cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Did Argentina Have a Currency Boards in the Mid 1880's?

My research was part of a larger project to determine how currency board monetary systems have performed. The goal was to find information about the note issue of Argentina's Banco de la Provincia in the mid 1800's in order to determine if Argentina had a currency board system. I also tried to find answers to the questions of why the note issue arrangement was established, how it worked organizationally and why it was replaced.
TAML activator/peroxide-catalyzed facile oxidative degradation of the persistent explosives trinitrotoluene and trinitrobenzene in micellar solutions.

TAML activators are well-known for their ability to activate hydrogen peroxide to oxidize persistent pollutants in water. The trinitroaromatic explosives, 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and 1,3,5-trin...
Progress in Fully Automated Abdominal CT Interpretation.

OBJECTIVE. Automated analysis of abdominal CT has advanced markedly over just the last few years. Fully automated assessment of organs, lymph nodes, adipose tissue, muscle, bowel, spine, and tumors are some examples where tremendous progress has been made. Computer-aided detection of lesions has also improved dramatically. CONCLUSION. This article reviews the progress and provides insights into what is in store in the near future for automated analysis for abdominal CT, ultimately leading to fully automated interpretation.
Material Values, Goals, and Water Use: Results from a Campus Residence Hall Survey

The social sciences, psychology in particular, offer a growing body of research to address sustainability issues. We specifically turn to the psychological literature on values and goals to predict eco-friendly behavior. Material values, such as the desire to gain happiness from purchasing products, predict consumption behavior (Richins and Dawsons in J Consum Res 19(3):303–316, 1992). We test whether material values predict water use, and whether the relationship will be mediated through the competing goals to conserve resources and maintain personal comfort. Specifically, we hypothesize that people will use more natural resources when the goal for personal comfort outweighs the goal to conserve resources (Gaspar in Sustainability 5(7):2960–2975, 2013). 269 residence hall students completed an online survey that included the Material Values Scale, a conservation goal item, and a personal comfort goal item. Students also reported water use, including shower time and dish washing habits. As predicted, material values, the conservation goal, and the comfort goal independently predicted water use. However, only the personal comfort goal explained the relation between material values and water use. To increase the likelihood of behavior change, campus water conservation campaigns should try to activate the goal to conserve resources, like reminding students to shorten showers, while dissuading material values, possibly by emphasizing the value of experience over consumption.
Role of endothelin and tumour necrosis factor in the renal response to sepsis

A rapidly increasing body of evidence is implicating endothelin and TNF in the pathogenesis of septic acute renal failure. TNF causes renal damage by recruiting leukocytes, accelerating fibrin accumulation, promoting cell lysis, stimulating the release of vasoconstrictor substances, and other mechanisms. ET-1 causes renal dysfunction in sepsis and endotoxaemia primarily by evoking severe reductions in RBF and GFR. While these are only two of the many agents that mediate renal dysfunction during sepsis, they stand out by virtue of their combined ability to modulate numerous inflammatory pathways and to elicit marked alterations in renal function. Clearly the development of specific TNF and endothelin antagonists holds out promise for the treatment and prevention of septic acute renal failure.
Effect of two new cholecystokinin antagonists on gallbladder emptying in opossums.

In this investigation we evaluated the effect of two new cholecystokinin (CCK) antagonists, CR 1409 and L364,718, on gallbladder emptying in the opossum. Gallbladder emptying was elicited by both exogenous and endogenous CCK. The three test challenges were 1) intravenous infusion of CCK octapeptide (OP) (10 ng.kg-1.min-1), 2) feeding, and 3) intraduodenal infusion of Isocal (0.4 ml/min), a fat-containing nutrient. During control conditions each test challenge elicited approximately 60% gallbladder emptying within 30 min and 70% emptying by 60 min. At given doses both CR 1409 and L364,718 substantially antagonized or abolished the gallbladder emptying elicited by each of the test challenges. The antagonism for postprandial gallbladder emptying was diminished between 30 and 50 min compared with that for CCK-OP infusion and intraduodenal infusion of Isocal. Unexpectedly, the gallbladder emptying induced by infusion of motilin (5 micrograms.kg-1.h-1) was antagonized by either CR 1409 or L364,718. In anesthetized animals, gallbladder contraction was induced by a variety of agonists, such as bethanechol, histamine phosphate, 5-hydroxytryptamine, and phenylephrine. In this later model CR 1409 and L364,718 functioned solely as selective antagonists. We conclude that for the opossum gallbladder 1) the CCK antagonists CR 1409 and L364,718 antagonize or abolish gallbladder emptying induced by exogenous or endogenous CCK; 2) the pattern of CCK antagonism after feeding suggests that the early phase of postprandial gallbladder emptying is mediated by a mechanism other than endogenous CCK, whereas late postprandial emptying is mediated by release of endogenous CCK; and 3) CR 1409 and L364,718 are not totally specific antagonists for gallbladder CCK receptors alone but also antagonize gallbladder contraction induced by motilin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Palliative care for the nursing home resident with dementia.

