cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sterol metabolism in the opportunistic pathogen Pneumocystis: advances and new insights.

Pneumocystis can transiently colonize healthy individuals without causing adverse symptoms, and most people test positive for exposure to this organism early in life. However, it can cause Pneumocystis pneumonia (PcP) in people with impaired immune systems and is a major cause of death in HIV/AIDS. Although it has close affinities to the Ascomycetes, Pneumocystis has features unlike those of any single group of fungi. For example, Pneumocystis does not synthesize ergosterol, which is consistent with the inefficacy of amphotericin B and some triazoles in clearing PcP. Pneumocystis sterols include distinct Δ7 24-alkylsterols. Metabolic radiolabeling experiments demonstrated that P. carinii synthesizes sterols de novo. Cholesterol is the most abundant sterol in Pneumocystis; most, if not all, is scavenged from the mammalian host lung by the pathogen. The P. carinii erg7, erg6, and erg11 genes have been cloned, sequenced, and expressed in heterologous systems. The recombinant P. carinii S-adenosyl-l-methionine:C-24 sterol methyl transferase (SAM:SMT) has a preference for lanosterol over zymosterol as substrate, and the enzyme can catalyze the transfer of either one or two methyl groups to the C-24 position of the sterol side chain. Two different sterol compositions were detected among human-derived P. jirovecii; one was dominated by C28 and C29 sterols, and the other had high proportions of higher molecular mass components, notably the C32 sterol pneumocysterol. The latter phenotype apparently represents organisms blocked at 14α-demethylation of the sterol nucleus. These studies suggest that SAM:SMT is an attractive drug target for developing new chemotherapy for PcP.
A Small Push-Pull Fluorophore for Turn-on Fluorescence.

A new class of push–pull dyes is reported based on the structures of benzoxa- and benzothiadiazole heterocycles. This new class of dyes displays red-shifted wavelengths of emission and greater sensitivity to polarity and hydrogen bonding solvents relative to previously known derivatives.
Tailoring nucleation and grain growth by changing the precursor phase ratio for efficient organic lead halide perovskite optoelectronic devices

The nucleation and growth of organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite films induced by the molar ratio of precursor components and their role in optoelectronic performance are investigated. Lead iodide (PbI2), methylammonium acetate (MAAc) and methylammonium iodide (MAI) mixed in different ratios were used as starting precursors for active layer deposition. While all the as cast films showed the presence of a precursor intermediate (PbIx·MAAc·MAI), the films derived from 1 : 1 : 1 and 1 : 0.5 : 1 ratios also exhibited crystallization of the perovskite (CH3NH3PbI3) phase during the spin coating process. The nucleation and crystallization of the perovskite phase in films derived from the equimolar precursor ratio were found to be the key to growing larger, smoother and single crystalline grains along the thickness leading to higher carrier lifetimes. Perovskite solar cells fabricated utilizing such a morphology showed a much higher power conversion efficiency irrespective of the active layer thickness. Furthermore, methyl ammonium bromide based perovskite light emitting diodes were also fabricated using the aforementioned equimolar precursor ratio which exhibited superior device performance compared to diodes with active layers derived from other precursor ratios. This work highlights a facile deposition technique and growth mechanism to attain reproducible, low cost and high-performance perovskite optoelectronic devices.
Profiling Arthritis Pain with a Decision Tree.

Background Arthritis is the leading cause of work disability and contributes to lost productivity. Previous studies showed that various factors predict pain but they were limited in sample size and scope from a data analytics perspective. Objectives The current study applied machine learning algorithms to identify predictors of pain associated with arthritis in a large national sample. Methods Using data from the 2011-2012 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, data mining was performed to develop algorithms to identify factors and patterns that contribute to risk of pain. The model incorporated over 200 variables within the algorithm development including demographic data, medical claims, laboratory tests, patient-reported outcomes and socio-behavioral characteristics. Results The developed algorithms to predict pain utilize variables readily available in patient medical records. Using J48 with 50-fold cross-validations we found that the model can significantly distinguish those with and without pain (c-statistics = 0.9108). The F measure was 0.856, accuracy rate was 85.68%, sensitivity was 0.862, specificity was 0.852, and precision was 0.849. Conclusion Physical and mental function scores, the ability to climb stairs, and overall assessment of feeling were the most discriminative predictors from the 12 identified variables, predicting pain with 86% accuracy for individuals with arthritis. In this era of rapid expansion of big data application, the nature of healthcare research is moving from hypothesis-driven to data-driven solutions. The algorithms generated in this study offer new insights on individualized pain prediction, allowing the development of cost-effective care management programs for those experiencing arthritis pain. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Pan-Diastolic Flow Reversal in the Subclavian Artery: An Indicator of Aortic Insufficiency:

