower order (urban planning and policy) and higher order (physical geographic; attractiveness and sociability; and personal) needs considered in their decision. The study suggests that lower order factors, which correspond to the 4 Es of pedestrian planning, provide a foundation for encouraging walking, but in order to achieve high levels of walking, it is necessary to adequately address factors related to higher order needs that are often beyond the attent...
Variational treatment of inertia–gravity waves interacting with a quasi-geostrophic mean flow

The equations for three-dimensional hydrostatic Boussinesq dynamics are equivalent to a variational principle that is closely analogous to the variational principle for classical electrodynamics. Inertia–gravity waves are analogous to electromagnetic waves, and available potential vorticity (i.e. the amount by which the potential vorticity exceeds the potential vorticity of the rest state) is analogous to electric charge. The Lagrangian can be expressed as the sum of three parts. The first part corresponds to quasi-geostrophic dynamics in the absence of inertia–gravity waves. The second part corresponds to inertia–gravity waves in the absence of quasi-geostrophic flow. The third part represents a coupling between the inertia–gravity waves and quasi-geostrophic motion. This formulation provides the basis for a general theory of inertia–gravity waves interacting with a quasi-geostrophic mean flow.
Prostaglandin E2 receptor 4 mediates renal cell carcinoma intravasation and metastasis

Treatment options for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) are limited. In this study, we investigated impact of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) receptor 4 (EP4) on RCC metastasis. We found that knockdown of EP4 in two RCC cell lines, ACHN and SN12C, does not affect xenograft tumor take or growth rate in mice, but reduces metastasis by decreasing tumor intravasation. Using chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay, we confirmed that blockade of EP4 signaling inhibits tumor intravasation. In vitro studies associated EP4 expression and activity with RCC cell transendothelial migration (TEM). Gene expression analysis and validation assays showed that EP4 knockdown decreases expression of CD24, a ligand to the adhesion molecule P-selectin. Forced expression of CD24 in EP4 knockdown RCC rescues TEM capacity of the cells. Pharmacologic inhibition or knockdown of endothelial P-selectin blocks EP4-mediated cancer cell TEM, and inhibition of P-selectin prevents RCC tumor intravasation in CAM assay. Our results demonstrate that inhibition of EP4 attenuates the RCC intravasation and metastasis by downregulating CD24 and that P-selectin participates in tumor intravasation, implying a potential for these molecules as therapeutic targets for advanced RCC treatment.