The prevalence of memory impairment, including dementia, increases exponentially with age. Of people with late-onset dementia, about half have Alzheimer’s, 16% have vascular dementia, and 30% have other forms of dementia. 1 Alzheimer’s disease, the most frequent cause of dementia in Western societies, affects an estimated 5 million people in the United States and 17 million worldwide. 2 The onset is insidious with manifestations evolving over a period of years from mildly impaired memory to severe cognitive loss. The course is progressive and terminates with mental and functional incapacity and subsequent death. 3 As many as 90% of Americans with dementia will be institutionalized before death. 4-5 Nursing homes are, therefore, important providers of end-of-life care. Several researchers have highlighted the need to improve the quality of palliative care in the nursing home setting. 6-8
Effects of feeding supplemental fat to beef cows on cold tolerance in newborn calves.

Our objectives were to examine the effects of added fat in late-gestation cow diets on neonatal response to cold. In Exp. 1, pregnant fall-calving heifers received control (n = 5), safflower seed (n = 5), or whole cottonseed (n = 5) diets. The hay-based, isonitrogenous, and isocaloric diets, fed for 47 d prepartum, contained 1.5, 4.0, and 5.0% fat for control, safflower, and whole cottonseed diets, respectively. At calving, calf BW and vigor score, as well as fat, lactose, and IgG in colostrum were not affected (P > 0.30) by diet. Heifers fed the safflower diet tended to have greater colostral solids (P 0.50) by diet. Between 30 and 180 min, body temperature of calves from dams fed the whole cottonseed supplement decreased (P 0.30). Serum cortisol concentrations tended (P < 0.09) to be greater for calves from dams fed whole cottonseed than control calves. When ambient temperature was < 6 degrees C, calves born to dams fed whole cottonseed had greater (P < 0.05) BW, tended (P < 0.1) to stand earlier, and had greater serum IgG concentrations. We conclude that calves from dams fed high-fat diets containing safflower or whole cottonseed respond similarly to cold stress, but these responses may not be consistent with greater cold resistance. In addition, high-fat dietary supplementation of late-gestation cows may only be beneficial during calving seasons with prolonged cold weather.
The Role of Contract: Stewart Macaulay's Lessons from Practice

Stewart Macaulay is one of the most important figures in the American Law and Society movement, and also a central figure in American Contract Law theory. This contribution to a collection honoring Professor Macaulay (based on a conference in his honour). Macaulay’s work reminds us that as Contract Law teachers and theorists we should not lose track of our true subject: the actual practice of transactions and promises among business people and others. The article explores the way that the differences between the picture of contract law given by law teaching and law casebooks and actual contracting practice has the effect of legitimating unjust practices. The article suggests how a greater focus on actual contracting practices (including the way that statutes that purport to protect vulnerable contracting parties tend to be weakened by limiting judicial constructions and other structural biases of the legal system). The article also considers Macaulay’s important distinction between “the real deal” and “the paper deal” – the way that formal contract documents frequently deviate from the parties’ own understanding of their agreement – and whether the problem this raises could be fixed by a more contextual (less formalistic) approach to judicial decision-making.
A Quantitative Assessment of Cellular Recovery in Lymphoid Tissue

Measurement of cellular responses in quantitative terms is an essential requisite for elucidating the basic processes of hemopoiesis under normal physiological conditions as Well as under conditions of specific stimulation or suppression. In man, the lymphomyeloid complex does not lend itself readily for direct cell quantitation and inferences have to be drawn from qualitative observations on the hemopoietic tissues, the possibility of cell quantitation for practical purposes being confined to the peripheral blood. Even in experimental animals, quantitative studies of lymphomyeloid tissues are virtually confined to portions of the lymphoid tissue and bone marrow of the rat (1,2) and to the bone marrow of the guinea pig (3).
Carcinoma of the esophagus part 2: Adjuvant therapy

The two general treatment approaches for esophageal cancer are primary treatment (surgical or nonsurgical) or adjuvant treatment (preoperative or postoperative). Due to differences in the patient populations selected for surgical or nonsurgical therapies, which may bias the results against nonsurgical therapy, it is difficult to determine the best treatment approach for this disease. The standard of care is either surgery alone or primary combined-modality therapy. Based on a nonrandomized comparison of the data from recent intergroup trials, the results of these two approaches are similar. For patients treated without surgery, the intergroup INT 0123 trial will determine whether higher doses of radiation are of benefit. No clear survival advantage has been seen with preoperative or postoperative adjuvant radiation therapy alone or chemotherapy alone. The randomized trials comparing preoperative combined-modality therapy vs surgery alone reveal encouraging results for the combination approach but need further confirmation. For patients treated with combined-modality therapy, the ideal regimen remains to be determined. Part 1 of this two-part review, which appeared in last month's issue, centered on primary therapy for esophageal carcinoma. This part explores the rationale for and results of adjuvant therapy.
Biology and Management of Laboratory Fishes