IntroductionFor many labs, Doppler evaluation of the subclavian artery (SCA) is routinely included in the carotid protocol. At our center, we have noted that many patients have a unique SCA wavefor...
An Interface without A User: An Exploratory Design Study of Online Privacy Policies and Digital Legalese

Privacy policies are critical to understanding one's rights on online platforms, yet few users read them. In this pictorial, we approach this as a systemic issue that is part a failure of interaction design. We provided a variety of people with printed packets of privacy policies, aiming to tease out this form's capabilities and limitations as a design interface, to understand people's perception and uses, and to critically imagine pragmatic revisions and creative alternatives to existing privacy policies.
Evaluation of strategies for the intracellular delivery of proteins.

Purpose. The intracellular delivery of functionally active proteins represents an important emerging strategy for laboratory investigation and therapeutic applications. Although a number of promising approaches for protein delivery have been developed, thus far there has been no attempt to compare the merits of the various delivery technologies. This issue is addressed in the current study.
The 5q- syndrome: A single-institution study of 43 consecutive patients

A favorable prognosis and a low rate of leukemic transformation has been attributed to the 5q- syndrome, a myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) characterized by macrocytic anemia, hypolobulated micromegakaryocytic hyperplasia, and an interstitial deletion of chromosome 5. We examined the characteristics and outcome of 43 consecutive patients in our institution strictly defined by morphologic criteria and a solitary 5q- cytogenetic defect. The median age at diagnosis was 68 years, with a clear female predominance (7:3). Eighty percent of the patients were red blood cell transfusion-dependent at diagnosis and all untransfused patients had macrocytic indexes. In contrast, significant neutropenia or thrombocytopenia was rare. The French-American-British (FAB) class distributions were RA (72%), RARS (7%), RAEB (16%), and RAEB-IT (5%). At a median follow-up of 31 months, 56% of the patients survive, with a projected median survival of 63 months. The incidence of acute leukemia was 16% and was uniformly fatal. Clinical hemosiderosis occurred in 28% of the patients, resulting in two deaths. Neither survival nor the risk of leukemic transformation was predictable from initial clinical parameters, including FAB classification, Bournemouth score, and degree of aneuploidy. The lack of significant neutropenia and thrombocytopenia seemed to account for a very low incidence of infection and bleeding resulting in a prognosis equal or superior to historical patients with MDS. Therapeutic endeavors, including the use of corticosteroids, androgens, cis-retinoic acid, pyridoxine, and danazol, were largely unsuccessful.
Multi-reader ROC Studies with Split-plot Designs: A Comparison of Statistical Methods

Rationale and Objectives Multireader imaging trials often use a factorial design, in which study patients undergo testing with all imaging modalities and readers interpret the results of all tests for all patients. A drawback of this design is the large number of interpretations required of each reader. Split-plot designs have been proposed as an alternative, in which one or a subset of readers interprets all images of a sample of patients, while other readers interpret the images of other samples of patients. In this paper, the authors compare three methods of analysis for the split-plot design. Materials and Methods Three statistical methods are presented: the Obuchowski-Rockette method modified for the split-plot design, a newly proposed marginal-mean analysis-of-variance approach, and an extension of the three-sample U -statistic method. A simulation study using the Roe-Metz model was performed to compare the type I error rate, power, and confidence interval coverage of the three test statistics. Results The type I error rates for all three methods are close to the nominal level but tend to be slightly conservative. The statistical power is nearly identical for the three methods. The coverage of 95% confidence intervals falls close to the nominal coverage for small and large sample sizes. Conclusions The split-plot multireader, multicase study design can be statistically efficient compared to the factorial design, reducing the number of interpretations required per reader. Three methods of analysis, shown to have nominal type I error rates, similar power, and nominal confidence interval coverage, are available for this study design.
Molecular pathology of adverse local tissue reaction caused by metal-on-metal implants defined by RNA-seq.

