cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Long-Term Outcomes of Immunosuppression-Naïve Steroid Responders Following Hospitalization for Ulcerative Colitis

Requirement for hospitalization in ulcerative colitis (UC) is a marker of severity of disease. However, the paradigm of when to escalate therapy in such patients and the benefits of early immunomodulator initiation is less well established. To examine the benefits of early therapy escalation in immunosuppression-naive patients hospitalized with severe ulcerative colitis responsive to steroids. We identified hospitalized UC patients who were immunosuppression naive at index hospitalization and responded to intravenous steroids, not requiring medical or surgical rescue therapy. The ‘therapy escalated’ group comprised of those who were initiated on immunomodulators within 3 months of hospitalization. The need for colectomy at 12 months was compared to the ‘not escalated’ group who remained on non-immunosuppressive therapy. Among 133 immunosuppressive naive patients hospitalized for ulcerative colitis, 13 (9.8%) who responded to intravenous steroids and did not require rescue therapy underwent colectomy by 1 year. Among 123 patients who escalated to either immunomodulators (n = 46, 37%) or remained on non-immunosuppressive therapy (92% on 5-ASA), there was no difference in the need for colectomy at 1 year (10.8 vs. 7.8%; multivariate OR 1.29, 95% CI 0.35–4.74). There was also no difference in the time to colectomy between the two groups (p = 0.55). Immunosuppression-naive ASUC patients who respond to intravenous steroids remain at risk for colectomy. Immunomodulator initiation by 3 months did not reduce risk of colectomy at 1 year. There is an important need for prospective studies identifying thresholds for therapy escalation in UC.
Waste as a Resource

Solid waste has been with us since human activity began. Archaeologists like nothing better than to locate the garbage dump of a past civilization: it is the most comprehensive record of that society’s activities.
Shedding of plasma membrane fragments. Neoplastic and developmental importance.

It has been hypothesized that neoplasia may result from some aberration of cell differentiation. The evidence supporting this viewpoint includes production by tumors of substances normally associated exclusively with fetal tissues, such as placental-type alkaline phosphatase (Doellgast and Fishman, 1975; Fishman et al., 1975); formation by tumors of materials normally produced by other cell types, such as the ectopic production of hormones (Stolbach et al., 1976; Nishiyama et al, 1980; Ahluwalia et al, 1981); and changes in the histo logical composition of tumor cells, such as different levels of differentiation present in some teratocarcinomas (Goodfellow and Andrews, 1982).
Peritoneal Mesothelioma: The Columbia Experience

Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare malignancy, comprising about one fifth of the 2500 cases of mesothelioma diagnosed in the United States each year (1). Though long-term spontaneous remissions have been reported (2,3), survival without treatment is typically less than 1 year. Treatment regimens employing only single modalities such as systemic chemotherapy, surgery, or intraperitoneal chemotherapy have not improved survival. Over the past 30 years, increasingly aggressive multimodality regimens have been developed that appear to have enhanced survival in selected patients. Given the rarity of this malignancy, the numbers of treated patients are small, and, until recently, prospective clinical trials of consistently used structured treatment regimens had not been carried out. At the Columbia University Mesothelioma Center, our intent has been to combine as many as possible of the most effective drugs, surgical techniques, and radiotherapy into a structured, highly intense and aggressive multimodality treatment protocol for malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. In two clinical trials that enrolled patients from 1997 to 2002, patients underwent initial cytoreductive surgery followed by normothermic and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, intraperitoneal gamma-interferon, second-look laparotomy, and total abdominal radiation, with encouraging results.
Effects of Tactical Emergency Casualty Care Training for Law Enforcement Officers

ObjectiveThis study evaluated how Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC) training prepared law enforcement officers (LEOs) with the tools necessary to provide immediate, on-scene medical care to successfully stabilize victims of trauma.MethodsThis was a retrospective, de-identified study using a seven-item Fairfax County (Virginia USA) TECC After-Action Questionnaire and Arlington County (Virginia USA) police reports.ResultsForty-six encounters were collected from 2015 through 2016. Eighty-four percent (n=39) of the encounters were from TECC After-Action Questionnaires and 15% (n=7) were from police reports. The main injuries included 13% (n=6) arterial bleeds, 46% (n=21) mild/moderate bleeds, 37% (n=17) large wounds, 20% (n=9) penetrating chest wounds, and 13% (n=6) open abdominal wounds. One-hundred percent of officers reported success in stabilizing victim injuries. Seventy-four percent of officers (n=26) did not encounter problems caring for a patient while 26% (n=9) encountered a problem. Ninety-seven percent (n=37/38) answered Yes, the training was sufficient, and three percent (n=1) indicated it was OK.ConclusionThis is the most comprehensive study of TECC use among LEOs to date that supports the importance of TECC training for all LEOs in prehospital trauma care. Results of this study showed TECC training prepared LEOs with the operational tools necessary to provide immediate, on-scene medical care to successfully stabilize victims of trauma. Continuing to train increasing numbers of LEOs in TECC is key to saving the lives of victims of trauma in the future.RothschildHR, MathiesonK.Effects of Tactical Emergency Casualty Care Training for Law Enforcement Officers. Prehosp Disaster Med.2018;33(5):495–500.
Considerations of Observer, Offender, and Target in the Intent to Peer Report Unethical Behavior

