cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Long-term Outcomes After Percutaneous Radiofrequency Ablation for Renal Cell Carcinoma

Objectives To assess the long-term oncological efficacy of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for treatment of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Methods In this institutional review board–approved, retrospective study, the records and imaging studies for all RCC patients treated with percutaneous RFA before 2005 were reviewed and analyzed. Results A total of 48 RCCs in 41 patients were treated with RFA. Median size of RCC treated was 2.6 cm (range: 0.7-8.2 cm). Of the 48 treated RCCs, 5 (12%) had recurrent tumor after a single ablation session. The median size of the index lesion in the cases with recurrence was 5.2 cm (interquartile range [IQR]: 4-5.3) compared with 2.2 cm (IQR: 1.7-3.1, P = .0014) without local recurrence. There were no recurrences when RCCs less than 4 cm were treated. Seventeen (41%) patients with 18 treated RCCs died during the follow-up period at a median time of 34 (IQR: 10-47) months. One patient (2%) died of metastatic RCC, whereas 16 died of unrelated causes. Twenty-four patients with 30 RCCs treated with RFA survived. For the remaining 30 RCCs, median follow up was 61 months (IQR: 54-68). No patients in this group of survivors had metastatic RCC, 1 had recurrence diagnosed at 68 months. The long-term recurrence-free survival rate was 88% after RFA. Conclusions RFA can result in durable oncological control for RCCs less than 4 cm. RFA is an effective treatment option for patients with RCCs less than 4 cm who are poor surgical candidates. For patients with larger RCCs alternative treatments should be considered.
Allopolyploidy in Sphagnum mendocinum and S. papillosum (Sphagnaceae)

Abstract This study provides the first report that Sphagnum mendocinum (Sphagnum section Cuspidata) and S. papillosum (Sphagnum section Sphagnum) are allopolyploids. Sphagnum mendocinum is an intersectional allopolyploid, with parental species from Sphagnum sections Cuspidata and Subsecunda. It is the third intersectional alloploid species reported for Sphagnum. The gametophytically allodiploid cytotype of S. papillosum was detected in Europe, North America, and Japan. It appears to be the predominant, if not the only, cytotype for this species. Our results may warrant re-examination of the report of a haploid (n = x) cytotype for S. papillosum.
Early Life Course Pathways of Adult Depression and Chronic Pain

Applying cumulative inequality theory, this study examines the extent to which childhood socioeconomic disadvantage and maternal depression increase the risk of major depression and chronic pain in U.S. working-aged adults. Further, I assess whether low socioeconomic status amplifies the risk of adult depression and/or pain. Using data from the 2003 National Comorbidity Survey Replication (N=4339), I find that socioeconomic disadvantage and maternal depression during youth increases the risk of adult depression and/or chronic pain. The probability of having chronic pain increases in magnitude over the life course for adults whose parents have lower educational attainment relative to those with more highly educated parents. Childhood socioeconomic circumstances are not completely explained by adulthood socioeconomic status indicators. These findings help illustrate the far-reaching influence of childhood context on adult physical and mental health.
SREBP-1 integrates the actions of thyroid hormone, insulin, cAMP, and medium-chain fatty acids on ACCα transcription in hepatocytes

In chick embryo hepatocytes, activation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase-α (ACCα) transcription by 3,5,3′-triiodothyronine (T3) is mediated by a cis-acting regulatory unit (−101 to −71 bp) that binds the nuclear T3 receptor (TR) and sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1 (SREBP-1). SREBP-1 directly interacts with TR on the ACCα gene to enhance T3-induced transcription. Here, we show that treating hepatocytes with T3 or insulin stimulates a 4-fold increase in the concentration of the mature, active form of SREBP-1. When T3 and insulin are added together, a 7-fold increase in the mature SREBP-1 concentration is observed. Time course studies indicate that the T3-induced increase in mature SREBP-1 abundance is closely associated with changes in ACCα transcription and that the mechanism mediating the effect of T3 on mature SREBP-1 is distinct from that mediating the effect of insulin. Transfection analyses indicate that inhibition of ACCα transcription by cAMP or hexanoate is mediated by ACCα sequences between −101 and −71 bp. Treatment with cAMP or hexanoate suppresses the increase in mature SREBP-1 abundance caused by T3 and insulin. These results establish a new interaction between the SREBP-1 and TR signaling pathways and provide evidence that SREBP-1 plays an active role in mediating the effects of T3, insulin, cAMP, and hexanoate on ACCα transcription.
Openness and the Efficiency of FDI: A Panel Stochastic Production Frontier Study

This paper uses a stochastic translog production frontier to estimate technical inefficiency indices whose conditional mean is specified as a function of FDI and its interaction with openness of the economy. The model is estimated using an annual panel of 46 countries for the years, 1981–2001. The results suggest that increased FDI increases potential output in both developed and developing countries with the effect being more profound in the former. It is also found that increased FDI reduces technical inefficiencies the more open is the economy but that this effect holds only for developed economies. Thus qualified support is found for the “Bhagwati hypothesis” as the results reveal that the efficiency–enhancing effect of FDI depends not only on openness but also on the degree of development of the host country.
Status epilepticus and wide-complex tachycardia secondary to diphenhydramine overdose.