Abstract Total hip arthroplasty (THA) alleviates hip pain and improves joint function. Current implant design permits long-term survivorship of THAs, but certain metal-on-metal (MoM) articulations can portend catastrophic failure due to adverse local tissue reactions (ALTR). Here, we identified biological and molecular differences between periacetabular synovial tissues of patients with MoM THA failure undergoing revision THA compared to patients undergoing primary THA for routine osteoarthritis (OA). Analysis of tissue biopsies by RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) revealed that MoM patient samples exhibit significantly increased expression of immune response genes but decreased expression of genes related to extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling. Thus, interplay between local tissue inflammation and ECM degradation may account for the pathology and compromised clinical outcomes in select patients with MoM implants. We conclude that adverse responses of host tissues to implant materials result in transcriptomic modifications in patients with MoM implants that permit consideration of strategies that could mitigate ECM damage.
Current Understanding of the Molecular Basis of Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus Pathogenesis and Vaccine Development

Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) is an alphavirus in the family Togaviridae. VEEV is highly infectious in aerosol form and a known bio-warfare agent that can cause severe encephalitis in humans. Periodic outbreaks of VEEV occur predominantly in Central and South America. Increased interest in VEEV has resulted in a more thorough understanding of the pathogenesis of this disease. Inflammation plays a paradoxical role of antiviral response as well as development of lethal encephalitis through an interplay between the host and viral factors that dictate virus replication. VEEV has efficient replication machinery that adapts to overcome deleterious mutations in the viral genome or improve interactions with host factors. In the last few decades there has been ongoing development of various VEEV vaccine candidates addressing the shortcomings of the current investigational new drugs or approved vaccines. We review the current understanding of the molecular basis of VEEV pathogenesis and discuss various types of vaccine candidates.
Contemporary paradigm for the evaluation and treatment of hereditary gastric cancer

Gastric cancer is the third leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Survival is linked to stage at diagnosis and tolerance to surgery and adjuvant therapy. The emergence of sophisticated methods to identify patients at high risk for the development of gastric cancer has given us an opportunity to eliminate a lethal disease in an identifiable patient population. Guidelines and recommendations have been established and prophylactic total gastrectomy is considered the most effective treatment. However, this requires substantial physical and emotional investment. It is imperative that patients and families are supported by genetic counseling, ongoing surveillance, and survivorship studies.
Experimental determination of impact ionization coefficients of electrons and holes in gallium nitride using homojunction structures

In this study, we experimentally determined the impact ionization coefficients of GaN using homoepitaxially grown p-n diodes with avalanche capability. The extracted hole impact ionization coefficient is obtained as β(E) = 4.39 × 106 exp (−1.8 × 107/E) cm−1, and the electron impact ionization coefficient is obtained as α(E) = 2.11 × 109 exp (−3.689 × 107/E) cm−1. This study also presents the temperature dependence of impact ionization coefficients in GaN. The results presented in this experimental study are an important contribution to the database on the material properties of GaN, which will enable more accurate prediction of the avalanche in GaN devices.
Physics-Based Design Optimization of High Frequency Transformers for Solid State Transformer Applications

The use of solid state transformers (SST) is fast becoming an attractive alternative to conventional low frequency transformers. For adequate galvanic isolation, the use of high frequency transformer (HFT) is of great importance to achieving high efficiency and high power-density SST. This paper proposes an physics-based design and multi-objective optimization of HFT for SST applications. A multi objective optimization algorithm that minimizes the volume of the core (maximizes the power density), the total transformer losses as well as the overall cost of the HFT is developed. A case study of a 20kHz, 10kW HFT is investigated, and the Pareto-optimal solution are presented. The results shows the dependencies of the objective functions on the various design variables. The results also show that, with careful selection of the design variables based on the developed method, the size, efficiency and cost of the HFT can be effectively optimized. Many of the Pareto-Optimal solutions show that an efficiency above 97% can be achieved in the HFT design for SST applications.
Evaluation of LOINC for Representing Constitutional Cytogenetic Test Result Reports

Genetic testing is becoming increasingly important to medical practice. Integrating genetics and genomics data into electronic medical records is crucial in translating genetic discoveries into improved patient care. Information technology, especially Clinical Decision Support Systems, holds great potential to help clinical professionals take full advantage of genomic advances in their daily medical practice. However, issues relating to standard terminology and information models for exchanging genetic testing results remain relatively unexplored. This study evaluates whether the current LOINC standard is adequate to represent constitutional cytogenetic test result reports using sample result reports from ARUP Laboratories. The results demonstrate that current standard terminology is insufficient to support the needs of coding cytogenetic test results. The terminology infrastructure must be developed before clinical information systems will be able to handle the high volumes of genetic data expected in the near future.
Clinical and pedigree analysis of late onset congenital ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency in a child