Fish is a broad term encompassing the most diverse and largest taxonomic grouping of the vertebrates. In common usage, the term includes all members of four taxonomic classes, the Myxini, Cephalaspidomorphi, Elasmobranchiomorphi, and Osteichthyes. More than 3800 species are known from the United States, Canada, and Mexico alone (Page et al., 2013). The Osteichthyes alone, the class of the bony fishes, comprises more extant species than all of the mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians combined. This massive biodiversity is not a quirk of taxonomic whim. The anatomic and physiologic differences among species of fish are every bit as dramatic as the differences among mammalian species. This characteristic of fish offers tremendous opportunity for the researcher seeking a particular anatomic, physiologic, or disease model, but it also presents serious challenges for laboratory animal managers and veterinarians seeking to maintain the health and well-being of the animals selected. Fish welfare is as important a concern as for any other vertebrate animal (Smith, 2013). Although certain themes of medicine and health management transcend the species differences of the fishes, it is important to keep in mind the adage, ‘A fish is not a fish.’ This means all fish species are not equivalent in their basic biologic and husbandry needs. It is important to know what fish species you are dealing with when making a diagnosis or designing a health protocol.
Dynamic domains of amyloid fibrils can be site-specifically assigned with proton detected 3D NMR spectroscopy

Several amyloid fibrils have cores framed by highly dynamic, intrinsically disordered, domains that can play important roles for function and toxicity. To study these domains in detail using solid-state NMR spectroscopy, site-specific resonance assignments are required. Although the rapid dynamics of these domains lead to considerable averaging of orientation-dependent NMR interactions and thereby line-narrowing, the proton linewidths observed in these samples is far larger than what is regularly observed in solution. Here, we show that it is nevertheless possible to record 3D HNCO, HNCA, and HNcoCA spectra on these intrinsically disordered domains and to obtain site-specific assignments.
Effect of Sporulation Media on the Heat Resistance of Bacillus stearothermophilus Spores 1.

Based on D values obtained over the temperature range of 121.1 C (250 F) to 126.7 C (260 F), Bacillus stearothermophilus vegetative cells sporulated in the presence of milk were more resistant to heat inactivation than spores grown on nutrient agar fortified with MnSo4. Spores grown in the presence of milk and heat-treated at 121.1 and 126.7 C had D values of 4.7 and 0.8 min, respectively. Spores grown on fortified nutrient agar and beat-treated at 121.1 and 126.7 C had D values of 3. 7 and 0.55 min, respectively. No difference in heat resistance was observed between spores derived from vegetative cells grown in milk or nutrient broth when tested at 121.1 C.
Individualized outcome prognostication for patients with laryngeal cancer.

BACKGROUND Accurate prognostication is essential to the optimal management of laryngeal cancer. Predictive models have been developed to calculate the risk of oncologic outcomes, but extensive external validation of accuracy and reliability is necessary before implementing them into clinical practice. METHOD Four published prognostic calculators that predict 5-year overall survival for patients with laryngeal cancer were evaluated using patient information from a prospective epidemiology study cohort (n = 246; median follow-up, 60 months) with previously untreated, stage I through IVb laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. RESULTS Different calculators yielded substantially different predictions for individual patients. The observed 5-year overall survival was significantly higher than the averaged predicted 5-year overall survival of the 4 calculators (71.9%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 65%-78%] vs 47.7%). Statistical analyses demonstrated the calculators' limited capacity to discriminate outcomes for risk-stratified patients. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve ranged from 0.68 to 0.72. C-index values were similar for each of the 4 models (range, 0.66-0.68). There was a lower than expected hazard of death for patients who received induction (bioselective) chemotherapy (hazard ratio, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.24-0.88; P = .024) or primary surgical intervention (hazard ratio, 0.43; 95 % CI, 0.21-0.90; P = .024) compared with those who received concurrent chemoradiation. CONCLUSIONS Suboptimal reliability and accuracy limit the integration of existing individualized prediction tools into routine clinical decision making. The calculators predicted significantly worse than observed survival among patients who received induction chemotherapy and primary surgery, suggesting a need for updated consideration of modern treatment modalities. Further development of individualized prognostic calculators may improve risk prediction, treatment planning, and counseling for patients with laryngeal cancer. Cancer 2018;124:706-16. © 2017 American Cancer Society.
Conclusion: Multiplicity, Ontology, Deleuze, Badiou

This chapter recovers the work of the preceding several chapters to demonstrate my attention to structure and procedure as key components of both Badiou’s and Deleuze’s ontological multiplicity. I discuss the prospects for ‘other lineages’ in which to take up this investigation, including the discussions in Chapter 5 concerning Badiou’s relationships to Heidegger and Kant. Knox Peden (Spinoza Contra Phenomenology: French Rationalism from Cavailles to Deleuze, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 2014) uses an entanglement with Heidegger to propose ways in which Deleuze’s alternative reinforces his deep Spinozist commitments; this recognition extends the frontier of the Badiou-Deleuze engagement beyond the boundary I identify in Kant’s notion of the manifold. I conclude by addressing the critique of multiplicity in Badiou’s review of Deleuze’s The Fold: Leibniz and the Baroque. This engagement offers an opportunity to consider the foundation of ontological inquiry not in multiplicity, but the decision or commitment to dissolution that warrants its deployment.
Evolutionary Mismatch, Emotional Homeostasis, and “Emotional Addiction”: A Unifying Model of Psychological Dysfunction