Objective. Diphenhydramine is an H1 histamine antagonist that is commonly used for allergic reactions, colds and cough, and as a sleep aid. In addition to anticholinergic and antihistaminergic effects, sodium channel blockade becomes evident following diphenhydramine overdose. While seizures may occur following overdose of a diphenhydramine, status epilepticus is distinctly uncommon. We report a case with both status epilepticus and wide-complex dysrhythmias following an intentional diphenhydramine overdose. Case report. A 36-year-old woman with a medical history of hypothyroidism on levothyroxine was brought to the emergency department with active seizures by emergency medical services after what was later determined to be a diphenhydramine overdose. One hour after an argument with her husband he found her lethargic in a locked room. Initial vital signs were: blood pressure, 90/55 mmHg; heart rate, 160 beats/min; respiratory rate 18 breaths/min; room air oxygen saturation, 99%; temperature, 99.8°F; rapid...
Homeostatic Division Is Not Necessary for Antigen-Specific CD4+ Memory T Cell Persistence

CD4(+) memory T cells are generated in response to infection or vaccination, provide protection to the host against reinfection, and persist through a combination of enhanced survival and slow homeostatic turnover. We used timed deletion of the TCR-signaling adaptor molecule Src homology 2 domain-containing phosphoprotein of 76 kDa (SLP-76) with MHC:peptide tetramers to study the requirements for tonic TCR signals in the maintenance of polyclonal Ag-specific CD4(+) memory T cells. SLP-76-deficient I-A(b):gp61 cells are unable to rapidly generate effector cytokines or proliferate in response to secondary infection. In mice infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) or Listeria monocytogenes expressing the LCMV gp61-80 peptide, SLP-76-deficient I-A(b):gp61(+) cells exhibit reduced division, similar to that seen in in vitro-generated CD44(hi) and endogenous CD4(+)CD44(hi) cells. Competitive bone marrow chimera experiments demonstrated that the decrease in homeostatic turnover in the absence of SLP-76 is a cell-intrinsic process. Surprisingly, despite the reduction in turnover, I-A(b):gp61(+) Ag-specific memory cells persist in normal numbers for >30 wk after LCMV infection in the absence of SLP-76. These data suggest the independent maintenance of a population of Ag-specific CD4(+) memory T cells in the absence of SLP-76 and normal levels of homeostatic division.
Caspase-1 inflammasomes in infection and inflammation

Nucleotide-binding and oligomerization domain-like receptors (NLRs) constitute a family of germline-encoded pattern-recognition receptors, which allow the host to respond rapidly to a wide variety of pathogenic microorganisms. Here, we discuss recent advances in the study of a subset of NLRs, which control the activation of caspase-1 through the assembly of large protein complexes, inflammasomes. The NALP1b inflammasome recognizes anthrax lethal toxin, and flagellin from Salmonella and Legionella induces assembly of the Ipaf inflammasome. Cryopyrin/NALP3 mediates caspase-1 activation in response to a wide variety of bacterial ligands, imidazoquinolines, dsRNA, and the endogenous danger signal uric acid. The importance of these cytosolic receptors in immune regulation is underscored by the identification of mutations in cryopyrin/NALP3, which are genetically linked to human autoinflammatory disorders.
RELATION OF THE PORTAL BLOOD TO LIVER MAINTENANCE : A DEMONSTRATION OF LIVER ATROPHY CONDITIONAL ON COMPENSATION.

The occlusion of portal branches to a part of the liver of the rabbit leads to a progressive and ultimately complete atrophy of the parenchyma in the region deprived of portal blood, and to hypertrophy of the rest of the hepatic tissue which receives such blood in excess. Three-fourths of the liver may thus be reduced to a fibrous tag within 2 months, while the remaining fourth attains the bulk of the entire original organ. The atrophy is simple, unaccompanied by obvious degenerative changes or by any connective tissue replacement. More important, it is conditional in nature, failing to progress when the bile duct from the proliferating tissue is ligated and its hypertrophy checked in this way. There are indications in the literature that an atrophy conditional on hypertrophy, such as is here described, occurs in man after local portal occlusion. And some experiments in our laboratory, not yet completed, show definitely its occurrence in the dog. The changes take place slowly in the canine liver. After 3 months the tissue deprived of portal blood has diminished to about one-third of its original bulk. The conditional character of the atrophy is proven by its failure to occur to any similar degree in the absence of a compensating parenchyma, as when the portal stream is diverted from the whole liver by way of an Eck fistula. Is the atrophy functional? If so, its completeness would indicate that the liver has no essential activity—none on which its maintenance depends—that it is not intimately connected with substances derived from organs drained by the portal system. Observations on the rate of hypertrophy after local diversion of the portal stream and on the character of the bile secreted by the atrophic tissue may be taken to favor such a view. The hypertrophy is nearly, perhaps quite, as rapid as if the tissue deprived of portal blood had been removed from the body. The bile secreted from a liver mass far advanced in atrophy and competing with a large bulk of parenchyma that receives the entire portal stream is almost colorless and may give but a weak Pettenkofer reaction. Glycogen, on the other hand, is present in the atrophic cells in approximately the same amount and distribution as in the hypertrophic liver tissue of the same animal. The fact that a parenchymal shift follows local disturbances in the portal stream has a bearing on the cause of certain alterations in the shape of the normal liver that have been loosely attributed heretofore to pressure from the surrounding organs. It also has some interest in connection with pathological changes. Liver hypertrophy dependent on a preceding destruction has long been known to pathologists. Now a type of destruction dependent on compensatory hypertrophy must also be reckoned with. The occurrence of changes of the latter character will explain certain of the lesions observed in diseases that involve a disturbance of the portal flow to portions of the liver substance.
Binding Anions in Rigid and Reconfigurable Triazole Receptors