Objective To raise the awareness of congenital ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency (OTCD) by analyzing the clinical features and the family pedigree in a child with OTCD.Methods Clinical characteristics were analyzed in a child with OTCD.The genetic analysis was performed in ten exons and nine intron-exon boundaries in the ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) gene of the case and his family by direct sequencing of PCR-DNA from peripheral blood.Family history including his grandparents and uncle was registered.Results The onset age of the case was 6 months old,the clinical picture was characterized by recurrent episodes of vomiting,low spirits,hyperammonemia,and abnormal liver function.His brother died of the similar performance at 6 months old.His sister was healthy.IVS1-2A＞G intron mutation of OTC gene was found in the case,while his mother and sister were the carriers and his father revealed no mutation.His maternal grandparents and his uncle's family were healthy.Conclusion OTCD is a kind of congenital genetic disease,and is one of the main causes of hyperammonemia.Misdiagnosis is very common because clinical symptoms of this disease are variable.IVS1-2A＞G mutation in OTC gene is the pathogeny of this case.The family genealogy indicates that this case is a kind of X-linked recessive hereditary disease. Key words: Ornithine transcarbamylase; Urea cycle disorder; Child; Genetic diagnosis; Hyperammonemia
A Case of Severe Mitral Valve Regurgitation in a Patient with Leadless Pacemaker

An 85-year-old man with cardiac history notable for atrial fibrillation diagnosed 10 years ago which was being treated with atenolol and warfarin presented to our institution with persistent atrial fibrillation. His echocardiogram showed ejection fraction (EF) of 56%, no regional wall motion abnormalities, mild mitral and pulmonary regurgitation, and trivial tricuspid regurgitation. Despite this treatment, he had recurrent episodes of paroxysmal symptomatic atrial fibrillation with a rapid rate requiring multiple emergency department visits and hospital admissions. Given difficulty to control the rate, he underwent atrioventricular (AV) nodal ablation and leadless pacemaker insertion. Fifteen days after the procedure, he was found to have a severe mitral regurgitation murmur.
Textiles wastewater treatment technology: A review

The following is a review of published literature on textile wastewater in 2019. Presented are the sections described for the review: concise introduction on the textiles wastewater, followed by a review of present textile treatment technologies organized by physicochemical, biological, and combined processes. Lastly, a discussion of the future topics is presented. PRACTITIONER POINTS: The discharge of textile dye wastewater represents a serious environmental problem and public health concern. Effluents from textile manufacturing, dyeing, and finishing processes contain high-concentration recalcitrant chemicals that are resistant to biodegradation. The textile wastewater needs environmental-friendly and cost-effective combined treatment process.
Women who participated in the paid labor force have lower rates of memory decline: Working to remember.

Despite a move toward precision medicine approaches to cognitive impairment and dementia, the incorporation of sex and gender differences remains limited.1,2 Sex refers to biological differences such as chromosomal, gonadal, or hormonal differences; gender refers to a combination of environmental, social, and cultural influences on women and men.3 Gender is rooted in biology but shaped by environment and experience. Of studies in the dementia field that have incorporated sex and gender, the vast majority focus on sex differences or sex-specific factors including pregnancy, the menopausal transition and use of hormone therapy, genetics, or differences in biomarker profiles.1 Fewer studies have focused on gender-related differences in dementia risk, with education the factor most examined.2 Low education is associated with risk of dementia in both women and men, but women born in the 20th century have historically had less access to education than men; thus, this risk factor has had a proportionally greater effect on older women. There has been even less research, if any, on gender differences in occupation or workforce participation for late-life cognitive outcomes. This is particularly relevant for women because life course patterns of working, childrearing, and marriage have changed dramatically over the last century, with an increasing number of women joining the paid labor force. Studies demonstrating that lifetime occupational attainment4 and occupational complexity are related to cognitive decline and dementia risk have largely overlooked this historical gender discrepancy.5
Cost of breast cancer care in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review protocol.

OBJECTIVE This review will describe the scope of the literature on the cost of breast cancer care in low- and middle-income countries and summate the methodological characteristics and approaches of these economic evaluations. INTRODUCTION In the past decade, there has been global momentum to improve capacity for breast cancer care in low- and middle-income countries, which have higher rates of breast cancer mortality compared to high-income countries. Understanding the cost of delivering breast cancer care in low- and middle-income countries is critical to guide effective cancer care delivery strategies and policy. INCLUSION CRITERIA Studies that estimate the cost of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment in low- and middle-income countries will be included. Studies not available in English will be excluded. METHODS The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Scoping Review guidelines will be utilized. The search strategy has been developed in consultation with a medical librarian and will be carried out on five electronic databases from their inception (MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, Global Health, WHO Global Index Medicus) as well as in gray literature sources. Two independent reviewers will review all abstracts and titles in the primary screen and full-text articles in the secondary screen. A third reviewer will adjudicate conflicts. One reviewer will perform data extraction. Study demographics, design, and methodological characteristics (such as costing perspective, time horizon, and included cost categories) will be summarized in narrative and tabular formats. The methodological quality of studies will be evaluated using a validated economic evaluation tool.
The Road to Cognitive Skill Acquisition: Psychometric Evaluation of the Competencies of Cognitive Therapy Scale.