This paper proposes a unifying evolutionary framework for understanding the genesis of a wide range of psychological disorders. Psychological disorders as a whole appear to develop at significant frequencies only under conditions of “evolutionary mismatch,” where people or animals live in environments, such as modern cities or industrialized cultures in general, that they are not evolutionarily or biologically adapted for. Evolutionarily mismatched environments appear to often cause disruptions in drive states that have evolved to maintain homeostasis. Based on several lines of evidence, I will suggest that painful, distressing emotional states can provide unconscious biochemical rewards in the brain and, under mismatched environmental conditions, can become reinforced, creating unconscious, compulsive “emotional addictions.” This core phenomenon may be the main driving force for the great majority of psychological disorders. The maladaptive drive or force that emotional addictions appear to generate, referred to here as the “non-homeostatic drive” or “addictive drive,” is suggested to dysfunctionally, unnecessarily, and repeatedly throw people out of homeostasis, creating systemic imbalances that can result in a variety of psychological dysfunctions.
Exposure to hazardous air pollutants and risk of incident breast cancer in the nurses' health study II.

Findings from a recent prospective cohort study in California suggested increased risk of breast cancer associated with higher exposure to certain carcinogenic and estrogen-disrupting hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). However, to date, no nationwide studies have evaluated these possible associations. Our objective was to examine the impacts of mammary carcinogen and estrogen disrupting HAPs on risk of invasive breast cancer in a nationwide cohort. We assigned HAPs from the US Environmental Protection Agency’s 2002 National Air Toxics Assessment to 109,239 members of the nationwide, prospective Nurses’ Health Study II (NHSII). Risk of overall invasive, estrogen receptor (ER)-positive (ER+), and ER-negative (ER-) breast cancer with increasing quartiles of exposure were assessed in time-varying multivariable proportional hazards models, adjusted for traditional breast cancer risk factors. A total of 3321 invasive cases occurred (2160 ER+, 558 ER-) during follow-up 1989–2011. Overall, there was no consistent pattern of elevated risk of the HAPs with risk of breast cancer. Suggestive elevations were only seen with increasing 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane exposures (multivariable adjusted HR of overall breast cancer = 1.12, 95% CI: 0.98–1.29; ER+ breast cancer HR = 1.09; 95% CI: 0.92, 1.30; ER- breast cancer HR = 1.14; 95% CI: 0.81, 1.61; each in the top exposure quartile compared to the lowest). Exposures to HAPs during adulthood were not consistently associated with an increased risk of overall or estrogen-receptor subtypes of invasive breast cancer in this nationwide cohort of women.
Production and Absorption of Short-Chain Fatty Acids

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are produced when undigested dietary constituents are fermented by anaerobic bacteria in the intestine (Bancroft et al., 1944). Dietary fiber has been suggested to be the main substrate for the production of SCFAs. The SCFAs are readily absorbed and play significant physiological roles in the host. For example, butyrate is proposed to be a preferable fuel to glucose, glutamate, or ketone bodies for colonocytes (Roediger, 1982), whereas acetate and propionate are mainly converted to fatty acids and glucose, respectively, in the liver (Demigne et al., 1986). In addition, SCFAs are involved in the maintenance of secretory and absorptive functions in the large intestine by affecting movement of water and electrolytes (Argenzio et al., 1975). Therefore, investigation of the production of SCFAs through the fermentation of dietary fiber and evaluation of the mechanisms involved in the absorption are of interest. In this chapter we focus on absorption of SCFAs with a brief overview of production.
Theoretical Calculations of Protein Folding

Among the many methods that have been developed to solve the multiple-minima problem in the conformational analysis of polypeptides and proteins, two have proved to be very efficient and have led to the solution of this problem for oligopeptides. These are the diffusion equation method and the self-consistent multitorsional field method, both of which are described here.
Transgenic Crops for Herbicide Resistance

A year after the introduction of the first commercial transgenic crop (Flavr Savr™ tomato with a longer shelf life) in 1994, transgenic, herbicide-resistant crops (HRCs) were introduced (Table 3.1) with the introduction of bromoxynil- (3,5-dibromo-4-hydroxybenzonitrile) resistant cotton and glufosinate- [2-amino-4-(hydroxymethylphosphinyl)butanoic acid] resistant canola. Bromoxynil resistance had little market penetration during the years when it was available. The next year, 1996, marked the introduction of the first glyphosate- [N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine] resistant (GR) crop (soybean). Other GR and glufosinate-resistant crops were introduced in the subsequent years. GR crops now represent well over 80% of all transgenic crops grown worldwide (James 2008). Accordingly, this chapter will deal primarily with GR crops. Several reviews (e.g., Duke 2005; Duke and Cerdeira 2005; Cerdeira and Duke 2006) and two books (McClean and Evans 1995; Duke 1996) are available on the topic of HRCs, but this rapidly evolving topic requires timely updates.
Pulse Transformer Operation in Megagauss Fields

