cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Organized Religion in the Political Transformation of Latin America

Chapter 1 Social Change, Political Competition, and Religious Innovation in Latin America: An Introduction Chapter 2 Religious Change, Empowerment and Power: Reflections on Latin American Experience Chapter 3 The Transformation of Catholic Social Thought in Latin America: Christian Democracy, Liberation Theology, and the New Catholic Right Chapter 4 The Chilean Church and the Transition to Democracy Chapter 5 From Theologies of Liberation to Theologies of Inculturation: Aymara Catechists and the Second Evangelization in Highlands Bolivia Chapter 6 Religious Competition in Contemporary Venezuela Chapter 7 Brazil: State Subsidization and the Church Since 1930 Chapter 8 Latin American Politics: Exit the Catholic Church? Chapter 9 The Embeddedness of Religion and Politics: An Epilogue Chapter 10 Appendix: The Institutional Capacity of the Catholic Church: An Evaluation Select Bibliography Chapter 11 Contributors Chapter 12 Index
Mantle plumes and their effect on the Earth's surface: a review and synthesis

Abstract Plumes are narrow, low-viscosity conduits in a variable-viscosity fluid, up which buoyant material preferentially rises. The function of thermal plumes is to carry heat upward. It seems likely that mantle plumes exist, and serve to carry heat from the core upward through the mantle. A starting mantle plume produces a distinctive signature on the surface of the Earth, consisting of a flood basalt and a chain of progressively younger volcanoes terminating at a hotspot that is currently volcanically active. Plumes have been implicated in continental breakup, mass extinctions and reversals of the geomagnetic field, but evidence of these associations is not yet conclusive.
Adaptive Dose-Finding Studies: A Review of Model-Guided Phase I Clinical Trials

Purpose We provide a comprehensive review of adaptive phase I clinical trials in oncology that used a statistical model to guide dose escalation to identify the maximum-tolerated dose (MTD). We describe the clinical setting, practical implications, and safety of such applications, with the aim of understanding how these designs work in practice. Methods We identified 53 phase I trials published between January 2003 and September 2013 that used the continual reassessment method (CRM), CRM using escalation with overdose control, or time-to-event CRM for late-onset toxicities. Study characteristics, design parameters, dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) definition, DLT rate, patient-dose allocation, overdose, underdose, sample size, and trial duration were abstracted from each study. In addition, we examined all studies in terms of safety, and we outlined the reasons why escalations occur and under what circumstances. Results On average, trials accrued 25 to 35 patients over a 2-year period and tested five dose lev...
A model of the iron responsive element RNA hairpin loop structure determined from NMR and thermodynamic data

The iron responsive element (IRE) is a conserved RNA structure that is found in the 5' UTR of ferritin mRNA and in the 3' UTR of transferrin receptor mRNA. It is the binding site of the iron responsive protein (IRP), and the interaction is part of the regulation of cellular iron metabolism. The IRE six-nucleotide hairpin loop, 5'C1A2G3U4G5N6, is conserved in sequence, and mutations have shown that it is required for IRP binding. On the basis of the thermodynamic and NMR experiments utilized here, the IRE loop structure 5'C1A2G3U4G5C6, is described in detail. Measurements of loop stability show that it has 2.9 kcal/mol more free energy than predicted. NMR data suggest that there is hydrogen bonding between C1 and G5 in a tertiary interaction across the loop. A model structure, produced by MC-SYM/energy minimization, illustrates the conformational flexibility of U4 and C6, which appear to exhibit considerable local motion in solution. NMR data indicate that the position of G3 is not well defined, leading to two families of loop structures.
Modeling the Effect of Different Vaccine Effectiveness Estimates on the Number of Vaccine-Prevented Influenza-Associated Hospitalizations in Older Adults

We compared influenza vaccine-prevented hospitalizations in adults aged ≥65 years for a range of hypothetical effectiveness estimates. During 2012-2013, a vaccine with 10% effectiveness (66% coverage) would have averted approximately 13 000 hospitalizations, and a vaccine with 40% effectiveness would have averted approximately 60 000 hospitalizations. Annual vaccination is merited in this vulnerable population.
Light, moisture, and atmosphere interact to affect the quality of dry-sale lily bulbs

Abstract The interactions of moisture and light with low oxygen (1%) storage of dry sale lily bulbs at 22–25 °C for 4–5 weeks have been studied as part of a continuing evaluation of modified atmospheres (MA) to lengthen shelf life. Conditions that promoted development in storage (light, moisture, and air) were detrimental to final plant quality, resulting in short plants with many aborted flowers and poor foliage development. One percent O2 suppressed pre-plant development compared to storage in air, irrespective of light and moisture. When bulbs were forced under conditions that accelerated growth (high temperatures and light), bulbs stored in darkness, air, and dry (without peat) were comparable in quality (producing normal flowers and having adequate height and foliage development) to bulbs stored with 1% O2 without peat. Exclusion of light is beneficial to bulbs stored in air but is not practical for marketing. The quality of dry-sale bulbs was always inferior to un-treated control bulbs that remained in the cooler during the dry-sale storage period. Untreated bulbs produced taller plants with more flowers and superior foliage development compared to bulbs stored under dry-sale conditions, regardless of the combination of light, moisture, and atmosphere.
Direct and indirect effects of land use on floral resources and flower‐visiting insects across an urban landscape