Peer reporting has been heralded as one of the more effective ways of uncovering and ultimately preventing unethical behavior in the workplace. Past research focuses on the observer’s ethical ideol...
Operational Modal Analysis of a Thin-Walled Rocket Nozzle Using Phase-Based Image Processing and Complexity Pursuit

In this work, the modal parameters of a reduced scale, thin-walled, metallic rocket nozzle are extracted through Operational Modal Analysis (OMA). The specimen is excited using pressurized gas from a rocket nozzle test stand. Deformation of the nozzle lip is measured using a non-contact optical technique consisting of two-dimensional marker tracking in conjunction with phase-based motion amplification. OMA methods that use digital image data suffer from low signal to noise ratios (SNR), especially in higher modes with small amplitude vibrations. The structural displacements are often on a subpixel scale and therefore difficult to analyze without additional image processing. Phase-based motion amplification (PMA) offers a possible solution to this problem by magnifying subpixel motion. This work focuses on the implementation of the technique in a marker-tracking algorithm, which serves to extract the time-history of high-contrast markers placed on a large area ratio nozzle with a 5.3 inch exit diameter. Grayscale images taken with a high-speed camera are first processed with the phase-based algorithm to increase the marker motion in a certain broad frequency band. This results in a set of modified images, which are then analyzed with a tracking algorithm that identifies centroid positions of fluorescent markers. The time-history of these markers is then used as input for an OMA algorithm, namely the Complexity Pursuit algorithm, which leads to estimates of eigenfrequencies, damping ratios and mode shapes. A quantitative comparison between the modal parameters obtained with and without additional motion magnification is provided. Results of a numerical simulation are provided that demonstrate the improvement of estimated modal parameters. The modal parameters of the first six modes of the nozzle are found using this method. The motion was amplified in the range of 0–1400 Hz which includes the six eigenfrequencies. Without application of the broad band PMA, the highest mode cannot clearly be identified and the quality of the other modes decreases.
Effects of Gender and Age on U.S. Adults' Interest in Cinematic Serial Murder

Abstract Serial murder and other acts of extreme violence are popular themes in U.S. news and entertainment media, yet few empirical studies have attempted to explain what draws consumers to these ...
Selection, Recombination and Mutation

The general model of frequency dependent selection is a vector-field X = Σ Xi∂i. = Σ piξi∂i on Δ where the components Xi. and ξi, are C∞ functions of the state p ∈ Δ. We think of ξi(p) as the relative fitness of gametic genotype i when the population distribution is at p. The fitness is relative because ξ is normalized to mean zero, i.e. Σ piξi(p) = Σ Xi(p) = 0. Restricting to the interior distributions Δ, we interpret the results of Chap. II to describe at most K-type epistasis or K-type epistasis, for short, when K is a complex in the set of loci L.
Disease and treatment characteristics of breast cancer in an urban, low-income hospital following a major hurricane: A temporal and racial analysis.

e12503 Background: The Medical Center of Louisiana, New Orleans (MCLNO) serves a metropolitan area and is the only hospital delivering care to the indigent population in the area. Hurricane Katrina...
How brain reacts to attack at a local region

Abstract The brain function is a network phenomenon. The architecture of brain networks has been extensively studied in multiple species. However, exactly how the brain network reconfigures when a local brain region stops functioning is virtually unknown. By combining chemogenetic and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) methods in an awake rodent model, we investigated the causal impact of inactivating a hub region (i.e. dorsal anterior cingulate cortex) on brain network properties. We found that disrupting hub activity profoundly changed the function and organization of the default-mode network (DMN), as well as DMN-related behavior (i.e. quiet restfulness). It also altered the topological architecture of the whole-brain network in network resilience, segregation and small worldness, but not network integration. These data provide direct evidence supporting the hypothesis that acute dysfunction of a brain hub can cause large-scale network changes. They also comprehensively document the differential impact of inactivating a hub versus a non-hub on network dynamics.
Olefin Polymerization with Single Component Organoscandium and Organoyttrium Catalysts