A flux compression generator operates most effectively when directly coupled to a low impedance load. High impedance loads also can be powered successfully by such generators through impedance matching transformers. The pulse transformer consists of a low inductance primary coil, driven directly by the generator, and a tightly coupled, multi-turn secondary winding. We discuss some of the factors that influence transformer performance when megagauss fields develop in the primary coil. Flux exclusion by the transformer conductors results in severe eddy current heating and compressive stressing. We have found, however, that pulse transformers can operate effectively in fields substantially higher than those predicted for conductor melting and structural yielding, provided the drive-field pulse widths are sufficiently short. Copper-wound secondaries have operated successfully to 110 in fields with 7-µs risetimes and to 165 T, with risetimes of 4–5 µs. Another factor, not normally considered, is the imploding radial motion of the secondary windings. Such motion can be significant when the transformers carry large load currents. Calculations of this motion are compared with data obtained from recovered secondary coils. The effects of the dynamic displacement on transformer coupling is also discussed.
8. Personas and Personalities

There’s that story that when God created the Universe, and the Earth, and the United States of America, and the favored professions therein, he wanted to give them good things. To the medical doctors he gave high salaries, to the lawyers he gave fascinating cases, to the carpenters he gave fine lumber, and to the professors he gave low teaching loads. Then he thought, I need to keep things balanced here, good means nothing unless compared to bad. So to the medical doctors he gave 4 a.m. surgery schedules, to the lawyers he gave vicious and unreliable clients, to the carpenters he gave unemployment, and to the professors he gave…colleagues.
Design, closed-form modeling and analysis of SU-8 based electrothermal microgripper for biomedical applications

This paper presents design analysis of an SU-8 based 2-DoF electrothermal microgripper by developing a closed-form analytical model. The analytical model considers both the electro-thermal and thermo-mechanical domains and relates the applied actuation voltage to the microgripper jaw tip displacement and gripping force on micro-object. The results obtained using developed analytical model are verified through coupled field finite element method simulations. In the microgripper design, a modified parallelogram based mechanism, consisting of elliptical hinges, is implemented to achieve displacement amplification and pure translational motion at the microgripper jaws. The proposed microgripper design allows to minimize the temperature at the jaws, thus making it suitable for the manipulation of biological materials for biomedical applications. For the proposed microgripper design, a single jaw tip displacement of 11 µm is obtained at an actuation voltage of 80 mV with temperature increase of only 2–3 °C from ambient at the jaw.
Teaching, Learning, and Living Roman Catholic Pastoral Theologies

Why a special issue on Roman Catholic pastoral theology? For the last 30 years, I have taught pastoral theology at a Roman Catholic graduate school and have also participated in the Society for Pas...
Nuclear Law, Oversight and Regulation: Seeking Public Dialogue and Democratic Transparency in Canada

To begin public discourse on acceptable policies and strategies surrounding Canada’s continued reliance on nuclear energy and the waste legacy it generates, this chapter explains the work of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), the regulatory body which oversees Canada’s nuclear industry. The authors describe the federal laws surrounding nuclear licensing and environmental approvals. They comment on current plans relating to radioactive waste disposal and emergency planning in light of the Fukushima Daiichi accident. They conclude that to strengthen the independence of the CNSC, opportunities for meaningful public participation should be developed, Indigenous engagement in CNSC decision-making processes be affirmed, and the federal government’s role and responsibilities for nuclear emergency management clarified.
Virtuelles Farb-Design

Eine neue Software fur das „Virtual Color Design“ sorgt dafur, dass Designvorschlage fruhzeitig bewertet und diskutiert werden konnen. Daruber hinaus lassen sich damit kostspielige Fehlerkorrekturen in der Produktion vermeiden.
Relative effectiveness of tricyclic antidepressant versus monoamine oxidase inhibitor monotherapy for treatment-resistant depression

Abstract Objectives Antidepressants may be less effective in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). In this exploratory study, we examined the widely held hypothesis that monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) therapy may be superior to tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) therapy for TRD. We also examined the influence of the number of prior treatment trials on TCA versus MAOI effectiveness in TRD. Methods Data were retrospectively extracted from approximately 2,500 treatment charts of patients with TRD who were attending a university mood disorder clinic between 1983 and 2015. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine the efficacy of drug class on outcome as well as the interaction between drug class and the number of prior antidepressant trials. Results 147 treatment outcome observations were made from 94 unipolar, depressed patients who either received TCA (N = 47) or MAOI (N = 100) monotherapy for TRD. For patients unresponsive to at least one prior trial, drug class significantly predicted end-of-treatment CGI/S scores, with TCAs showing worse (i.e., higher) end-of-treatment CGI/S scores relative to MAOI therapy (b = 1.04, t = 4.98, p Conclusion Results suggest that MAOIs may be more effective than TCAs for early stage TRD. This difference in effectiveness between MAOIs and TCAs diminished as the number of prior treatment trials increased. However, the TCA sample size was limited and the analysis was retrospective with non-randomized conditions.
Series diode balancing and diode evaluation for high-voltage high-frequency power converters