Although urban areas are often considered to have uniformly negative effects on biodiversity, cities are most accurately characterized as heterogeneous mosaics of buildings, streets, parks, and gardens that include both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ areas for wildlife. However, to date, few studies have evaluated how human impacts vary in direction and magnitude across a heterogeneous urban landscape. In this study, we assessed the distribution of floral resources and flower-visiting insects across a variety of land uses in New York City. We visited both green spaces (e.g. parks, cemeteries) and heavily developed neighborhood blocks (e.g. with high or low density residential zoning) and used structural equation modeling (SEM) to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of median income, vegetation, and development intensity on floral resources and insects in both settings. Abundance and taxonomic richness of flower-visiting insects was significantly greater in green spaces than neighborhood blocks. The SEM results indicated that heavily-developed neighborhoods generally had fewer flower-visiting insects consistent with reductions in floral resources. However, some low-density residential neighborhoods maintained high levels of floral resources and flower-visiting insects. We found that the effects of surrounding vegetation on floral resources, and thus indirect effects on insects, varied considerably between green spaces and neighborhood blocks. Along neighborhood blocks, vegetation consisted of a mosaic of open gardens and sparsely distributed trees and had a positive indirect effect on flower-visiting insects. In contrast, vegetation in urban green spaces was associated with increased canopy cover and thus had a negative indirect effect on flower-visiting insects through reductions in floral resources. In both neighborhood blocks and green spaces, vegetation had a positive direct effect on flower-visiting insects independent of the influence of vegetation on floral resources. Our results demonstrate how interrelated components of an urban ecosystem can vary with respect to one another across a heterogeneous urban landscape, suggesting that it is inappropriate to generalize about urban systems as a whole without first addressing differences among component land use types.
Retinoic acid induces a shift in the energetic state of hypertrophic chondrocytes

In the epiphyseal growth plate, chondrocyte maturation is accompanied by dramatic alterations in energy metabolism. To explore the relationship between these two events, we used retinoic acid (RA) to promote chondrocyte maturation in culture. The specific question that was addressed was, does RA treatment of cultured chondrocytes in vitro induce a change in energy status similar to that seen in hypertrophic chondrocytes in vivo. Maturing chondrocytes isolated from the cephalic region of day 18 chick embryo sterna were allowed to grow for 7–14 days in monolayer until confluent and then treated with 10–300 nM RA. Immature chondrocytes from the caudal region of sternum were grown in parallel and served as control cells for the study. We found that in maturing cephalic cell cultures, RA had a rapid and profound effect on oxidative metabolism. The retinoid caused a reduction in the energy charge ratio (ECR) and the ATP/ADP ratio and a sharp decrease in cell ATP levels. Maximum inhibition was observed when the RA concentration was 10–35 nM. Compared with the adenine nucleotides, creatine phosphate levels were decreased to a lesser extent by RA, although there was substantial inhibition of creatine kinase activity. We expected to find a compensatory elevation in glycolytic activities; however, the lactate levels in the medium of the treated cells indicated that anaerobic glycolysis was depressed. In contrast to the cephalic chondrocytes, when caudal cell cultures were treated with RA, lactate formation was stimulated and there were minimal effects on oxidative metabolism. To determine the mechanism of inhibition of glycolysis, we measured the activity of pyruvate kinase in RA-treated cephalic cells. We found that the activity of this key glycolytic enzyme was profoundly and rapidly inhibited by the retinoid. The unique energy state of the RA-treated chondrocytes was termed the minimal energy state. This condition may be expected to influence activities associated with plasma membrane ion pumps and gene transcription. Both these factors would promote chondrocyte hypertrophy and lead to terminal differentiation.
Coupled finite-element/state-space modeling of turbogenerators in the abc frame of reference-the short-circuit and load cases including saturated parameters

In this paper, a coupled finite-element/state space modeling technique is applied in the determination of the steady-state parameters of a 733 MVA turbogenerator in the abc frame of reference. In this modeling environment, the forward rotor stepping-finite element procedure described in a companion paper is used to obtain the various machine self and mutual inductances under short-circuit and load conditions. A fourth-order state-space model of the armature and field winding flux linkages in the abc frame of reference is then used to obtain the next set of flux linkages and forcing function currents for the finite-element model. In this process, one iterates between the finite-element and state-space techniques until the terminal conditions converge to specified values. This method is applied to the determination of the short-circuit, and reduced- and rated-voltage load characteristics, and the corresponding machine inductances. The spatial harmonics of these inductances are analyzed via Fourier analysis to reveal the impact of machine geometry and stator-to-rotor relative motion, winding layout, magnetic saturation, and other effects. In the full-load infinite-bus case, it is found that, while the three-phase terminal voltages are pure sinusoidal waveforms, the steady-state armature phase currents are nonsinusoidal and contain a substantial amount of odd harmonics which cannot be obtained using the traditional two-axis analysis. >
Random renormalization groups and Bayesian scaling of dispersion/diffusion in Lake Michigan and the Gulf of Mexico