Single component catalysts for polymerization of olefins based on organoscandium and organoyttrium compounds of the types (η 5-C5Me5)2Sc-R, {(η 5-C5Me4)2SiMe2} Sc-R, meso-{(η 5-C5H3-3-CMe3)2SiMe2} Sc-R, {(η 5-C5Me4) SiMe2(η 1-NCMe3)} Sc-R, and the C 2-symmetric complexes rac-{(η 5-C5 H2-2-SiMe3-4-CMe3)2 SiMe2}Y-R (R = H, alkyl) have been prepared. All of these compounds rapidly polymerize ethylene. {(η 5-C5Me4)2SiMe2}Sc-R and meso-{(η 5-C5H3-3-CMe3)2SiMe2} Sc-R catalyze the head-to-tail dimerization of α olefins. (η 5-C5Me4)SiMe2(η 1-NCMe3)}Sc-R produces low molecular weight, essentially atactic polymers from α olefins. [rac-{(η 5-C5H2-2-SiMe3-4-CMe3) 2SiMe2}Y]2(μ-H)2 polymerizes propylene, 1-butene, 1-pentene and 1-hexene to highly isotactic, moderate molecular weight polymers. 13C NMR spectra of the polypropylene so obtained indicates greater than 99% mmmm pentads, with greater than 99.9% 1,2-insertions. The possibility that an α agostic C-H interaction is assisting olefin insertion for these catalysts has been probed using Grubbs’ test of “deuterium isotopic perturbation of stereochemistry.” Our findings implicate an a agostic structure for the transition state for chain propagation. Ground state structures for the ethyl derivatives may also have β agostic interactions. The α agostic transition state has one less rotational degree of freedom, reinforcing the enantiofacial preference of the chiral bis(cyclopentadienyl)metal site, and thus likely contributes to the high enantioselectivity of the C2-symmetricrac-{(η 5 -C5H2-2-SiMe3-4-CMe3)2 SiMe2}Y-R catalyst system.
Use of a simulation-based mastery learning curriculum for neurology residents to improve the identification and management of status epilepticus

Abstract Background Appropriate and timely treatment of status epilepticus (SE) decreases morbidity and mortality. Therefore, skill-based training in the identification and management of SE is crucial for clinicians. Objective The objective of the study was to develop and evaluate the impact of a simulation-based mastery learning (SBML) curriculum to train neurology residents on the identification and management of SE. Methods We used pretest–posttest design with a retention test on SE skills for this study. Neurology residents in the second postgraduate year (PGY-2) were eligible to participate in the SE SBML curriculum. Learners completed a baseline-simulated SE skills assessment (pretest) using a 26-item dichotomous skills checklist. Next, they participated in a didactic session about the identification and management of SE, followed by deliberate skills practice. Subsequently, participants completed another skills assessment (posttest) using the same 26-item checklist. All participants were required to meet or exceed a minimum passing standard (MPS) determined by a panel of 14 SE experts using the Mastery Angoff standard setting method. After meeting the MPS at posttest, participants were reassessed during an unannounced in situ simulation session on the medical wards. We compared pretest with posttest simulated SE skills performance and posttest with reassessment in situ performance. Results The MPS was set at 88% (23/26) checklist items correct. Sixteen neurology residents participated in the intervention. Participant performance improved from a median of 44.23% (Interquartile range (IQR): 34.62–55.77) at pretest to 94.23% (IQR: 92.13–100) at the posttest after SBML (p Conclusions Our SBML curriculum significantly improved residents' SE identification and management skills that were largely retained during an unannounced simulated encounter in the hospital setting.
Medical student perceptions of assessment systems, subjectivity, and variability on introductory dermatology clerkships.

Abstract Background Elective introductory clerkships in dermatology serve a critical function in providing formative experiences to medical students interested in the field. Although dermatology clerkships play a pivotal role in students’ career choices and residency preparation, the assessment systems used to evaluate students on these clerkships are widely different and likely affect student experiences. Objective This study aimed to explore the relationship between dermatology clerkship assessment systems and student experiences through interviews with students about their clerkship reflections and perceptions of assessment. Methods The authors contacted clerkship directors via the Association of Professors of Dermatology mailing list and invited them to provide a description of the assessment system at their institution. The authors, via contacted clerkship directors, then invited students who had completed an introductory dermatology clerkship in between 2018 and 2019 to provide a description of the assessment system at their institution and to participate in a qualitative interview about their experiences with assessment systems. The authors then iteratively synthesized interview transcripts using phenomenological analysis, in which a templated approach was used to achieve comprehensive thematic categorization. Results Prior to clerkship onset, students expressed a limited understanding of their clinical role and the assessment system. During the clerkship, students endorsed variable expectations across preceptors, limited feedback experiences, and pressures to perform for evaluators. After their clerkship, students continued to perceive assessment systems as nontransparent, subjective, and preordained. Conclusion Medical students perceived assessment systems on introductory dermatology clerkships to be unclear and arbitrary. Encouragingly, students also viewed these challenges in assessment as malleable, identifying several opportunities for educational reform in dermatology clerkships.
A Joint Calibration Method for Array Gain-phase Errors and Mutual Coupling Errors

Combining the search depth of particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm and the search breadth of invasive weed optimization (IWO) algorithm, an offline algorithm, based on IWO-PSO for joint correction of gain-phase errors and mutual coupling errors, is proposed. Firstly, a known auxiliary source is used to establish an objective function containing both gain-phase errors and mutual coupling errors, and then the IWO-PSO algorithm is used to search for those array errors satisfying the optimal values of the objective function through an alternating iteration procedure. The proposed method does not need prior knowledge of array perturbations, and has good estimation performance of DOA and array errors. Compared with other calibration methods based on optimization algorithms, the RMSE curve of the proposed method for DOA estimation is closer to CRB curve.
Observing the limits of steering - Norway’s abortive Bid for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Oslo

Hosting mega-events and Olympic games have been debated lately. Some cities are eager to bid for hosting such games while others refrain from bidding. Why? Indeed, quite a few articles have sought ...
LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE-INDUCED IMMUNOSTIMULATION PRODUCES A DOSE- AND TIME-DEPENDENT DECREASE IN GENERAL ACTIVITY AND WEIGHT GAIN IN PREWEANLING RATS