Miniaturization of high voltage power converters is severely limited by the availability of fast-switching, low-loss high-voltage diodes. This paper explores techniques for using discrete low-voltage diodes in series as one high voltage diode. We identify that when series connecting diodes, the parasitic capacitance from the physical diode interconnections to common can result in voltage and temperature imbalance among the diodes, along with increased loss. We quantify the imbalance and propose two related compensation techniques. To validate the approaches, a full-bridge rectifier is tested with each branch consisting of four 3.3 kV SiC diodes in series. Experimental results showcase the imbalance and demonstrate the effectiveness of the compensation techniques. Additionally, we characterize the performance of a range of diodes for use in high-frequency, high-voltage converters. The proposed technique and evaluation results will be valuable for the design of lightweight and miniaturized high voltage power converters.
Emission-spectrometric determination of trace rare-earth elements in yttrium oxide using CsCL-graphite buffer

An emission-spectrometric method was applied in the presence of CsCl-graphite buffer for the quantitative determination of traces of rare earth elements in yttrium oxide. The buffer causes an increase of the evaporation rate of the sample and of the emission intensity. The temperature in the arc plasma is decreased, and the atoms and ions of rare earths distribute uniformly along the axis of the discharge gap. The CsCl-graphite buffer enhances the sensitivity and the precision of the analytical elements to a larger extent than other buffers and permits the determination of microquantities of 10 impurity elements within limits of detection from 1 to 20 ppm in high-purity yttrium oxide. The coefficients of variation are less than 20%.
Major Risk Factors Contributing to Split Thickness Skin Graft Failure

A retrospective review was done for each wound (n = 223) in all patients (n = 191) who underwent Split Thickness Skin Graft (STSG) placement in the Wound Division at Georgetown University Hospital from January 2014 to March 2017 in order to determine the factors that significantly affect STSG take. In doing so, these factors that prove to significantly affect STSG take can be used to predict the possibility of graft failure, and, thus, determine if additional measures must be taken in order to improve the success of the skin graft. Patient medical records were examined for patient demographics, comorbidities, wound parameters, wound bed prep, post-operative dressing, 30 day graft outcomes, and 60 day graft outcomes. Statistical analysis was performed to determine the significance of each factor, and further analysis was done to determine the association and risk of the statistically significant factors. Statistical analysis showed a significant association between Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) for wound bed dressing after STSG placement and successful STSG outcome compared to use of bolster only for the post-surgical wound (χ2 = 4.66, p=0.0308). The odds of STSG failure in patients who underwent NPWT were approximately 80% less than those who had bolster dressing used for their post-surgical dressing (OR = 0.203). These results indicate that NPWT after skin graft placement yields a greater success rate for split-thickness skin grafts than conventional bolster dressing. In terms of comorbidities, there was also a significant association between congestive heart failure (CHF) and STSG failure (χ2 = 4.12, p=0.0422). Patients with CHF were approximately 2.55 times more likely to have their STSG fail (OR = 2.55), indicating that CHF is a good predictor of split-thickness skin graft failure. It was also found that bacterial presence and STSG failure also showed an association (χ2 = 4.66, p=0.0308), in which patients with bacterial presence on the wound prior to debridement were approximately 2.89 times more likely to have STSG failure (OR = 2.89). Although bacterial presence prior to debridement showed an association with STSG failure, bacterial presence after debridement just prior to STSG placement did not show a significant correlation with STSG failure [nf = 52 (73.2%) versus ns = 95 (62.5%), (p = 0.1150)]. These results suggest that bacterial presence may also be a good predictor of graft failure, however it is possibly the strain of bacteria, not the presence of bacteria that predominantly affects skin graft take. In order to elucidate the role that bacteria plays in the success of STSG take, further experimental analysis is warranted.
Sonography of common rheumatic diseases

There has been a major sea change in the care of rheumatology patients with the advent of bedside ultrasound (US). US not only offers an ionizing free form of imaging but can also evaluate the vascularity of structures without using contrast. Sonography has generated much excitement with the depiction of disease processes affecting anatomical structures, and in some cases, has changed our views of the pathophysiology. It has also enabled establishing the diagnosis when the clinical picture is unclear. In this article, the role of US in major rheumatic syndromes will be outlined with high-quality sonographic images.
Early Detection of Atrial Fibrillation Based on ECG Signals