The use of triazole CH•••anion hydrogen bonds, strong and easy to install, has expanded dramatically since 2008. Various aryl-triazole derivatives have been synthesized and investigated to obtain fundamental understandings of anion stabilization as well as to develop new receptors for applications. Receptors have now been created to make use of triazole, triazolium, or iodotriazolium. The triazole CH•••anion binding motif has also been utilized in sophisticated structures such as interlocked molecules and toward fluorescent sensors and ion-selective electrodes. Furthermore, demonstrations on the transport of anions across membranes and studies of light-induced anion regulation have broadened the scope of application for this new anion binding motif. This chapter will focus on these recent developments.
Data integration for the relational web

The Web contains a vast amount of structured information such as HTML tables, HTML lists and deep-web databases; there is enormous potential in combining and re-purposing this data in creative ways. However, integrating data from this relational web raises several challenges that are not addressed by current data integration systems or mash-up tools. First, the structured data is usually not published cleanly and must be extracted (say, from an HTML list) before it can be used. Second, due to the vastness of the corpus, a user can never know all of the potentially-relevant databases ahead of time (much less write a wrapper or mapping for each one); the source databases must be discovered during the integration process. Third, some of the important information regarding the data is only present in its enclosing web page and needs to be extracted appropriately.This paper describes Octopus, a system that combines search, extraction, data cleaning and integration, and enables users to create new data sets from those found on the Web. The key idea underlying Octopus is to offer the user a set of best-effort operators that automate the most labor-intensive tasks. For example, the Search operator takes a search-style keyword query and returns a set of relevance-ranked and similarity-clustered structured data sources on the Web; the Context operator helps the user specify the semantics of the sources by inferring attribute values that may not appear in the source itself, and the Extend operator helps the user find related sources that can be joined to add new attributes to a table. Octopus executes some of these operators automatically, but always allows the user to provide feedback and correct errors. We describe the algorithms underlying each of these operators and experiments that demonstrate their efficacy.
Effect of Intravascular Irradiation on Cell Proliferation, Apoptosis, and Vascular Remodeling After Balloon Overstretch Injury of Porcine Coronary Arteries

Background Ionizing radiation has been shown to reduce vascular lesion formation after balloon overstretch injury of pig coronary arteries. The present series of experiments examines the mechanism by which this occurs. Methods and Results Balloon injury was performed on porcine coronary arteries, followed immediately by ionizing radiation using either a source train of 90Sr/Y or 192Ir seeds designed to deliver 14 or 28 Gy at a depth of 2 mm from the source. The animals were killed 3, 7, or 14 days after injury. Bromodeoxyuridine was administered 24 hours before euthanasia to label proliferating cells. Cell proliferation was significantly reduced on day 3 in the adventitia and media of the irradiated vessels compared with controls. Two weeks after injury, there were fewer α-actin–positive myofibroblasts in the adventitia of the irradiated vessels than in nonirradiated controls, and morphometric analysis indicated that the vessel perimeter of the irradiated vessels was significantly larger than in controls....
Yield analysis for a large-area analog X-ray sensor array