[1] A random renormalization group technique is reviewed, and a related set of Bayesian scaling techniques are presented. The techniques are employed to study the motion of drifters in Lake Michigan on a time scale ranging from 30 min to 5 days and in the Gulf of Mexico on a time scale ranging from 8 h to 85 days. The scaling laws generalize the standard power law scalings. One of the advantages of the Bayesian approach is that scaling laws can be determined even with a paucity of data with the caveat that less data produce greater uncertainty in the scaling laws.
Leflunomide in Pakistani patients with rheumatoid arthritis: prospective study in daily rheumatology practice.

Introduction: Leflunomide is a disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It has been widely studied in the West but there is no available local Pakistani data. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety profile of leflunomide in Pakistani patients with RA, either alone or in combination with methotrexate. Materials and methods: A prospective, non-comparator, open-label study in a setting of ‘care as usual’ was performed. In this study, 63 consecutive RA patients on leflunomide were enrolled. Leflunomide dose was started with full loading in 5 (8%), half loading in 39 (62%) and without loading in 19 (30%) patients. Methotrexate was also used in 20 (32%) patients. Primary end-point was 20% improvement in American College of Rheumatology response criteria (ACR-20). Safety was assessed by adverse events and abnormalities in laboratory parameters. Results: Out of 63 patients, 54 (85.7%) were female. Mean age was 46 ± 12.6 years. Mean disease duration was 5.1 ± 4.5 years. Fifty-two (86.6%) patients achieved ACR-20 response at 6 months; 32 (53%) achieved ACR-50 response at 6 months; 20% experienced at least one adverse event, which resolved by reducing leflunomide dose. Only seven (11%) had raised liver enzymes from baseline. Conclusion: This prospective study conducted in the setting of a daily rheumatology practice shows that leflunomide is an effective and safe DMARD in treatment of RA in Pakistani patients.
Los Alamos Hepatitis C Virus Sequence and Human Immunology Databases: An Expanding Resource for Antiviral Research

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) resource at Los Alamos (hcv.lanl.gov) provides access to multiple databases: one containing annotated sequences and the other a repository of immunogenic epitopes. They are derived from databases originally developed for HIV research (hiv.lanl.gov). HCV and HIV are RNA viruses with relatively compact genomes (around 10 kb) that are extraordinarily variable, both within and between hosts. This diversity requires methods to track and exclude variants from an individual infection or from epidemiologically related infections, and tools to analyse the variation. The HCV immunology database contains a curated inventory of immunogenic epitopes and information about their interaction with the host immune system, with associated retrieval and analysis tools. This interactive resource provides flexible retrieval tools for sequences, epitopes, clinical information, and meta-data, as well as utilities for scientific data analysis, to investigators with internet access and a web browser. This paper describes the types of data and the services that these databases offer, the tools they provide, and their configuration and use. Examples of applications to clonal analysis for drug-resistance mutations are shown.
Impaired nitric oxide synthase pathway in diabetes mellitus: role of asymmetric dimethylarginine and dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase.

Background— An endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), is elevated in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). This study explored the mechanisms by which ADMA becomes elevated in DM. Methods and Results— Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed normal chow or high-fat diet (n=5 in each) with moderate streptozotocin injection to induce type 2 DM. Plasma ADMA was elevated in diabetic rats (1.33±0.31 versus 0.48±0.08 μmol/L; P<0.05). The activity, but not the expression, of dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH) was reduced in diabetic rats and negatively correlated with their plasma ADMA levels (P<0.05). DDAH activity was significantly reduced in vascular smooth muscle cells and human endothelial cells (HMEC-1) exposed to high glucose (25.5 mmol/L). The impairment of DDAH activity in vascular cells was associated with an accumulation of ADMA and a reduction in generation of cGMP. In human endothelial cells, coincubation with the antioxidant polyethylene glyco...
Genetic evidence for the interactions of cyclin D1 and p27(Kip1) in mice.