The immunostimulant lipopolysaccharide (LPS) produces numerous physiological and behavioral effects in adult rodents. The present study examined the effects of this endotoxin on activity levels and weight gain in 20-day-old preweanling rats. Experiment 1 demonstrated that 400 ~g/kg of LPS produced a significant decline in locomotor activity 1 hr postinjection, and both 200 ~g/kg and 400 ~g/kg significantly suppressed weight gain over the first 24 hr posttreatment. The effect on weight gain dissipated by 48 hr following LPS administration. Experiment 2 replicated the effects of 400 ~g/kg LPS on activity at 1 hr and on weight gain, and also assessed its effects upon activity level 24 hr following administration. Despite the significant decline in weight gain over the initial postinjection day, LPS animals' activity level was normal 24 hr after injection. These results indicate that the endotoxin LPS produces significant but transient decreases in both locomotor activity and weight gain in preweanling rats. The relationship of these findings to other issues involving physiology and sickness behavior is discussed.
Differences in Risk Measurement for Small Unlisted Businesses

The use of traditional risk measurement techniques for small unlisted businesses proves difficult due to a lack of market information. A sample of 209 small businesses in New Zealand was gathered to test the possibility of using accounting betas for risk measurement. While the accounting betas calculated for the listed companies in New Zealand did relate similarly to previous studies, several differences with the unlisted businesses are uncovered. The need to develop better measurement devices is highlighted if benchmarks for risk vs. return equilibrium are to be found for the class of small unlisted businesses.
Molecular Sieve Studies of Interacting Protein Systems IV. MOLECULAR SIZE OF THE d-AMINO ACID OXIDASE APOENZYME SUBUNIT

Abstract Highly purified preparations of d-amino acid oxidase were obtained by removal of high molecular weight components after purification by established procedures. Molecular sieve studies were carried out on the size characterization of the highly purified apoenzyme molecule. In the microgram per ml concentration range the apoenzyme was shown to dissociate to a subunit with a molecular Stokes radius of 25.1 ± 1 A and a molecular weight of 35,000 to 40,000. This molecular weight corresponds to that of a single flavin adenine dinucleotide-binding unit and presents the possibility that the monomer of the holoenzyme may be the active species.
STAPHYLOPENICILLINASE--ITS ROLE IN PENICILLIN RESISTANCE. I. IN VITRO BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF STAPHYLOPENICILLINASE.

Summary The in vitro characterization of the etheracetone sediment of Staphylococcus aureus (Giorgio) revealed that this material was high in penicillinase activity and that it was heat labile. However, no hemolysin, leukocidin or coagulase enzymes were demonstrated. Penicillinase was produced rapidly in vitro by viable staphylococci which were penicillin resistant. Peak production was achieved in 48 to 72 hours, after which the amount remained constant. The rate of production could be stimulated in the first few hours by the addition of small amounts of penicillin to the system. Each penicillin-resistant strain of Staphylococcus aureus tested produced penicillinase, and the amounts were consistently reproducible for each strain and characteristic of that strain. The amount of penicillinase produced did not accurately parallel the degree of penicillin resistance in vitro as determined by tube dilution sensitivity tests.
Interferometric Focusing of Excitation Light onto a Guide-Star

Optical microscopy allows noninvasive imaging of biological tissues at a sub cellular level. However, the optimal performance of the microscope is hard to achieve because of aberrations induced from tissues. The shallow penetration depth and degraded resolution provide a limited degree of information for biologists. In order to compensate for aberrations, adaptive optics with direct wave front sensing, where guide-stars are used for wave front measurement, has been applied in microscopy. The scattering effect limits the intensity of a guide-star and hence reduces the signal to noise ratio of the wave front measurement. In this paper, we propose to use interferometric focusing of excitation light onto a guide-star embedded deeply in tissue to increase its fluorescence intensity, thus overcoming the signal loss caused by scattering. With interferometric focusing of light, we increase the signal to noise ratio of the laser guide-star through scattering tissue by more than two times as well as potentially extending the thickness of tissue that can be corrected using AO microscopy.
Identification and analysis of the bacterial endosymbiont specialized for production of the chemotherapeutic natural product ET-743

Ecteinascidin 743 (ET-743, Yondelis) is a clinically approved chemotherapeutic natural product isolated from the Caribbean mangrove tunicate Ecteinascidia turbinata. Researchers have long suspected that a microorganism may be the true producer of the anticancer drug, but its genome has remained elusive due to our inability to culture the bacterium in the laboratory using standard techniques. Here, we sequenced and assembled the complete genome of the ET-743 producer, Candidatus Endoecteinascidia frumentensis, directly from metagenomic DNA isolated from the tunicate. Analysis of the ∼ 631 kb microbial genome revealed strong evidence of an endosymbiotic lifestyle and extreme genome reduction. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that the producer of the anti-cancer drug is taxonomically distinct from other sequenced microorganisms and could represent a new family of Gammaproteobacteria. The complete genome has also greatly expanded our understanding of ET-743 production and revealed new biosynthetic genes dispersed across more than 173 kb of the small genome. The gene cluster's architecture and its preservation demonstrate that the drug is likely essential to the interactions of the microorganism with its mangrove tunicate host. Taken together, these studies elucidate the lifestyle of a unique, and pharmaceutically important microorganism and highlight the wide diversity of bacteria capable of making potent natural products.
DotSlash: A Self-Configuring and Scalable Rescue System for Handling Web Hotspots Effectively