A small-scale CMOS-based radiographic X-ray image sensor array has been developed for nondestructive test and medical imaging. The authors present an analysis of tradeoffs between yield and area of a scaled up large-area X-ray sensor design. The X-ray sensor array can tolerate a low level of faults in the individual pixel cells and these faults can be corrected by imaging software. However, global signal line faults cause X-ray sensor failures. This work models X-ray sensor yield in a 12-layer analog CMOS process for three possible overall defect densities, 1.5 defects/cm, 1.0 defects/cm, and 0.75 defects/cm. It is shown that the X-ray sensor is more manufacturable than a charge coupled device (CCD) array of the same area. >
Identifying Genetic Changes Associated with Tumor Progression in Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Tumor behavior is the result of specific genetic changes that alter gene expression. From our cytogenetic studies chromosome 18 loss emerged as a common genetic change in squamous carcinoma cell lines. In this report we summarize data that link loss of 18 to tumor progression and reduced survival, indicating that one or more tumor suppressor gene(s) are located on this chromosome. Tumors grown in vitro were karyotyped either as short-term or permanent cultures. Loss of chromosome 18 was measured by karyotype, decreased frequency of heterozygosity at the DCC locus, and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) for microsatellite repeat polymorphisms (MSRP). Loss of any part of chromosome 18 was observed in approximately 63% of cultured tumors. Primary and secondary tumors from the same individuals sometimes differed in loss of 18 indicating that this genetic change is associated with tumor progression. Heterozygosity for DCC was present in only 3/19 cultured SCC (16%), compared with 68% (11/16) of blood samples from unrelated donors, which is consistent with LOH in roughly one half of the cases. Of 4 informative cases with normal and tumor tissue, LOH was observed in 2. Microsatellite analysis also shows loss of 18q in 55% of fresh tumors. Analysis of tumor tissue and cell lines from the same patient gave identical results. There was an excess of deaths from cancer in the group with 18 loss (20/25) when compared with the group without (5/15). Loss of chromosome 18 appears to be a marker of tumor progression in SCC. It is likely that mutation affecting DCC or another gene on 18 affects tumor growth or spread, leading to more rapid progression and reduced survival.
Teaching Positive Networking For Life-long Impact

As college communication instructors, we could further assist students by teaching the value of positive networking. This article provides (1) a foundation for positive networking and (2) several successful ways in which students can begin building a strong long-lasting network of professional relationships during the semester…and for their entire careers.
What Fraction of Stock Option Grants to Top Executives Have Been Backdated or Manipulated

We estimate that 13.6% of all option grants to top executives during the period 1996--2005 were backdated or otherwise manipulated. Our study primarily focuses on grants that were unscheduled and at-the-money, of which we estimate that 18.9% were manipulated. The fraction is 23.0% before the new two-day filing requirement took effect on August 29, 2002, and 10.0% afterward. For the minority of grants that are not filed within the required two-day window, the fraction of manipulated grants remains as high as 19.9%. We further find a higher frequency of manipulation among tech firms, small firms, and firms with high stock price volatility. In addition, firms that use smaller (non-big-five) auditing firms are more likely to file their grants late. Finally, at the firm level, we estimate that 29.2% of firms manipulated grants to top executives at some point between 1996 and 2005.
Radio and the telecommunications act of 1996: An initial assessment

Early in 1996, Congress passed sweeping changes to the Communications Act of 1934. Among the largely common carrier provisions were several important changes in the laws affecting radio broadcasters. These included a longer license term, a near‐assurance of license renewal, and liberalizing of ownership restrictions.
Development of Generalized Fragility Functions for Seismically Induced Content Disruption

This paper reports on the evaluation of the response of unanchored building contents in two separate shaking experiments, with the goal of developing simplified seismic fragility functions to be us...
Hurricane Risk Considerations for Offshore Wind Turbines on the Atlantic Coast

The development of renewable energy sources is a critical global need. The Atlantic coast and Gulf of Mexico of the U.S., with large wind resources and proximity to major population centers, are natural places for such development; however, these regions are also at considerable risk from severe hurricanes or tropical cyclones. Current international guidelines for the design of offshore wind turbines (OWTs) do not explicitly consider loading under hurricane conditions, however subsequent editions are anticipated to include language specific to hurricanes. Variability in extreme loads is greater in areas where hurricanes are likely and the design loads and risk profile of offshore structures installed in such areas are expected to be strongly influenced by hurricanes. For many offshore structures, environmental conditions at design recurrence periods and beyond are often estimated through extrapolation of long-term (i.e. multiple decades) wind and wave measurements from buoys, however, for offshore structures located at areas exposed to hurricanes, it is accepted practice to use physics-based models to augment the historical record of Atlantic hurricane activity and generate a stochastic catalog of synthetic hurricanes that provides tens of thousands of realizations for one year of potential hurricane activity. Once a stochastic catalog has been established, appropriate hazard intensity measures (e.g. the one-minute sustained wind speed, the significant wave height, and the peak spectral wave period) can be estimated for each storm at any site using well-known wind and wave parametric models. In this study, we consider several sites along the Atlantic coast and quantify the impact of estimating hazard for design recurrence periods and beyond for three different methods. The first is based on an extrapolation of wind and wave measurements from buoys, and the second and third are based on a stochastic catalog of synthetic hurricanes with wind and wave intensities estimated based on deterministic and probabilistic relationships.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Arms Races?—And Escalation? A Comment on Wallace

In his recent paper ‘Armaments and Escalation’, Michael Wallace argues that the existence of arms races in and of themselves makes the escalation of disputes to war more likely. Unfortunately, there are a number of problems with Wallace's measurements, data and interpretations which make his findings less than fully convincing. It is the purpose of this brief comment to discuss these difficulties and their import for Wallace's policy recommendations.
A NATURAL EXPERIMENT IN LIFE-HISTORY EVOLUTION: FIELD DATA ON THE INTRODUCTION OF MOSQUITOFISH (GAMBUSIA AFFINIS) TO HAWAII.