Objective: Cognitive therapy (CT) skills are an index of treatment progress. They predict changes in patients’ acute depressive symptoms and symptom relapses. However, the psychometric properties o...
Man, Freedom and Creativity

The self has other properties besides purely being able to experience things as described in Chapters IV and V. It can also do things. And so we are confronted with the problem of free-will. We can argue : do we have free-will, or are all our decisions the manifestations of something that is in-born, plus all our training or conditioning? If a statement is made : “I do not have free-will,” two inferences can be made : this statement could be a result of a conditioning, the subject being well-trained to repeat it like a parrot, which makes it devoid of significance ; or the subject may claim that he has free-will just to make this statement, which is an arbitrary and self-stultifying statement.
Collection and Enrichment of Magnetotactic Bacteria from the Environment

We describe a relatively inexpensive and effective method for collecting magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) from the field. This protocol relies on the use of simple magnets. A clear plastic container can be used to collect sediment and water from a natural source, such as a freshwater pond. In the Northern hemisphere, the south end of a bar magnet is placed against the outside of the container just above the sediment at the sediment-water interface. After some time, the bacteria can be removed from the inside of the container near the magnet with a pipette and then enriched further by using a capillary racetrack and a magnet. In the racetrack, a sterile cotton plug is used to separate magnetic versus non-magnetic cells as the MTB swim through the cotton towards a magnet placed at the opposite end of the racetrack. Once enriched, the presence of MTB can be confirmed by using the hanging drop method and a light microscope to observe MTB swimming in response to the north or south end of a bar magnet. Higher resolution can be obtained by depositing a drop of enriched MTB onto a copper grid and observing the microorganisms with transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Using this method, isolated MTB may be studied microscopically to determine characteristics such as swimming behavior, type and number of flagella, cell morphology, shape of the magnetic crystals, number of magnetosomes, number of magnetosome chains in each cell, composition of the crystals, and presence of intracellular vacuoles.
CRITICAL FIELD EFFECTS OF THE Gd IN GdxEr1-xRh4B4

The effects of Gd ions on the superconducting transition temperature, the upper critical field, and the magnetic transition temperature of the GdXEr1-xRh4B4 system were investigated for x = 0 to 1. The measured reentrant upper critical field curves are in reasonably good agreement with the theory of Fulde and Maki.
Adaptive Radar Data Quality Control and Ensemble-Based Assimilation for Analyzing and Forecasting High-Impact Weather

Abstract : The goal of the project is to study and develop advanced approaches for radar data quality control (QC) and assimilation that will not only optimally utilize Doppler wind information from WSR-88D and Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) but also take full advantage of rapid and flexible agile-beam scans from the phased array radar (PAR) at NWRT.
CONGENITAL DEFICIENCY OF FACTOR XIII: REPORT OF A FAMILY FROM NEWFOUNDLAND WITH ASSOCIATED MILD DEFICIENCY OF FACTOR XII

In a family with 14 children severe deficiency of factor XIII was found in three living members who suffered from moderate to severe bleeding manifestations. A fourth child died with intracranial hemorrhage. In addition to the above deficiency, two of the three propositi and two siblings were mildly deficient in factor XII. The bleeding manifestations of these cases are solely due to factor XIII deficiency; siblings with factor XII deficiency alone were asymptomatic. Both factor deficiencies here seem to be separately inherited. The most striking findings in factor XIII deficiency are bleeding from the umbilical cord, which is invariably found, and intracranial hemorrhage frequently encountered in the pediatric age group. The present communication, for the first time, reports on gastrointestinal hemorrhage as a manifestation of this disease. Also, in this family hemarthrosis was not uncommon and characteristically did not lead to residual crippling.
Neutron stars: A star powered by magnetism

Ever since their discovery three decades ago, neutron stars have fascinated astronomers. They have extreme properties in almost all respects: they are the densest objects in the Universe, the most rapidly rotating, and the best astronomical laboratory for condensed-matter physics. To this, Kouveliotou et al. (page 235 of this issue) add direct evidence of magnetic fields strong enough to perturb the very structure of the vacuum.
Doa estimation of nonparametric spreading spatial spectrum based on bayesian compressive sensing exploiting intra-task dependency