DotSlash allows different web sites to form a mutual-aid community, and use spare capacity in the community to relieve web hotspots experienced by any individual site. As a rescue system, DotSlash intervenes when a web site becomes heavily loaded, and is phased out once the workload returns to normal. It aims to complement the existing web server infrastructure to handle short-term load spikes effectively. DotSlash is self-configuring, scalable, cost-effective, easy to use, and transparent to clients. It targets small web sites, although large web sites can also benefit from it. We have implemented a prototype of DotSlash on top of Apache. Experiments show that using DotSlash a web server can increase the request rate it supported and the data rate it delivered to clients by an order of magnitude, even if only HTTP redirect is used. Parts of this work may be applicable to other services such as Grid computational services.
AAAI-10 Classic Paper Award: Systematic Nonlinear Planning A Commentary

David McAllester and David Rosenblitt's paper Systematic Nonlinear Planning (published in the Proceedings of the Ninth National Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-91) won the AAAI-10 classic paper award. This commentary by Daniel S. Weld describes the two major impacts the paper had on the field of automated planning.
Zinc supplementation might potentiate the effect of vitamin A in restoring night vision in pregnant Nepalese women

Background: Zinc deficiency may result in abnormal dark adaptation or night blindness, a symptom primarily of vitamin A deficiency. During a placebo-controlled trial in Nepal, weekly vitamin A supplementation of women reduced but failed to eliminate the incidence of night blindness during pregnancy, suggesting a role for zinc. Objective: The study examined the efficacy of daily zinc supplementation in restoring night vision of pregnant women who developed night blindness while routinely receiving either vitamin A, β-carotene, or placebo in a field trial. Design: Women (n = 202) who reported to be night blind during pregnancy were randomly assigned in a double-blind manner, stratified on vitamin A, β-carotene, or placebo receipt, to receive 25 mg Zn or placebo daily for 3 wk. Thus, the 6 groups studied were as follows: β-carotene + zinc, β-carotene alone, vitamin A + zinc, vitamin A alone (vitamin A + placebo), zinc alone (zinc + placebo), and placebo (2 placebos: one for the vitamin A or β-carotene study and one for the zinc study). Women underwent a clinic-based assessment that included pupillary threshold testing and phlebotomy before and after supplementation. Supplement use and daily history of night blindness were obtained at home twice every week. Results: Zinc treatment increased serum zinc concentrations, but alone (zinc alone group), failed to restore night vision or to improve dark adaptation. However, women in the vitamin A + zinc group who had baseline serum zinc concentrations <9.9 μmol/L were 4 times more likely to have their night vision restored (95% CI: 1.1, 17.3) than were women in the placebo group and tended to have a small improvement in pupillary threshold scores (by 0.21 log candela/m 2 ; P = 0.09). Conclusion: These data suggest that zinc potentiated the effect of vitamin A in restoring night vision among night-blind pregnant women with low initial serum zinc concentrations.
Determination of iodinated phenol species at parts-per-trillion concentration levels in different water samples by solid-phase microextraction/offline GC-ICP-MS

An analytical methodology using gas chromatography (GC) coupled to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was applied in order to analyze iodophenols. The new method takes advantage of the element-specific and highly-sensitive detection provided by the ICP-MS technique and is applied to the analysis of 2-iodophenol, 4-iodophenol and 2,4,6-triiodophenol. The determination of these iodophenols at low ng l−1 levels was possible by optimizing and applying solid-phase microextraction (SPME). Diverse types of SPME fibers, including the 100 µm poly(dimethylsiloxane) (100-PDMS), 7 µm poly(dimethylsiloxane) (7-PDMS), 75 µm Carboxen-poly(dimethylsiloxane) (CAR-PDMS) and 85 µm polyacrylate, were studied and the CAR-PDMS coated fiber was found to work best with the iodinated compounds of interest. Optimal conditions for the extraction and preconcentration of the iodophenols from water samples were found to be at pH = 2, an extraction time of 30 min and desorption in the GC injector at 290 °C for 2 min. Additionally, a new commercially available interface between GC and ICP-MS was used by heating the entire device at 325 °C in order to maintain peak sharpness. The introduction of oxygen as an optional gas provided an increase in sensitivity; instrument detection limits within the low ng l−1 level are demonstrated for all species examined. The precision, as relative standard deviation, did not exceed 5.4% for 10 manual injections. The method was applied to the speciation analysis of iodophenols in river, tap, and bottled water samples.
Replaying history: engaging urban underserved students in learning world history through computer simulation games

A growing number of educators are exploring digital games for engaging students in learning experiences, but relatively little is known about how games engage players, how learning occurs through gameplay, or what interactions occur when complex games are brought into school culture. This case study examines what happens when Civilization III was brought into an urban school for underserved students. Engagement in gameplay was a complex process of appropriation and resistance, recruiting students' identities and intentions. Learning occurred through recursive cycles of failure and revising strategies, which led to frustration, engagement and learning. Students developed familiarity with game concepts and deeper understandings of relationships among history, geography, economics, and politics.
Rebound stimulation of the cAMP‐regulated Cl‐ current by acetylcholine in guinea‐pig ventricular myocytes.