Atrial fibrillation, often called AF is considered to be the most common type of cardiac arrhythmia, which is a major healthcare challenge. Early detection of AF and the appropriate treatment is crucial if the symptoms seem to be consistent and persistent. This research work focused on the development of a heart monitoring system which could be considered as a feasible solution in early detection of potential AF in real time. The objective was to bridge the gap in the market for a low-cost, at home use, noninvasive heart health monitoring system specifically designed to periodically monitor heart health in subjects with AF disorder concerns. The main characteristic of AF disorder is the considerably higher heartbeat and the varying period between observed R waves in electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. This proposed research was conducted to develop a low cost and easy to use device that measures and analyzes the heartbeat variations, varying time period between successive R peaks of the ECG signal and compares the result with the normal heart rate and RR intervals. Upon exceeding the threshold values, this device creates an alert to notify about the possible AF detection. The prototype for this research consisted of a Bitalino ECG sensor and electrodes, an Arduino microcontroller, and a simple circuit. The data was acquired and analyzed using the Arduino software in real time. The prototype was used to analyze healthy ECG data and using the MIT-BIH database the real AF patient data was analyzed, and reasonable threshold values were found, which yielded a reasonable success rate of AF detection.
Use of the EVARREST patch for penetrating cardiac injury

Penetrating cardiac injuries have a pre-hospital mortality of 94% with a subsequent in-hospital mortality of 50% among initial survivors (Leite et al., 2017 [1]). The Western Trauma Association (WTA) guidelines recommend resuscitative thoracotomy (RT) for patients with penetrating torso trauma and less than 15 min of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) Burlew et al. (2012) [2]. Penetrating cardiac injuries are classically repaired using skin-stapling devices and/or suture repair with or without pledgets (Wall et al., 1997 [3]). In this study, we present a case of penetrating cardiac injury where all the aforementioned techniques failed, and a new approach was explored. A fibrinogen/thrombin patch was used in this clinical setting, which is an off-label use of the product, we here present our encouraging outcome.
ELOVL2: Not just a biomarker of aging

DNA methylation of the ELOVL2 (Elongation Of Very Long Chain Fatty Acids-Like 2) promoter is one of the most robust molecular biomarkers for chronological age, but whether ELOVL2 plays a functional role in aging has not been explored. ELOVL2 encodes a transmembrane protein involved in the synthesis of very long polyunsaturated fatty acids (VLC-PUFAs). These fatty acids play important roles in retinal biology and photoreceptor renewal, key processes implicated in age-related eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Here, we summarize our work deciphering the role of ELOVL2 in the eye emphasizing the potential functional role of age-related DNA methylation in the pathophysiology of AMD.
CoAsy knockdown in TNBC cell lines resulted in no overt effect on cell proliferation in vitro.

Abstract Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) remains the most challenging breast cancer subtype to treat. CoA synthase (CoAsy) is a bifunctional enzyme, encoded by the COASY gene, which catalyzes the last two steps of CoA biosynthesis. COASY has been reported as a hit in several large RNAi library screens for cancer. Therefore, we sought to investigate the dependency of TNBC cell line proliferation on CoAsy expression. Initially, knockdown of CoAsy expression was achieved by RNAi and reduced proliferation was observed in two TNBC cell lines, HCC1806 and MDA-MB-231. To further investigate the role of CoAsy, we established stable inducible shRNA cell lines from the same TNBC cell lines as well as the normal-like breast cell line MCF10A. Three separate cell lines, each expressing one of three different shRNA constructs targeting COASY, and a non-targeted shRNA control cell line were generated from each parent cell line. The induction of COASY shRNA for 4 days resulted in >99% knockdown of CoAsy for all three COASY shRNA constructs. However, this robust knockdown of CoAsy protein expression had no detectable impact on cell growth with 4-day induction times. Even 8-day induction times resulted in no apparent impact on cell growth. There was also no effect of CoAsy knockdown on the rate of cell migration. Measurement of CoA levels in cell lysates indicated that CoAsy knockdown reduced CoA to approximately half the normal level. Thus, CoAsy knockdown showed no detectable effect on the in vitro proliferation and migration of these cell lines possibly due to the cell’s ability to maintain adequate levels of CoA through some unknown mechanism.
Preliminary findings regarding the use of direct oral anticoagulants in cerebral venous thrombosis

Abstract Background Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have entered the treatment paradigms of various conditions based upon large randomized controlled trials. However, use of DOACs for thrombosis at unusual sites, such as cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT), is less clear as the ability to conduct large randomized controlled trials is limited by its rarity. Furthermore, its use in the setting of malignancy or in the elderly remains an area of ongoing research. Objective Our aim was to assess the outcomes in CVT patients treated with DOACs compared to warfarin. We also sought to elucidate whether its use was safe in the setting of malignancy or in the elderly. Methods Retrospectively assess the differences in clinical outcomes in patients hospitalized with CVT in the Lifespan Health System. Results Between 1 July 2004 and 1 March 2020, 46 adult patients with CVT fulfilled inclusion criteria. No significant differences in outcomes were observed between the DOAC (N = 8) and vitamin K antagonist (VKA) (N = 38) cohorts. The use of DOACs did not result in an increased rate of acute complications, recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE) and/or CVT, World Health Organization (WHO) grade 3 or 4 bleeding rates, or differences in clinical improvement per the modified Rankin scale. Furthermore, in patients with underlying metastatic cancer (N = 2) or in patients > 80 (N = 1) who received a DOAC, there was no increase in adverse events or significant differences in outcome when compared to warfarin. Conclusion Patients who received a DOAC in the treatment of CVT demonstrated no differences in outcomes when compared to warfarin.
Anchors away: reconciling the dream of teaching in COVID-19