For spatially distributed targets encountered in radar and sonar applications, direct application of subspace-based methods usually do not lead to an accurate estimation of the direction and angular extent of the signal arrivals. If the spatial distribution of the targets can be parameterized with a known model a priori, the direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation problems can be simplified as parameter estimation problems. However, these methods do not apply when the targets are not parameterizable. Motivated by this fact, we propose an effective approach for the DOA estimation of nonparametric spatially extended targets. In the proposed approach, the spatially extended targets are modeled as a continuous sparse structure, which are effectively estimated using the Bayesian compressive sensing techniques based on a paired spike-and-slab prior accounting for the angular target spread. In particular, the problem is examined under a collocated multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar platform. Signal transmission at multiple coprime transmit frequencies are also considered to achieve increased degrees-of-freedom. The group sparsity of the targets across different frequencies is exploited to achieve improved DOA estimation performance.
ESTIMATION OF THE NUMBER OF INFECTIOUS BACTERIAL OR VIRAL PARTICLES BY THE DILUTION METHOD

Abstract Seligman, Stephen J. (University of California, Los Angeles), and M. Ray Mickey. Estimation of the number of infectious bacterial or viral particles by the dilution method. J. Bacteriol. 88:31–36. 1964.—For viral or bacterial systems in which discrete foci of infection are not obtainable, it is possible to obtain an estimate of the number of infectious particles by use of the quantal response if the assay system is such that one infectious particle can elicit the response. Unfortunately, the maximum likelihood estimate is difficult to calculate, but, by the use of a modification of Haldane's approximation, it is possible to construct a table which facilitates calculation of both the average number of infectious particles and its relative error. Additional advantages of the method are that the number of test units per dilution can be varied, the dilutions need not bear any fixed relation to each other, and the one-particle hypothesis can be readily tested.
Pancreatic Panniculitis: A Rare Manifestation of Acute Pancreatitis

Context Pancreatic panniculitis is a very rare complication associated with pancreatic disease and perhaps even a presage to pancreatic pathology. Case report We present a case of pancreatic panniculitis in a 61 year old patient who was treated for sudden onset of abdominal pain associated with nausea and vomiting secondary to acute pancreatitis of unknown etiology. He subsequently developed skin lesions consistent with pancreatic panniculitis which gradually improved after resolution of his acute condition and treatment with topical steroid cream. Conclusion We discuss and review the literature along with highlighting for the readers the important clinical and histopathologic features of acute pancreatitis associated pancreatic panniculitis. Image: Initial dermatologic manifestation on lower extremities.
Proteolysis of glutamate receptor‐interacting protein by calpain in rat brain: implications for synaptic plasticity

Activation of the calcium-dependent protease calpain has been proposed to be a key step in synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus. However, the exact pathway through which calpain mediates or modulates changes in synaptic function remains to be clarified. Here we report that glutamate receptor-interacting protein (GRIP) is a substrate of calpain, as calpain-mediated GRIP degradation was demonstrated using three different approaches: (i) purified calpain I digestion of synaptic membranes, (ii) calcium treatment of frozen–thawed brain sections, and (iii) NMDA-stimulated organotypic hippocampal slice cultures. More importantly, calpain activation resulted in the disruption of GRIP binding to the GluR2 subunit of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionate (AMPA) receptors. Because GRIP has been proposed to function as an AMPA receptor-targeting and synaptic-stabilizing protein, as well as a synaptic-organizing molecule, calpain-mediated degradation of GRIP and disruption of AMPA receptor anchoring are likely to play important roles in the structural and functional reorganization accompanying synaptic modifications in long-term potentiation and long-term depression.
Risk Prediction Models: Applications in Cancer Prevention

We review development, validation, and translation of risk prediction models to clinical and population practices. We focus on issues in each of these steps and the gaps in the field across the continuum of risk prediction model development (many models published); validation (few validated); and implementation (even fewer implemented in clinical settings, much implementation on web sites). Design of models for end users and critical issues in implementing and evaluating models are addressed with examples from first-hand experience.
Design and test results for dual-lane fault-tolerant PM motor for safety critical aircraft actuator

This paper presents the design and test results for a dual-lane fault-tolerant PM motor for a safety critical aircraft actuator. Motor topology has been chosen to meet the system availability and reliability criterion considering principal faults that can occur within the motor including winding open circuit, line to line and phase to ground short circuits. The motor has two 3-phase windings which are powered from two independent inverters connected to different power supplies. The motor control strategy employs a healthy winding channel to have the capability to drive the load with the other winding channel short circuited in a faulted condition. The windings are designed to have a high impedance to limit the short circuit current to 1 p.u. A rectangular winding conductor is chosen to achieve a higher slot fill factor and for better manufacturability, which would also minimise the probability of turn to turn faults due to its thicker insulation. The effect of lateral magnetic pull has been considered to determine the locations of the dual-lane windings. Performance has been predicted by finite element analysis in healthy and faulted conditions. A prototype machine has been built and tested. Test results agree with the analysis in healthy and most of faulted conditions. However, measured drag torque with shorted windings is greater than the prediction at higher speeds, which is thought to be the effect of eddy currents in the conductors and magnets. It has confirmed that the induced current in a shorted turn is greatly affected by its location and the induced current may not be limited to 1 p.u. by short circuiting the machine phase terminals.
Energy decay and exact controllability for the Petrovsky equation in a bounded domain