1. Acetylcholine (ACh)-induced rebound stimulation of the cAMP-regulated Cl- current was studied in isolated guinea-pig ventricular myocytes using dialysing and dialysis-limiting configurations of the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. 2. Exposure to and subsequent washout of ACh produced a transient rebound stimulation of the Cl- current. However, this rebound response was only observed in the presence of submaximally stimulating concentrations of the cAMP-producing agonists isoprenaline (Iso) or histamine. ACh-induced rebound stimulation was not observed in the presence of maximally stimulating concentrations of Iso, nor was it observed in the absence of Iso. 3. To prevent saturation of responses during rebound, the effects of ACh were studied in the presence of a subthreshold concentration of Iso (0.001 microM). Varying the duration of exposure to ACh before washout demonstrated that the stimulatory effect of 1 microM ACh approaches steady state with a time constant of 34 s. Exposing myocytes to varying concentrations of ACh for 90 s demonstrated that the EC50 for the stimulatory effect of ACh was 0.15 microM with a maximum response equal to 67% of that obtained by a maximally stimulating concentration of Iso alone. 4. Rebound stimulation of the Cl- current could also be elicited by washing in 2 microM atropine during exposure to ACh, instead of washing out ACh. Furthermore, ACh-induced rebound was blocked by the M2 muscarinic receptor antagonist methoctramine but not by the M1 receptor antagonist pirenzepine. Rebound was also blocked in pertussis toxin (PTX)-treated myocytes. 5. ACh-induced rebound stimulation was not blocked by: (a) L-NMMA, an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase activity; (b) Methylene Blue, LY-83583, and ODQ, inhibitors of cGMP production; or (c) milrinone, an inhibitor of cGMP-dependent phosphodiesterase activity. 6. These results indicate that ACh can stimulate cAMP-regulated ion channel activity in cardiac ventricular myocytes by facilitating beta-adrenergic and histaminergic responses. This is opposite to the inhibitory actions more typically associated with muscarinic receptor stimulation in ventricular myocardium. This stimulatory effect of ACh is mediated through M2 muscarinic receptors and a PTX-sensitive G-protein, but it does not appear to involve the production of nitric oxide or cGMP.
Antimicrobial stewardship programs in pediatrics.

objective. To describe the prevalence, characteristics, and barriers to implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) in pediatrics. design and participants. In December 2008, we surveyed the pediatric members of the Emerging Infections Network, a network of infectious diseases consultants located throughout North America. Participants responded regarding whether their hospital had or planned to develop an ASP, its characteristics, barriers to improvement or implementation, and perceptions about antimicrobial resistance. results. Of 246 pediatric infectious disease consultants surveyed, 147 (60%) responded. Forty-five respondents (33%) reported having an ASP, and 25 (18%) were planning a program. The percentage of respondents from freestanding children’s hospitals who were planning ASPs was higher than the percentage of respondents from other settings who were planning ASPs ( ). Most existing programs were P p .04 developed before 2000 and had a limited number of full-time equivalent staff, and few programs used a prospective audit-and-feedback structure. Many programs were not monitoring important end points associated with ASPs, including cost and number of antibiotic-days. The major barriers to implementation of an ASP were lack of resources, including funding, time, and personnel, noted by more than 50% of respondents. Regardless of the presence of an ASP, respondents perceived antibiotic resistance as a more significant problem nationally than at their local hospital ( ). P ! .001 conclusions. The prevalence of ASPs in pediatrics is limited, and opportunities exist to improve current programs. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2009; 30:1211-1217
A hierarchical control architecture for resource allocation

Complex systems consist of a large number of entities with their independent local rules and goals, along with their interactions. In the operations of complex system, such as naval ship, proper decisions and controls are required to keep the system working functionally and effectively. An Integrated Reconfigurable Intelligent System (IRIS) framework is proposed for facilitating the design and operation of such naval complex systems through increased automation and reconfigurability. With the reconfigurable systems, the IRIS designed ship will assess the incoming information and then configure itself into the mode most adequate to deal with the situation under consideration. The study in this paper presents a hierarchical control architecture to deal with ever-evolving real time information and making autonomous control for achieving the reconfigurability of naval ship. The control architecture consists of three levels working together to achieve the overall operational goal. It is implemented on a resource allocation problem for a chilled water system. The successful resource allocation leads to a reconfiguration of the system which is the most suitable to handle the situation at hand.
Experiences of Aging Among Immigrants From India to the United States: Social Work Practice in a Global Context