Patterns in life-history variation were first explained by differences in mode of population regulation (rK Mertz, 1975; Taylor and Condra, 1980; Barclay and Gregory, 1981) and by comparisons of wild populations (see articles reviewed in Stearns 1976, 1977, 1980) are these: (1) High, variable, or unpredictable adult mortality rates select for increased reproduction early in life. (2) High, variable, or unpredictable juvenile mortality rates select for decreased reproduction and longer adult life., This paper begins a test of age-specific models. In designing this study, I kept in mind certain criteria for assessing life-history studies (Stearns, 1977): they should contain measurements of the environmental factors invoked as evolutionary causes, of the variation of life-history traits among populations in the field, of the genetic component of that variation measured in the laboratory under constant conditions, of the time-series of age-specific mortality rates, and of reproductive efforts. Here I report evidence bearing on the first two criteria. In Stearns (1983) I report evidence bearing on the third. Without field data on ageand size-specific mortality rates, I cannot directly test current predictions. This paper tests assumptions about the differences between stable and fluctuating environments and evaluates alternative explanations of what causes variation among populations.
Hyperthyroidism and steatorrhea in an adolescent. Report of a case.

A case of hyperthyroidism and steatorrhea in an adolescent mentally retarded girl is reported. It is suggested that the hyperthyroidism was a major contributing factor in causing the steatorrhea.
Flu-Like and Systemic Symptoms Following Treatment with Botulinum Toxins (P01.230)

Objective: We aimed to assess the frequency of systemic and flu-like symptoms (FLS) in consecutive patients undergoing botulinum toxin (BoNT) treatment. Background FLS have been reported to occur in 2-55% of patients after injections with different preparations of BoNT (Baizabal-Carvallo et al. Toxicon 2011;58:1-7). Design/Methods: Retrospective study using a detailed questionnaire and structured interview. Results: A total of 218 patients, 72.5% women, mean age 61.2 ± 13.3 years, with cervical dystonia (n=82, 37.3%), blepharospasm (n=32, 14.5%), craniocervical dystonia (n=32, 14.5%), and hemifacial spasm (n=21, 9.5%), were enrolled in the study. Most patients were receiving BoNT type A: n=212 (97.2%): onabotulinumtoxinA: n=184 (83.6%); abobotulinumtoxinA: n=11, (5%); incobotulinumtoxinA: n=17 (7.7%); and BoNT type B (rimabotulinumtoxinB) n=6 (2.8 %). The most frequently reported systemic adverse effects were: generalized fatigue: n=38 (17.4%); headache: n=34 (15.6%); muscle aches: n=29 (13.3%); and generalized weakness: n=27 (12.4%); FLS were reported by 20 (9.2%) patients, and at least one symptom was reported by 82 patients (37.6%). Some symptoms were more frequently reported by women, including headache (P=0.008), fatigue (P=0.029), nausea (P= 0.010), and FLS (P=0.066). Twenty six patients (11.9%) took over the counter medications to control the symptoms; 7.8% reported interference with activities of daily living; and 3.7% consulted a physician because of the symptoms. No differences in age, type or dosage of BoNT were observed among patients with or without systemic symptoms. Conclusions: FLS were reported by 9.2% patients receiving BoNT and more than a third had at least one systemic complaint following BoNT treatment. Women seem to have a higher risk for the development of these systemic side effects than men. We are collecting additional data and serological inflammatory markers in order to better understand the potential risk factors and mechanisms of these systemic BoNT-related side effects. Disclosure: Dr. Baizabal Carvallo has nothing to disclose. Dr. Jankovic has received personal compensation for activities with Allergan, Inc., Chelsea Therapeutics, Serono Inc., Merz Pharma, Lundbeck Research USA, Inc, Teva Neuroscience as a consultant. Dr. Jankovic has received personal compensation in an editorial capacity for Medlink: Neurology in Clinical Practice. Dr. Jankovic has received research support from Allergan, Inc, Allon Therapeutics, Ceregene, Inc., Chelsea Therapeutics; Diana Helis Henry Medical Research Foundation, Serono Inc., Huntington9s Disease Society of America, Huntington Study Group, Impax Pharmaceuticals, Ipsen Limited, Lundbeck Research USA, Inc.
Direct tests of a pixelated microchannel plate as the active element of a shower maximum detector

One possibility to make a fast and radiation resistant shower maximum detector is to use a secondary emitter as an active element. We report our studies of microchannel plate photomultipliers (MCPs) as the active element of a shower-maximum detector. We present test beam results obtained using Photonis XP85011 to detect secondary particles of an electromagnetic shower. We focus on the use of the multiple pixels on the Photonis MCP in order to find a transverse two-dimensional shower distribution. A spatial resolution of 0.8 mm was obtained with an 8 GeV electron beam. A method for measuring the arrival time resolution for electromagnetic showers is presented, and we show that time resolution better than 40 ps can be achieved.
A Digital Image Matting Algorithm Based on the Optimization Strategy of Latent Radius