For a higher dimensional Petrovsky equation in a bounded domain with linear damping and rigid homogeneous boundary conditions, the uniformly exponential energy decay is proved by a priori estimates and analysis of Lyapunov-like functional. The global exact controllability is shown by the energy decay result and time-reverse technique. For the Petrovsky equation with cubic nonlinear damping, it is proved that for any given energy bound of initial data there exists a choice of damping coefficients such that the nonlinear semigroup of solutions converges to zero strongly and uniformly.
Accuracy of biplane long-axis left ventricular volume determined by cine magnetic resonance imaging in patients with regional and global dysfunction.

Abstract Left ventricular (LV) volumes and ejection fraction can be obtained by applying Simpson's rule to multiple short-axis tomographic planes. A simpler method for determining LV volumes using the area-length equation is widely accepted and requires less time to acquire and analyze. Its accuracy, however, is questionable in deformed or asymmetrically contracting ventricles. This study compares biplane long-axis to serial short-axis computed LV volumes obtained by cine gradient-echo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 2 distinct patient populations: (1) patients with global LV dysfunction, and (2) patients with regional LV dysfunction. A total of 114 patients were studied using both methods. Among 37 patients with global LV dysfunction, there was no statistically significant difference between methods (long axis vs short axis) for determining LV end-diastolic volume (203 ± 91 vs 201 ± 90 ml), endsystolic volume (142 ± 81 vs 141 ± 82 ml), and ejection fraction (33 ± 12 vs 33 ± 13%). However, in the 77 patients with regional dysfunction, LV end-diastolic volume was statistically slightly higher when obtained using the long-axis approach (157 ± 53 vs 152 ± 51 ml; p = 0.004). Otherwise, end-systolic volume (97 ± 49 vs 95 ± 49 ml) and ejection fraction (40 ± 13 vs 40 ± 13%) were similar (p = NS). The correlation between LV volumes and ejection fractions for both groups was excellent (r > 0.91). Thus, in this study group, biplane long-axis and serial short-axis computed LV volumes and ejection fractions were similar in patients with global or regional LV dysfunction. In critically ill patients unable to complete a comprehensive MRI examination, the biplane long-axis-derived volumes provide adequate data.
Polymerization of Formic Acid under High Pressure

We report Raman, infrared, and x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements, along with ab initio calculations on formic acid (FA) under pressure up to 50 GPa. We find an infinite chain Pna2(1) structure to be a high-pressure phase at room temperature. Our data indicate the symmetrization and a partially covalent character of the intrachain hydrogen bonds above approximately 20 GPa. Raman spectra and XRD patterns indicate a loss of long-range order at pressures above 40 GPa, with a large hysteresis upon decompression. We attribute this behavior to a three-dimensional polymerization of FA.
"The responsibility to inform, the power to act": a conference for New England college newspaper editors on the role of the campus press in addressing substance use issues.

College newspapers are a powerful but underutilized medium for educating students on health issues, including those related to drug and alcohol use on campus. Editors of these publications are in a position to wield significant influence among their readers. In addition to communicating factual information about the prevalence and impact of substance use among college students, editors can use the press to advocate changes in students' attitudes and behaviors and in college or community policies that affect substance use. A pilot conference was held to help New England college newspaper editors perceive the importance of their role in educating their peers about substance use and other health-related issues, and to offer concrete suggestions as to how they can incorporate these topics into an “activist” campus press.
MEASURED VIBRATIONAL FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS OF Ni, V, Ti, AND Ti67Zr33