The cell cycle of cultured cells appears to be regulated by opposing actions of the cyclins together with their partners, the cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdk), and their inhibitors (Cki). Consistent with this situation null mutations in the genes for cyclin D1 and Cki p27Kip1 in mice give opposite phenotypes of dwarfism and gigantism. To test their genetic interactions, we generated mice nullizygous for both genes. Correction of cyclin D1 or p27 null to wild-type phenotypes was observed for many but not all traits. These included, for cyclin D1−/− mice, body weight, early lethality, retinal hypoplasia, and male aggressiveness and, for p27−/− mice, body weight, retinal hyperplasia, and embryo implantation. p27−/− traits that were not corrected were the aberrant estrus cycles, luteal cell proliferation, and susceptibility to pituitary tumors. This mutual correction of these phenotypes is the first genetic demonstration of the interaction of these inhibitory and stimulatory cell cycle-regulatory molecules in vivo. The molecular basis for the correction was analyzed in the neonatal retina. Retinal cellularity was rescued in the cyclin D1 null mouse by loss of p27 with only a partial restoration of phosphorylation of retinoblastoma protein (Rb) and Cdk4 activity but with a dramatic elevation of Cdk2 activity. Our data provide in vivo genetic validation of cell culture experiments that indicated that p27 acts as a negative regulator of cyclin E-Cdk2 activity and that it can be titrated away by cyclin D-Cdk4 complexes. It also supports the suggestion that the cyclin E/Cdk2 pathway can largely bypass Rb in regulating the cell cycle in vivo.
The Dynamics of Inheritance on the Shakespearean Stage

Introduction: staging inheritance in early modern England 1. Crooked titles and inconstant estates 2. Revision and inaccessibility in The Duchess of Malfi 3. Travel, displacement, and the prodigal son 4. Dislocation and the loss of issue in Pericles 5. Claustrophobia and urban affiliation in Volpone and Epicene Epilogue Bibliography Index.
Clinical Trial Billing

Managing a clinical trial used to be much easier. Years ago, when a research patient came in for a visit, a study team recorded basic information, kept it in a binder on a desk, and sent data to a sponsor as needed. Today, we have multiple systems, numerous processes, and a myriad of rules and
Inflammasomes Induced by 7-Ketocholesterol and Other Stimuli in RPE and in Bone Marrow-Derived Cells Differ Markedly in Their Production of IL-1β and IL-18.

PURPOSE The inflammatory process plays a major role in the pathogenesis of AMD, and recent data indicate the involvement of inflammasomes. Inflammasomes are intracellular structures that trigger inflammation by producing mature interleukin-(IL)-1β and IL-18. This study examined the capacity of 7-ketocholesterol (7KCh), an oxysterol that accumulates in the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) and choroid, to initiate inflammasome formation in RPE and bone marrow-derived cells. METHODS Tested cells included fetal human RPE (fhRPE), human ARPE-19 cells, primary human brain microglia cells, and human THP-1 monocyte cells. 7-Ketocholesterol and other compounds were added to the cell cultures, and their stimulatory effects were determined by quantitative PCR and release of cytokines, measured by ELISA and Western blotting. RESULTS 7-Ketocholesterol efficiently induced inflammasome formation by all primed cell populations, but secreted cytokine levels were higher in cultures of bone marrow-derived cells (microglia and THP-1 cells) than in RPE cultures. Interestingly, inflammasomes formed in cells of the two populations differed strikingly in their preferential production of the two cytokines. Thus, whereas bone marrow-derived cells produced levels of IL-1β that were higher than those of IL-18, the opposite was found with RPE cells, which secreted higher levels of IL-18. Importantly, Western blot analysis showed that IL-18, but not IL-1β, was expressed constitutively by RPE cells. CONCLUSIONS 7-Ketocholesterol efficiently stimulates inflammasome formation and is conceivably involved in the pathogenesis of AMD. In contrast to bone marrow-derived cells, RPE cells produced higher levels of IL-18 than IL-1β. Further, IL-18, a multifunctional cytokine, was expressed constitutively by RPE cells. These observations provide new information about stimuli and cells and their products assumed to be involved in the pathogenesis of AMD.
When do Recommender Systems Work the Best?: The Moderating Effects of Product Attributes and Consumer Reviews on Recommender Performance

We investigate the moderating effect of product attributes and consumer reviews on the efficacy of a collaborative filtering recommender system on an e-commerce site. We run a randomized field experiment on a top North American retailer's website with 184,375 users split into a recommender-treated group and a control group with 37,215 unique products in the dataset. By augmenting the dataset with Amazon Mechanical Turk tagged product attributes and consumer review data from the website, we study their moderating influence on recommenders in generating conversion. We first confirm that the use of recommenders increases the baseline conversion rate by 5.9%. We find that the recommenders act as substitutes for high average review ratings with the effect of using recommenders increasing the conversion rate as much as about 1.4 additional average star ratings. Additionally, we find that the positive impacts on conversion from recommenders are greater for hedonic products compared to utilitarian products while search-experience quality did not have any impact. We also find that the higher the price, the lower the positive impact of recommenders, while having lengthier product descriptions and higher review volumes increased the recommender's effectiveness. More findings are discussed in the Results. For managers, we 1) identify the products and product attributes for which the recommenders work well, 2) show how other product information sources on e-commerce sites interact with recommenders. Additionally, the insights from the results could inform novel recommender algorithm designs that are aware of strength and shortcomings. From an academic standpoint, we provide insight into the underlying mechanism behind how recommenders cause consumers to purchase.
Label-free Biopsy Scanner for Cancer Diagnosis and Prognosis