Due to parameters is needed to be set depending on the issue of human goal-oriented to filter matting algorithms,a classifier was proposed based on component detection called LSVM( latent support vector machine). The parameters of guided radius could be automatically set so as to optimize algorithm. Firstly,for determining the radius,a potential idea of LSVMwas applied which using the known database templates to train the input samples of the target image,then the sample set of the guided image and the binary image were divided into blocks with different radius which could automatically generate the reasonable parameters and optimize algorithm. At last,guided filter was used to advance matting and the intelligent and flexible of the matting algorithm was achiered.
Determination of BHC and DDT Residues in Fuji Apple in Market of Xi'an City

[Objective]To establish a method for determination of BHC and DDT residues in apple by gas chromatography(GC) and use it to determine BHC and DDT residues in Fuji Apple in market of Xi'an City.[Methods]The Apple mash was determined by electron capture detector(ECD) with DB-1 capillary column and ECD detector after acetonitrile extraction,salting-out,concentration,Florisil column purification,and dissolved to constant volume with n-hexane.[Results]The separation was well for 6 kinds of BHC,and the good linearity was obtained.The average recoveries at 3 concentration levels ranged from 90.0%～106.1%,with relative standard deviations all under 8.0%.[Conclusion]This method is simple,rapid,accurate and reliable,it can be applied to determine BHC and DDT residues in apple.
Rural Consolidation against Soviet Politics: The Peasant Union Movement in the 1920s

In 1926 Krest’ianskaia Gazeta received a letter from a Red Army soldier named Lesnikov, from the Viatka gubernia. The popular newspaper received about a thousand peasants’ letters daily, but the chief editor, S. Uritsky, decided to forward this one to Politburo member V. M. Molotov. Lesnikov wrote: It is necessary to create a special peasant party, through which peasants would express their opinions. You may say it’s impractical, because kulaks would join it and then the end would come to the USSR. But this is not true. Kulaks won’t enter it, just like the Tsarist bureaucrats do not enter the VKPb. If you do not permit us to organize such a party — then your politics are not in favor of all people, but in favor of one particular class. You should not cheat people in this matter. My suggestions: (1) Create a peasant party, (2) Permit full freedom of speech and press, (3) Legalize parties, (4) Change the Constitution article about elections, (5) Abandon the dictatorship — create people power in reality. Only in this way is it possible to achieve unity and political security inside the country.2
Radioactive Hailstones in the District of Columbia Area, May 26, 1953

At about 2000Z, 26 May 1953 the District of Columbia area experienced a hailstorm in which individual hailstones ranged up to the size of tennis balls. Determinations of the radioactive count of the water content of these hailstones and of roof gravels indicate that considerable material was brought to earth by the hailstorm from the explosion of the atomic cannon shell 29 hours earlier some 2000 airline miles away in Nevada. The air-flow pattern at upper levels proves to have been around a high-pressure ridge located between the two sites. Such a pattern permitted the arrival of such radioactive material over the District of Columbia area within the time noted.
My Johnson Fantasy

Beckett had a special interest in Samuel Johnson. He studied him for over a year in 1936–37, when he was engaged in primary and secondary research for a full-length play to be focused on Johnson’s last years and called (adapting the title of the famous poem) Human Wishes. In some respects, this research was a continuation of his reading of eighteenth-century writers over the previous five years; yet his single-minded concern with Johnson seems to have been a good deal more personal and was aimed toward the production of a particular work. In a 22 July 1937 letter to his friend George Reavey, he referred to his peculiar fascination as “my Johnson fantasy.”2 However, the play, which began quite well, was unfortunately abandoned after the completion of only part of its first scene — and like Godot, Johnson never appears.
Opinion integration and summarization

As Web 2.0 applications become increasingly popular, more and more people express their opinions on the Web in various ways in real time. Such wide coverage of topics and abundance of users make the Web an extremely valuable source for mining people’s opinions about all kinds of topics. However, since the opinions are usually expressed as unstructured text scattered in different sources, it is still difficult for the users to digest all opinions relevant to a specific topic with the current technologies. This thesis focuses on the problem of opinion integration and summarization whose goal is to better support user digestion of huge amounts of opinions for an arbitrary topic. To systematically study this problem, we have identified three important dimensions of opinion analysis: separation of aspects (or subtopics) of opinions, understanding of sentiments, and assessment of quality of opinions. These dimensions form three key components in an integrated opinion summarization system. Accordingly, this thesis makes contributions in proposing novel and general computational techniques for three synergistic tasks: (1) integrating relevant opinions from all kinds of Web 2.0 sources and organizing them along different aspects of the topic which not only serves as a semantic grouping of opinions but also facilitates user navigation into the huge opinion space; (2) inferring the sentiments in the opinions with respect to different aspects and different opinion holders, so as to provide the users with a more detailed and informed multi-perspective view of the opinions; and (3) improving the prediction of opinion quality which critically decides the usefulness of the information extracted from the opinions. We focus on general and robust methods which require minimal human supervision so as to make the automated methods applicable to a wide range of topics and scalable to large amounts of opinions. This focus differentiates this thesis from work that is fine-tuned or welltrained for particular domains but are not easily adaptable to new domains. Our main idea is to exploit many naturally available resources, such as structured ontologies and social networks, which serve as indirect signals and guidance for generating opinion summaries. Along this line, our proposed techniques have been shown to be effective and general enough to be applied for potentially many interesting applications in multiple domains, such as business intelligence and political science.
Campylobacter-Associated Diseases in Animals