The aging of immigrants is a critical component in the health dynamics of the nation's aging population. To date, few studies have addressed within-group diversity and linked contemporary contexts of global connectedness with the aging experiences of older immigrants. This study aims to conceptually understand the diversity in aging dynamics within a specific immigrant group: Indian immigrants in New York City. The impact of globalization and transnational connection on aging experiences on 2 within groups-Indians who came to the United States at age of 65 or older (LLIs) and those who came at an early age (ELIs) are analyzed. Implications for social work practice, research and policy are discussed.
Evidence for novel linkages in a glycoprotein involving β-hydroxyphenylalanine and β-hydroxytyrosine

Abstract Cutinase, an extracellular enzyme from Fusarium solani f. pisi contains about 4% covalently attached carbohydrates. Treatment of the enzyme with alkali resulted in β-elimination and generation of dehydroamino acids absorbing at 241 nm. NaB3H4 treatment in 0.1 N KOH followed by hydrolysis of the labeled protein gave rise to tritiated alanine, α-aminobutyric acid, phenylalanine, and tyrosine. Chemical and enzymatic degradation of the labeled phenylalanine showed that this amino acid was a 1:1 mixture of D- and L-stereo-isomers and that3H was equally distributed between the α- and β-positions. Therefore it is concluded that this glycoprotein contained 0-glycosidic linkages not only at serine and threonine residues but also at β-hydroxyphenylalanine and β-hydroxytyrosine; the latter two have not been found heretofore.
Maintenance of Goal Blood Pressure following Conversion from Lisinopril to Fosinopril

Objective: To determine whether blood pressure could be maintained for patients on lisinopril following conversion to a theorized, therapeutic dose of fosinopril. The tolerability of fosinopril was also assessed. Methods:Subjects receiving lisinopril were considered candidates for this prospective, observational study. Prescribing information for both lisinopril and fosinopril suggested a milligram-to-milligram equivalency. Patients taking lisinopril 10 mg/d were switched to fosinopril 10 mg/d. Blood pressures were compared at baseline and 2, 6, and 18 weeks after conversion. A goal blood pressure of <140/90 mm Hg was assigned to all patients at enrollment and used to determine goal attainment at baseline and 18 weeks. More aggressive blood pressure goals are currently recommended; thus, medical histories were reevaluated at the end of the study and new goals were assigned and assessed. Adverse effect occurrence was also compared between visits. Results: One hundred thirty-three subjects were enrolled. The mean dose of lisinopril prior to conversion was 15′11 mg/d compared with the mean final fosinopril dose of 20 ′ 14 mg/d. Both the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures increased significantly at the 18-week visit when compared with baseline (p = 0.00007 and p = 0.015, respectively). Using a goal blood pressure of <140/90 mm Hg, there was no difference detected between the baseline and the final assessment visit (p = 0.851). A greater number of subjects were unable to achieve goal status at 18 weeks when compared with baseline after applying the newly defined goals (p = 0.003). Sixteen of the original 133 subjects discontinued fosinopril due to adverse events. Conclusions: When converting subjects from lisinopril to fosinopril, equivalent blood pressure may be difficult to achieve without increasing the dose of fosinopril.
Flow-through cytometry of meningiomas and cultured meningioma cells.

Flow cytometric techniques were used to compare the DNA content, size and viability of meningioma cells obtained directly from surgical specimens with the same cells after a period of culture. Cells isolated from the original meningiomas and cells in primary culture were similar with regard to size and DNA content, regardless of the histologic subclassification of tumor. The cell populations were essentially diploid with a small proportion of tetraploid cells. Viable cells were smaller and more uniform in size than the nonviable cells. An increase in the number of cells having an elevated DNA content was seen with cultures repeatedly transferred. The latter results suggest that any transfer of information from long-term cultured meningioma cells to the in vivo situation must be done with caution.
Control of active magnetic bearing systems with input delay for applications in remotely controlled turbomachinery

In this paper we investigate the control of active magnetic bearing (AMB) systems in the presence of input delays. First, we introduce an AMB test rig with a flexible rotor. This test rig, which was designed to closely represent AMB systems found in industrial gas compressors, serves as the platform for the derivation and testing of the proposed control law. Based on the modeled dynamics of the AMB test rig, a truncated predictor feedback (TPF) control law is constructed to maximize the input delay that the stable closed-loop system can tolerate. The controller corresponding to the maximum input delay is obtained through the path-following method, based on the previous results that extended the TPF controller to exponentially unstable systems. The capabilities of the designed TPF controller is verified through numerical simulation.
Methods for Computationally Efficient Structured CFD Simulations of Complex Turbomachinery Flows

This research presents more efficient computational methods by which to perform multi-block structured Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations of turbomachinery, thus facilitating higher-fidelity solutions of complicated geometries and their associated flows. This computational framework offers flexibility in allocating resources to balance process count and wall-clock computation time, while facilitating research interests of simulating axial compressor stall inception with more complete gridding of the flow passages and rotor tip clearance regions than is typically practiced with structured codes. The paradigm presented herein facilitates CFD simulation of previously impractical geometries and flows. These methods are validated and demonstrate improved computational efficiency when applied to complicated geometries and flows.
Is There Still a Southwest Effect

The U.S. airline industry is in a period of consolidation through mergers between leading carriers. A number of recent mergers have been approved by the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ), in part because of the presence of Southwest Airlines in the affected markets. In its approval of the mergers, DOJ makes a key assumption that Southwest is unresponsive in its pricing strategy to the reduced competition when its competitors merge. Numerous studies have validated the so-called Southwest effect, through which potential or actual entry into a market by Southwest Airlines is associated with lower market fares. However, considerably less work has examined Southwest's postentry pricing strategies. This study finds that Southwest raised fares more between 2005 and 2010 in markets affected by the Delta-Northwest and US Airways-America West mergers than in other markets. Southwest's fares either decreased or rose by less when the company was facing direct or adjacent competition from a low-cos...
Comparison of pulsed Doppler echocardiography and radionuclide angiography in the assessment of left ventricular filling.