SLIM reports on unlabeled cell and tissue morphology with nanoscale sensitivity. We automated SLIM and demonstrated that it is a powerful tool for colon cancer screening and prostate tumor aggressiveness predictor.
CHAPTER 6 – CONTROLLABILITY, OBSERVABILITY, AND DISTANCE TO UNCONTROLLABILITY

This chapter deals with discussions on the two most fundamental notions, controllability and observability and related concepts. The chapter states and proves the well-known criteria of controllability and observability. These theoretically important criteria, unfortunately, do not yield numerically effective tests of controllability. This is demonstrated by means of some examples and discussions. Numerically effective tests, based on reduction of the pairs (A, B) and (A, C), respectively, to the controller-Hessenberg and observer-Hessenberg pairs, achieved by means of orthogonal similarly, are described in the chapter. Controllability and observability are genetic concepts. What is more important in practice is to know when a controllable system is close to an uncontrollable one. A measure of the distance to uncontrollability is introduced and a characterization theorem in terms of the minimum singular value of a certain matrix is stated and proved. Finally, two algorithms are described to measure the distance to uncontrollability. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion on the relationship between the distance to uncontrollability and the singular values of the controllability matrix. The important message is that the singular values of the controllability matrix as such cannot be used to make a prediction of how close the system is to an uncontrollable system. It is the largest gap between two singular values that should be considered.
Codon optimality controls differential mRNA translation during amino acid starvation

It is common wisdom that codon usage bias has evolved in the selection for efficient translation, in which highly expressed genes are encoded predominantly by optimal codons. However, a growing body of evidence suggests regulatory roles for non-optimal codons in translation dynamics. Here we report that in mammalian cells, non-optimal codons play a critical role in promoting selective mRNA translation during amino acid starvation. During starvation, in contrast to genes encoding ribosomal proteins whose translation is highly sensitive to amino acid deprivation, translation of genes involved in the cellular protein degradation pathways remains unaffected. We found that these two gene groups bear different codon composition, with non-optimal codons being highly enriched in genes encoding the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Supporting the selective tRNA charging model originally proposed in Escherichia coli, we demonstrated that tRNA isoacceptors decoding rare codons are maintained in translating ribosomes under amino acid starvation. Finally, using luciferase reporters fused with endogenous gene-derived sequences, we show that codon optimality contributes to differential mRNA translation in response to amino acid starvation. These results highlight the physiological significance of codon usage bias in cellular adaptation to stress.
Fetal alcohol syndrome prevention strategies: Issues and challenges

F Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is the most common preventable cause of mental retardation. It affects around 40,000 infants each year and has lifelong implications (SAMS) with 60 million people worldwide living with its defects and disabilities. The costs in health and education services in the USA alone are estimated to be around $5.4 billion per year. FAS is caused by maternal ingestion of alcohol during pregnancy which results in irreversible damage to the developing embryo or fetus and leads to physical, mental, behavioural and/or learning disabilities. Some identifying characteristics of FAS such as low birth weight, prematurity, and microcephaly are present at birth while others, such as distinctive facial features, may become more obvious over time. Although signs of brain damage include delays in growth, development, learning and behavioural abnormalities, affected individuals exhibit a wide range of abilities and disabilities. Australia has among the highest alcohol consumption in the world and between 51%-60% of Australian women report alcohol use in pregnancy. Although indigenous Australian women are reported to be less likely to drink during pregnancy, those who do, drink at a high risk levels. Efforts to prevent FAS that focus on warning women of the danger of alcohol consumption during pregnancy have proven of little value. However approaches that include broader determinants of women’s and children’s health, including overall health, nutrition, experiences of violence and trauma, sexual and reproduction health services and prenatal care seem to have better outcomes. Community-driven policy may also be an effective strategy. In this session, the key issues and challenges regarding FAS prevention strategies will be discussed. The efforts being undertaken in a community project in Australia will be used as a case example.
CHAPTER 6: Identification and Localization of Post-Translational Modifications by High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry

Cells either in response to stimulus or in homeostasis require dynamic signaling through alterations in protein composition. Identification and temporospatial profiling of post translational modifications constitutes one of the most challenging tasks in biology. These challenges comprise both experimental and computational aspects. From the computational point of view identification of post translational modifications by mass spectrometry analysis frequently leads to algorithms with exponential complexity which in practice is approached by algorithms with lower complexity. Regulation of post translational modifications has been implicated in a number of diseases such as cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and metabolic diseases. Furthermore, some post translational modifications are considered as biomarkers and surrogate markers. Consequently, there is a high interest in methodologies that can identify and quantify post translational modifications. We found few papers addressing the issue of which modifications should be considered in a standard database dependent search of MS data for protein analysis. Furthermore, the few papers on the topic are from a time where MS instruments with high precision in both MS and MS/MS were not available. Therefore, based on literature search and extensive analysis we provide recommendations on post translational modifications to be included in mass spectrometry database searches of MS data with high precision in both MS and MS/MS (e.g. <5 ppm).
Tributary Treatment Strategies: Treatment of Varicose Veins