Campylobacter includes a group of genetically diverse species causing a range of diseases in animals and humans. The bacterium is frequently associated with two economically important and epidemiologically distinct reproductive diseases in ruminants: enzootic infectious infertility in cattle owing to Campylobacter fetus subsp. venerealis and abortions in sheep, goats, and cattle. Septic abortion, usually epizootic in sheep, has been historically associated with C. fetus subsp. fetus and to a lesser extent with Campylobacter jejuni. However, there has been a dramatic species shift in the etiology of Campylobacter abortions in recent years: C. jejuni has now replaced C. fetus subsp. fetus as the predominant cause of sheep abortion in the United States, which appears to be driven primarily by clonal expansion of a hypervirulent tetracycline-resistant C. jejuni clone. Here we provide a review on the recent advances in understanding the pathobiology of Campylobacter infections in animals, with an emphasis on the diseases in ruminants, covering epidemiology, pathogenesis, genomics, and control measures.
Statistical database analysis of the role of loop dynamics for protein-protein complex formation and allostery.

Motivation: Protein loops show rich conformational dynamics properties on a wide range of timescales as they play an essential role for many cellular functions during protein–protein interactions and recognition processes. However, little is known about the detail behavior of loops upon protein binding including allostery. Results: We report the loop motions and their dominant timescales for a library of 230 proteins that form protein–protein complexes using the ToeLoop predictor of loop dynamics. We applied the analysis to proteins in both their complex and free state and relate specific loop properties to their role in protein recognition. We observe a strong tendency of loops that move on relatively slow timescales of tens of ns to sub-μs to be directly involved in binding and recognition processes. Complex formation leads to a significant reduction in loop flexibility at the binding interface, but in a number of cases it can also trigger increased flexibility in distal loops in response to allosteric conformational changes. The importance of loop dynamics and allostery is highlighted by a case study of an antibody-antigen complex. Furthermore, we explored the relationship between loop dynamics and experimental binding affinities and found that a prevalence of high loop rigidity at the binding interface is an indicator of increased binding strength. Availability and Implementation: http://spin.ccic.ohio-state.edu/index.php/toeloopppi Contact: bruschweiler.1@osu.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Hydrodeoxygenation of Sorbitol to Monofunctional Fuel Precursors over Co/TiO2

Summary Hydrodeoxygenation of sugar alcohols can be tuned to produce monofunctional oxygenates for use as jet or diesel fuel precursors. However, the catalysts typically utilize precious metals and are not highly selective. Here, the hydrodeoxygenation of aqueous sorbitol was studied over a Co/TiO 2 catalyst to produce monofunctionals at a 56 C% yield. The majority of these species are alcohols (69%) or heterocycles (23%) while ketones and aldehydes are readily hydrogenated. 67% of the monofunctionals are C 5 -C 6 . Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry provided evidence for the coupling of C 3 and C 6 oxygenates to C 9+ oligomeric species, which likely fragment and deoxygenate to form C 1 -C 6 monofunctionals and gases. Co/TiO 2 deactivation occurred irreversibly due to sintering and leaching promoted by oxygenated species. Our results suggest that low-cost base metal catalysts can be as effective as many precious metal catalysts for monofunctional production from sorbitol toward heavy fuels if catalyst deactivation issues can be overcome.
Can We Measure the Power of the Grabbing Hand? A Comparative Analysis of Different Indicators of Corruption

Sustainable Development Goal 16 is explicitly committed to measuring aspects of corruption over time, and the identification of robust indicators to do so is an important endeavor. This paper critically reviews the strengths and weaknesses of various objective and subjective indicators of corruption, using the standard criteria of validity and reliability to identify indicators most salient to measuring Sustainable Development Goal 16. Consistent with the large literature in the field, the paper finds that the aggregate survey-based indicators of corruption, especially the Corruption Perceptions Index and the World Bank's Control of Corruption indicator, despite some important reservations and limitations, are the most valid measures of the magnitude of overall corruption in many country contexts. However, in every case, the initial results using one indicator should be cross checked with the use of the other indicator, as there are some minor differences between how the two indicators are constructed, and in practice it is difficult to establish a priori which indicator is marginally more efficient. Furthermore, whenever possible, subjective indicators should be cross checked with objective indicators, even when the latter may be of a more narrow scope and time limited availability.
Timing of Cholecystectomy in Acute Cholecystitis.