Abstract To determine the relation between Doppler echocardiographic and radionuclide angiographic indexes of left ventricular (LV) filling, 42 patients were studied using both techniques. From Doppler mitral flow velocity profiles, the percent of LV filling due to atrial systole (percent atrial contribution) and at one-third of diastole (one-third filling fraction), the peak filling rate and the peak filling rate normalized for LV enddiastolic volume and the time from mitral valve opening to peak early velocity and from aortic valve closure to peak early velocity were determined. Good correlations were found between percent atrial contribution (r = 0.83) and one-third filling fraction (r = 0.67) using the 2 techniques. However, Doppler normalized peak filling rate correlated only weakly with radionuclide peak filling rate (r = 0.33, p Thus, Doppler echocardiography and radionuclide angiography agree on relative diastolic filling indexes but not on peak filling rates or useful diastolic time intervals. Relative filling indexes, such as percent atrial contribution and one-third filling fractions, therefore, may be the most reliable noninvasive indicators of diastolic function.
Creep Resistance of the Directionally Solidified Ceramic Eutectic of Al2O3/c-ZrO2(Y2O3)

The creep resistance of the directionally solidified ceramic eutectic of Al2O3/c-ZrO2(Y2O3) was studied in the temperature range of 1200-1520°C both experimentally and by mechanistic dislocation models. The creep of the eutectic in its growth direction exhibits an initial transient that is attributed to stress relaxation in the c-ZrO2(Y2O3) phase, but otherwise in steady state shows many of the same characteristics of creep in sapphire single crystals with c-axis orientation. The creep strain rate of the eutectic has stress exponents in the range of 4.5–5.0 and a temperature dependence suggesting a rate mechanism governed by oxygen ion diffusion in the Al2O3. A detailed dislocation model of the creep rate indicates that much of the nano-scale encapsulated c-ZrO2(Y2O3) is too small to deform by creep so that the major contribution to the recorded creep strain is derived from the diffusion-controlled climb of pyramidal edge dislocations in the Al2O3 phase. The evidence suggests that the climbing dislocations in Al2O3 must repeatly circumvent the c-ZrO2(Y2O3) domains acting as dispersoids resulting in the stress exponents larger than 3. The creep model is in very good agreement with the experiments.
Acute pancreatitis in intensive care unit patients: Value of clinical and radiologic prognosticators at predicting clinical course and outcome

Objective: To assess the value of clinical andlor radiographic prognostic indices in predicting the clinical course and outcome of patients with acute pancreatitis, in the intensive care unit. Design: Retrospective, single institution review. Setting: An adult medical and surgical intensive care unit in a public, urban teaching hospital. Patients: Patients with acute pancreatitis requiring intensive care unit admission between January 1, 1997 and June 30, 2000. Interventions: Standard care. Measurements and Main Results: A total of 477 patients were hospitalized with the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis. Of these, 28 patients (6%) were admitted to the intensive care unit. Ranson's, Imrie scores, Acute Physiologic and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II and III scores, simplified acute physiology scores, and multiple organ dysfunction scores were tabulated at 1, 2, 3, 7, and 14 days after intensive care unit admission. Abdominal computed tomography was available for review for 24 of the 28 patients (86%), where the mean Balthazar's computed tomography index was 4.5 ± 0.4 (range = 2 to 10). Hospital mortality rate for the intensive care unit patients was 14% (4 of 28). The intensive care unit length of stay ranged from 1 to 79 days (mean 15 days, median 5 days). Fifty-seven percent of the patients developed organ dysfunction, and 36% of the patients required mechanical ventilatory support, ranging in duration from 1 to 70 days. Infectious morbidity occurred in 43% of patients. Thirty-six percent of the patients required operative intervention for intraabdominal complications. APACHE II scores at 7 days after intensive care unit admission correlated closely with ventilator days (r 2 = .90; p = .003) and correlated with the occurrence of infectious complications (r 2 = .71; p = .02). Patient age, APACHE III, simplified acute physiology scores, multiple organ dysfunction scores, Ranson, Imrie, computed tomography, and APACHE II scores before day 7 did not closely correlate with the occurrence of adverse clinical outcome. Conclusions: The clinical course and outcomes of intensive care unit patients with acute pancreatitis can be highly variable. An APACHE II score <10 during the initial 48 hrs correlated with mild pancreatitis and uncomplicated intensive care unit course; however, multifactorial prognosticators were not useful for the early identification of patients who developed complications or required extended intensive care unit care.