In this chapter we will review the logic behind the treatment selection for eliminating varicose tributary veins in a given patient. These decisions are based on data, clinical and anecdotal experience and represent the perspective of the author. The reader should understand that some of these recommendations may not be the opinions of all practitioners or even all of the editors; when such a recommendation exists this author will try to present alternative approaches and some of the logic behind the specific recommendation. Also recognize that the choice of a treatment option when several are appropriate should reflect the skill set of the practitioner.
Atrial Natriuretic Peptide ― Old But New Therapeutic in Cardiovascular Diseases ―

With the discovery of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), the heart as an endocrine organ was established. Basic science revealed that ANP, through the particulate guanylyl cyclase A receptor and cGMP, plays a fundamental role in cardiorenal biology. This work has led to the development of ANP as a therapeutic, especially in heart failure (HF). Human genomics has strengthened our understanding of ANP, revealing specific ANP gene variants that may be associated with biological dysfunction, but also may mediate protective properties, including in metabolic syndrome. Advances in understanding the processing and degradation of ANP molecular forms have resulted in therapeutic breakthroughs, especially inhibition of ANP degradation by neprilysin inhibitors. Although ANP is administered intravenously for acute HF, a novel therapeutic strategy is its chronic delivery by subcutaneous injection. An innovative therapeutic development is engineering to develop ANP-based peptides for chronic use. These interconnected topics of ANP biology and therapeutics will be reviewed in detail.
Identification Of Swallowing Tasks From A Modified Barium Swallow Study That Optimize The Detection Of Physiological Impairment

Purpose The purpose of this study was to identify which swallowing task(s) yielded the worst performance during a standardized modified barium swallow study (MBSS) in order to optimize the detectio...
Static cerebrovascular pressure autoregulation remains intact during deep hypothermia

SummaryBackground Clinical studies measuring cerebral blood flow in infants during deep hypothermia have demonstrated diminished cerebrovascular pressure autoregulation. The coexistence of hypotension in these cohorts confounds the conclusion that deep hypothermia impairs cerebrovascular pressure autoregulation. Aim We sought to compare the lower limit of autoregulation and the static rate of autoregulation between normothermic and hypothermic piglets. Methods Twenty anesthetized neonatal piglets (5-7 days old; 10 normothermic and 10 hypothermic to 20°C) had continuous measurements of cortical red cell flux using laser Doppler flowmetry, while hemorrhagic hypotension was induced without cardiopulmonary bypass. Lower limit of autoregulation was determined for each subject using piecewise regression and SRoR was determined above and below each lower limit of autoregulation as (%change cerebrovascular resistance/%change cerebral perfusion pressure). Results The estimated difference in lower limit of autoregulation was 1.4 mm Hg (lower in the hypothermic piglets; 95% C.I. −10 to 14 mm Hg; P=0.6). The median lower limit of autoregulation in the normothermic group was 39 mm Hg [IQR 38-51] vs 35 mm Hg [31-50] in the hypothermic group. Intact steady-state pressure autoregulation was defined as static rate of autoregulation >0.5 and was demonstrated in all normothermic subjects (static rate of autoregulation=0.72 [0.65-0.87]) and in 9/10 of the hypothermic subjects (static rate of autoregulation=0.65 [0.52-0.87]). This difference in static rate of autoregulation of 0.06 (95% C.I. −0.3 to 0.1) was not significant (P=0.4). Conclusion Intact steady-state cerebrovascular pressure autoregulation is demonstrated in a swine model of profound hypothermia. Lower limit of autoregulation and static rate of autoregulation were similar in hypothermic and normothermic subjects.
Conducting polymer microcontainers for biomedical applications

Advancement in the development of metallic-based implantable micro-scale bioelectronics has been limited by low signal to noise ratios and low charge injection at electrode-tissue interfaces. Further, implantable electrodes lose their long-term functionality because of unfavorable reactive tissue responses. Thus, substantial incentive exists to produce bioelectronics capable of delivering therapeutic compounds while improving electrical performance. Here, we have produced hollow poly(pyrrole) microcontainers (MCs) using poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) as degradable templates. We demonstrate that the effective surface area of the electrode increases significantly as deposition charge density is increased, resulting in a 91% decrease in impedance and an 85% increase in charge storage capacity versus uncoated gold electrodes. We also developed an equivalent circuit model to quantify the effect of conducting polymer film growth on impedance. These MC-modified electrodes offer the potential to improve the electrical properties of implantable bioelectronics, as well as provide potential controlled release avenues for drug delivery applications.
Development and Validation of the Outcome Expectations for Yoga Scale

Objective Our objective was to develop an instrument that can measure outcome expectations of yoga and to evaluate the instrument for internal consistency and initial construct validity. Methods A 20-item scale was developed to assess physical, mental, and spiritual health benefits related to yoga practice among adults. The scale was tested in a baseline survey with adults participating in a clinical trial. Principal component analysis was used to investigate the internal structure of the measure. Outcome expectations for yoga were examined for demographic differences. Results The sample (N = 185) was 54% women, 89% white and had a mean age of 46 years. The final 20-item scale had high item loadings that ranged from .57 to .88 with a Cronbach's alpha value of .96. Significant differences were found in outcome expectation score by sex. Conclusion This newly developed scale can be used to assess outcome expectations for yoga and tailor interventions to promote adherence to yoga practice.
Infant Health and Future Childhood Adversity.