Abstract Background Cholecystitis is an inflammation of the gallbladder that most commonly occurs as a result of obstruction of the cystic duct by gallstones. The current standard of treatment for acute cholecystitis is cholecystectomy. Objective Our goal was to discuss the benefits of and compare early laparoscopic cholecystectomy and delayed laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the treatment of acute cholecystitis. Materials and Methods A Medline literature search was performed dating from January 1982 to July 2015. We limited the search to human studies written in English and using the keywords “Acute Cholecystitis,” early vs. delayed laparoscopic cholecystectomy, surgical management, and surgical complications. Results There were 225 articles reviewed, of which 25 met criteria for selection. Our recommendations are based on these 25 articles. Conclusion Early laparoscopic cholecystectomy is preferred over delayed, due to overall better quality of life, lower morbidity rates, and lower hospital cost. Ultimately, management of acute cholecystitis by emergency physicians should be made based on patient's clinical status and available resources in their particular hospital.
Access to a scale and self-weighing habits among public housing residents.

Having access to a scale is essential for individuals to engage in self-weighing; however, few studies examine scale access, particularly among low-income individuals. Our objectives were to (i) determine how many public housing residents have access to a scale and (ii) describe their self-weighing habits. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of public housing residents in Baltimore, MD, from August 2014 to August 2015. Participants answered questions about their access to a scale ('yes'/'no') and daily self-weighing habits ('no scale/never or hardly ever' vs. 'some/about half/much of the time/always'). We used t-tests or chi-square tests to examine the association of scale access with respondent characteristics. Overall, 266 adults participated (48% response rate). Mean age was 45 years with 86% women, 95% black and 54% with obesity. Only 32% had access to a scale; however, 78% of those with this access reported engaging in some self-weighing. Residents who lacked access to a scale were younger (P = 0.03), and more likely to be unemployed/disabled (P = 0.01) or food insecure (P < 0.01). While few public housing residents have access to a scale, those who do report daily self-weighing with some regularity. Financial hardship may influence scale access in this population, as potential proxies of this status were associated with no scale access.
Metronomic Chemotherapy in Gynecological Cancers

Ovarian cancer is the 5th leading cause of cancer mortality in the United States, and despite major advances in cytoreductive surgery and the use of chemotherapy with a platinum and a taxane in the first-line setting, recurrence is still a common problem. Efforts to improve the efficacy of conventional chemotherapy have been resulted in general in limited benefit. Metronomic chemotherapy represents an alternate schedule of chemotherapy administration. Preclinical and clinical data attest to the efficacy of metronomic chemotherapy as a treatment modality in ovarian cancer. Further research, including phase III clinical studies, is required to determine the role of this promising therapeutic approach in the management of ovarian cancer.
Phases observed at 900–1100°C in the binaryLnBaO systems forLn = Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, and Yb

Abstract The compoundsLn2Ba2O5, Ln2Ba4O7, andLn4Ba3O9, forLn =Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, and Yb, have been prepared and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction. Phase interrelationships were established as a function of temperature by quenching specimens annealed at 900–1100°C. ComparableLn =Tb phases could not be prepared. Lattice parameters are presented for all phases observed.
Types of Leaky Dominant Modes and Spectral Gaps on Printed-Circuit Lines

Not long ago it was generally believed that the dominant mode on open printed-circuit transmission lines would be purely bound at all frequencies. Now we know that, for most such lines, the dominant mode is purely bound at low frequencies, in agreement with common perception, but becomes leaky above a critical frequency. For certain lines, however, the behavior is different; for example, the dominant mode on conductor-backed slot line or coplanar waveguide of infinite width is leaky at all frequencies, whereas for microstrip line there is an additional dominant mode, which is leaky at high frequencies but nonphysical at low frequencies. It is important to know when leakage may occur because the presence of leakage can lead to power loss, crosstalk, and package effects which would deteriorate circuit performance.
Silk Hydrogels Crosslinked by the Fenton Reaction

Here, the Fenton reaction is used to prepare silk hydrogels through oxidation of tyrosine residues in silk fibroin, leading to dityrosine crosslinking. At pH 5.7, gelation occurs rapidly within 30 s, and the resultant opaque gels show soft properties with a storage modulus of ≈100 Pa. The addition of ascorbic acid to the Fenton reaction increases the dityrosine bonds in the hydrogels but has little effect on the rheological or mechanical properties. The results indicate that Fe(III) ions significantly interacted with silk fibroin during the Fenton reaction, most likely binding to sites such as tyrosine, glutamate, and aspartate residues, triggering the formation of β-sheet structures that may impede dityrosine bond formation due to steric hindrance. The use of an iron chelator or the operation of the Fenton reaction at pH 9.2 enables control over the interaction of Fe(III) ions with silk fibroin, achieving a hydrogel with improved optical properties and enhanced dityrosine bond formation. Hydrogels prepared by the Fenton reaction are cytocompatible as L929 mouse fibroblasts remain viable and are proliferative when seeded on the hydrogels. The results offer a useful approach to generate chemically crosslinked silk fibroin hydrogels without the use of enzyme-catalyzed reactions for biomedical applications.
Venture Growth and Multi-homing Expansion: Evidence from Open Source Platform Complementors

This study examines how a complementor’s multi-homing expansion to an alternative technology platform affects its user base in the original platform. Prior research has extensively examined the per...