This essay examines teaching failure in the context of COVID-19. It uses autoethnography to convey and explore the impact the pandemic has on teaching, as situated against and within my life-long d...
Actors of the most fiendish character: Explaining the associations between the Dark Tetrad and conspiracist ideation

Abstract It remains unclear why those scoring high on certain aspects of the Dark Tetrad (i.e., Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, and sadism) are more inclined to believe in conspiracy theories. The present study (N = 474) aimed to clarify this issue by investigating the associations between the facets of the Dark Tetrad traits and conspiracist ideation in the context of five potential mediators. At least one facet of every Dark Tetrad trait was associated with conspiracist ideation, and nearly every association could be attributed, in part, to the tendency for those with aversive personalities to entertain odd beliefs, be fatalistic, and distrust others. Contrary to what the prior research might suggest, these results indicate that the conspiracist ideation found among those scoring high in the Dark Tetrad traits is the result of some shared feature of the traits rather than a feature that is unique to each trait.
Patterns of Alcohol Use Among Transgender Patients Receiving Care at the Veterans Health Administration: Overall and Relative to Nontransgender Patients

Objective:Alcohol use is understudied among transgender persons—persons whose sex differs from their gender identity. We compare patterns of alcohol use between Veterans Health Administration (VA) ...
Recent changes in COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Healthcare Workers

Introduction Early COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rates suggest that up to one-third of HCWs may be vaccine-hesitant. However, it is unclear whether hesitancy among HCWs has improved with time and if there are temporal changes whether these differ by healthcare worker role. Methods In October 2020, a brief survey was sent to all participants in the Healthcare Worker Exposure Response and Outcomes (HERO) Registry with a yes/no question regarding vaccination under emergency use authorization (EUA): “If an FDA emergency use-approved vaccine to prevent coronavirus/COVID-19 was available right now at no cost, would you agree to be vaccinated?” The poll was repeated in December 2020, with the same question sent to all registry participants. Willingness was defined as a “Yes” response, and hesitancy was defined as a “No” response. Participants were stratified into clinical care roles. Baseline demographics of survey respondents at each timepoint were compared using appropriate univariate statistics (chi-squared and t-tests). Analyses were descriptive, with frequencies and percentages reported for each category. Results Of 4882 HERO active registry participants during September 1 – October 31, 2020, 2070 (42.4%) completed the October survey, and n=1541 (31.6%) completed the December survey. 70.2% and 67.7% who were in clinical care roles, respectively. In October, 54.2% of HCWs in clinical roles said they would take an EUA-approved vaccine, which increased to 76.2% in December. The largest gain in vaccine willingness was observed among physicians, 64.0% of whom said they would take a vaccine in October, compared with 90.5% in December. Nurses were the least likely to report that they would take a vaccine in both October (46.6%) and December (66.9%). We saw no statistically significant differences in age, race/ethnicity, gender, or medical role between time points. When restricting to the 998 participants who participated at both time points, 69% were vaccine-willing at both time points; 15% were hesitant at both time points, 13% who were hesitant in October were willing in December; and 2.9% who were willing in October were hesitant in December. Conclusions In a set of cross-sectional surveys of vaccine acceptance among healthcare workers, willingness improved substantially over 2 calendar months during which the US had a presidential election and two vaccine manufacturers released top-line Phase 3 trial results. While improved willingness was observed in all role categories, nurses reported the most vaccine hesitancy at both time points.
Effect of Geography and Captivity on Scat Bacterial Communities in the Imperiled Channel Island Fox

With developing understanding that host-associated microbiota play significant roles in individual health and fitness, taking an interdisciplinary approach combining microbiome research with conservation science is increasingly favored. Here we establish the scat microbiome of the imperiled Channel Island fox (Urocyon littoralis) and examine the effects of geography and captivity on the variation in bacterial communities. Using high throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, we discovered distinct bacterial communities in each island fox subspecies. Weight, timing of the sample collection, and sex contributed to the geographic patterns. We uncovered significant taxonomic differences and an overall decrease in bacterial diversity in captive versus wild foxes. Understanding the drivers of microbial variation in this system provides a valuable lens through which to evaluate the health and conservation of these genetically depauperate foxes. The island-specific bacterial community baselines established in this study can make monitoring island fox health easier and understanding the implications of inter-island translocation clearer. The decrease in bacterial diversity within captive foxes could lead to losses in the functional services normally provided by commensal microbes and suggests that zoos and captive breeding programs would benefit from maintaining microbial diversity.