Objective To investigate the extent to which disabling infant health conditions are associated with adverse childhood experiences at age 5. Methods We conducted a secondary analysis of data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a national urban birth cohort. We estimated logistic regression models of associations between the presence of a disabling infant health condition and the child’s ACE exposures at age 5, controlling for factors that preceded the child’s birth, including the mother’s sociodemographic characteristics, physical health, mental illness, and substance abuse and the parents’ criminal justice system involvement and domestic violence or sexual abuse. ACEs included 4 categories of child maltreatment (physical, sexual, psychological abuse, neglect) and 5 categories of household dysfunction (father absence, substance use, mental illness, caregiver treated violently, incarceration). Results 3.3% of the children were characterized as having a disabling health condition that was likely present at birth. Logistic regression estimates indicate that having a disabling infant health condition was associated with 83% higher odds of the child experiencing 2 or more ACEs (AOR 1.83, CI 1.14–2.94) and 73% higher odds of the child experiencing 3 or more ACEs (AOR 1.73, CI 1.07–2.77) at age 5. Conclusions for Practice The finding of strong links between disabling infant health conditions and ACEs at age 5 suggests that child health and ACEs play intertwining and mutually reinforcing roles during the early lifecourse and highlights the critical importance of investing in systems that simultaneously promote optimal child development and address childhood adversity.
Ensemble method for dengue prediction.

Background In the 2015 NOAA Dengue Challenge, participants made three dengue target predictions for two locations (Iquitos, Peru, and San Juan, Puerto Rico) during four dengue seasons: 1) peak height (i.e., maximum weekly number of cases during a transmission season; 2) peak week (i.e., week in which the maximum weekly number of cases occurred); and 3) total number of cases reported during a transmission season. A dengue transmission season is the 12-month period commencing with the location-specific, historical week with the lowest number of cases. At the beginning of the Dengue Challenge, participants were provided with the same input data for developing the models, with the prediction testing data provided at a later date. Methods Our approach used ensemble models created by combining three disparate types of component models: 1) two-dimensional Method of Analogues models incorporating both dengue and climate data; 2) additive seasonal Holt-Winters models with and without wavelet smoothing; and 3) simple historical models. Of the individual component models created, those with the best performance on the prior four years of data were incorporated into the ensemble models. There were separate ensembles for predicting each of the three targets at each of the two locations. Principal findings Our ensemble models scored higher for peak height and total dengue case counts reported in a transmission season for Iquitos than all other models submitted to the Dengue Challenge. However, the ensemble models did not do nearly as well when predicting the peak week. Conclusions The Dengue Challenge organizers scored the dengue predictions of the Challenge participant groups. Our ensemble approach was the best in predicting the total number of dengue cases reported for transmission season and peak height for Iquitos, Peru.
Nurses' Attitudes towards Drug-Seekers in the Emergency Room

Emergency department patients often present with a chief complaint of pain. There is a unique population of patients who present with this chief complaint in an effort to obtain narcotics for non-medical use. This population is often referred to as drug-seekers and there is little information available to define what exactly nurses mean when they use this term. This study utilized a descriptive survey design to gain a better understanding of nurses’ use of the term drug-seeker. Respondents agreed on a variety of behaviors that lead them to identify patients as drug-seeking and expressed a frustration with this population of patients. Many respondents identified a lack of clear policies and education around this population as a challenge. By understanding how nurses use the term drug-seeking, and developing an understanding what some of their concerns are regarding this population, the opportunity presents itself for the development of educational programs in order to train health care providers to best care for this challenging population. Additionally, the opportunity exists for policy development and implementation around this population in order to provide safe, comprehensive, and satisfactory care .
Tumor necrosis factor-α/receptor signaling through the Akt kinase

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is a pleiotropic cytokine that can affect the growth, differentiation, and metabolism of virtually every nucleated cell type in the body. TNF promotes immunity, but its expression is also associated with pathologies, such as rheumatoid arthritis, type II diabetes, and cachexia. Two distinct cell-surface receptors bind TNF, the type I receptor (TNFR1), which contains a conserved motif called a “death domain“ in its C-terminus, and the type II receptor. Binding of TNF to TNFR1 brings the death domains of TNFR1 into physical proximity, thereby promoting their interactions with cytoplasmic proteins that also contain death domains. Thus, a signal transduction cascade is initiated that coincidentally activates caspases that promote cell death and, additionally, anti-apoptotic events. The balance between these arms of the TNFR1 signaling cascade determines whether cells live or die.
Crossover can simulate bounded tree search on a fixed-parameter tractable optimization problem

We investigate the effect of crossover in the context of parameterized complexity on a well-known fixed-parameter tractable combinatorial optimization problem known as the closest string problem. We prove that a multi-start (μ+1) solves arbitrary length-n instances of closest string in 2O(d2+d log k). poly(n) steps in expectation. Here, k is the number of strings in the input set, and d is the value of the optimal solution. This confirms that the multi-start (μ+1) runs in randomized fixed-parameter tractable (FPT) time with respect to the above parameterization. On the other hand, if the crossover operation is disabled, we show there exist instances that require nΩ(log(d+k) steps in expectation. The lower bound asserts that crossover is a necessary component in the FPT running time.
Association of Fellow Eye With Study Eye Disease Trajectories and Need for Fellow Eye Treatment in Collaborative Initial Glaucoma Treatment Study (CIGTS) Participants.

Importance Clinicians would benefit from knowing the association of glaucomatous change in 2 eyes of the same patient. Objective To estimate the time between initial glaucoma treatment of the study eye (SE) and the need for treatment of the fellow eye (FE) and to ascertain the concordance between rates of progression in SEs and FEs. Design, Setting, and Participants In this post hoc analysis of participants from the Collaborative Initial Glaucoma Treatment Study, 607 participants with newly diagnosed open-angle glaucoma in 1 or both eyes were followed up for up to 11 years. An SE was designated at baseline and randomized to medical or surgical treatment. By protocol, FEs were treated when eligible or at physician discretion. Survival analysis methods were used to estimate the probability of FE treatment over time and to test baseline and time-dependent predictors of treatment. Disease trajectory was calculated with linear regression as the patient eye–specific slopes of mean deviation (MD) and intraocular pressure (IOP) over time, and correlations between SE and FE trajectories were calculated. Data were collected from October 1993 to December 2004. Data were analyzed from September 2012 to May 2018. Main Outcomes and Measures Time to FE treatment and slopes over time of MD and IOP in SEs and FEs. Results Of the 607 included patients, 334 (55.0%) were male and 337 (55.5%) were white, and the mean (SD) age was 58.0 (10.9) years. A total of 291 FEs (47.9%) were treated at baseline, 123 (20.3%) were eventually treated, and 193 (31.8%) never received treatment. The probability of FE treatment for open-angle glaucoma was 0.57 at 1 year and 0.68 at 7 years after randomization. Characteristics significantly associated with an increased hazard of FE treatment included older age (hazard ratio [HR], 1.33; 95% CI, 1.08-1.64;P = .007), hypertension (HR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.16-2.67;P = .008), higher IOP (HR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.20-1.29;P Conclusions and Relevance Among patients with newly diagnosed open-angle glaucoma, almost half had initial treatment of both eyes. After 7 years, approximately two-thirds of patients had bilateral treatment. Of the variables predictive of FE treatment, modifiable factors included hypertension and IOP. Slopes of MD were similar between SEs and treated FEs. This implies that SE change is a harbinger of FE change and therefore warrants close surveillance.
Parent–Child Interaction Therapy: A Transdiagnostic Intervention to Enhance Family Functioning

With more than 40 years of research supporting it, parent–child interaction therapy (PCIT) is a best-practice model for the treatment of conduct problems in children from 2 years and 6 months of age to 6 years and 11 months. PCIT contains the core therapeutic elements associated with larger effect sizes in the improvement of parenting practices and the reduction of children’s disruptive behaviors. Since the 1970s, however, our understanding of how PCIT works and the ways in which it can improve the well-being of children and families has expanded well beyond the treatment of child conduct problems. Through decades of rigorous evaluation, it has become clear that PCIT changes the negative patterns of interaction between parents and children—including the toxic interactions of abusive parents—and creates new patterns that are healthy, warm, and supportive. Strengthening parent–child relationships is associated with lower risk for child abuse and recently has even been shown to help buffer the negative effects of poverty on child brain development. Consistent with this developmental literature, PCIT and adaptations of PCIT have increasing support for their efficacy in the reduction of childhood anxiety, depression, and other forms of affect dysregulation. PCIT has also been shown to be an appropriate and effective intervention for children who have experienced trauma. This chapter provides an overview of the standard, evidence-based model of PCIT, including the key components of the approach, the foundational research that supports it, and the process of training for PCIT therapists.
Effects of Sub-gap Absorption on Photovoltaic Performance

The theoretical maximum photovoltaic efficiency is bounded by the Shockley-Queisser model which assumes that the photovoltaic material has step-function like absorptance, with zero absorption below its bandgap and perfect absorption above. However, typical photovoltaic materials exhibit absorption with an exponential dependence below its bandgap, known as the“Urbach tail” whose steepness is dependent on the Urbach parameter. Using a modified detailed balance model that accounts for sub-gap absorption we show that photovoltaic performance is strongly affected by the magnitude of the Urbach parameter.