Abstract The BNL cold neutron facility has been used to obtain inelastic scattering cross section data from three first-row transition elements, titanium, vanadium, and nickel, and a random binary alloy Ti 67 –Zr 33 . From the data, we have computed vibrational frequency distributions using an incoherent scattering approximation. These distributions exhibit peaks corresponding to major critical points. A comparison of the distributions from the different samples leads to the following conclusions: (1) The shape of the frequency distributions of the b.c.c. metal (V) and f.c.c. metal (Ni) are remarkably similar, the relative positions of the critical points being the same for both; (2) The frequency distribution of the h.c.p. metal (Ti), which has 2 atoms per primitive cell, shows structure corresponding to acoustical and “optical” modes of vibration; (3) The titanium-zirconium alloy has the h.c.p. structure, and its experimental frequency distribution is similar to that of titanium, except at low frequencies where alloying with the heavier mass zirconium atoms tends to smear out the peaks corresponding to acoustical modes. Measured frequency distributions were obtained for the titanium-zirconium alloy slightly above and below the critical temperature for the phase transition to b.c.c. structure. The frequency distributions in the two phases are different, the most striking feature being a shift of the high frequency critical points to lower values in the high temperature (b.c.c.) phase.
The atrial complex of the electrocardiogram.

Abstract Current use of the electrocardiogram in the recognition of atrial abnormalities is based on increased duration and/or amplitude of the P waves and on gross abnormalities of form, such as pronounced notching, or the rare occurrence of P-T p segment elevation with atrial infarction. These abnormalities are usually the result of severe atrial pathology, and it is likely that less marked abnormalities may be recognized and more precisely differentiated by electrocardiographic methods. Several types of studies are appropriate to achieve this aim. More detailed knowledge of the sequence and conduction velocity of electrical events in normal and diseased atria would be very desirable. Such information could be employed to derive the expected form of the normal atrial complex in ECG leads or other displays of atrial activity and to predict the effect of various lesions. Recording equipment with expanded time scale and higher gain and fidelity than current electrocardiographs is desirable for the study of electrical events in the atria. Recordings other than conventional electrocardiograms may provide certain items of useful information which cannot be extracted from ECG leads. Remote-lead systems which include a projection of electrical activity on an antero-posterior axis, and critical study of P waves in esophageal leads may contribute to improved recognition of atrial abnormalities. Clinical studies in which the range of normal variation is defined, not only for amplitude and duration but also for detailed form of the P waves, PsE loops, or other records of atrial activity, will be necessary. Finally, detailed description of the atrial complex in various specific abnormalities must be carried out and the presence of the lesions confirmed at autopsy. These are the same general steps by which useful information concerning the ventricular complex has been and is continuing to be obtained. It is likely that the same approach applied to the atrial complex will result in improved criteria for the electrocardiographic recognition of atrial abnormalities.
Efficiency bounds for some semiparametric selection models

Abstract In this paper, we calculate semiparametric efficiency bounds for the regression coefficients in an ‘outcome’ equation subject to censoring under weak conditions on the form of the selectivity bias. It is assumed that the regression function for the binary selection variable which governs the censoring mechanism is nonparametric, as is the form of the selection correction term in the outcome equation. Our results extend those of Chamberlain (1986), who considered models with an underlying linear structure for the selectivity effect. The results are useful for evaluation of some recently-proposed ‘two-step’ estimators for these models and for construction of improved estimators.
Proteomic Approaches in Drug Discovery

To find a new drug against a chosen target usually involves high-throughput screening, wherein large libraries of chemicals are tested to determine their ability to modify the target. Before a target can be chosen, however, it must first be discovered. The omics era has brought unprecedented abilities to screen cells at the gene, transcript, protein, and metabolite level in search of novel drug targets. Of the big four classes of biomolecules, proteins remain the principal target of drug discovery. The recent developments in proteomic technologies have brought with them ability to comparatively screen large numbers of proteins within clinically distinct samples. This capability has enabled non-biased studies in which the goal is to discover proteins that may act as suitable diagnostic biomarkers or therapeutic drug targets. Although proteomics technology has brought with it much hope, there are still many challenges associated with leveraging the experimental data into the discovery of novel drug targets.
A nationwide study of developmental and gender prevalence for psychopathology in childhood and adolescence

Psychopathology was assessed through standardized observations by teachers of 1,400 youths 5 through 17 years old comprising the national norm sample of the Adjustment Scales for Children and Adolescents. The sample was stratified according to the U.S. population by age, sex, ethnicity, parent education, family structure, national region, community size, and handicapping condition. The maladjusted portion of the sample for each of six specific syndromes was examined for departures from expected developmental and gender prevalence. Males outnumbered females for most types of maladjustment, including attention-deficit hyperactive, both provocative and impulsive forms of solitary aggressive, oppositional defiant, and avoidant disorders. Also revealed were general patterns of reduced behavior excess and increased avoidant behavior with advancing age.
Beta-decay studies of neutron-rich nuclei produced using projectile fragmentation at the NSCL

Abstract The beta-decay properties of neutron-rich nuclides in the vicinity of doubly magic 48 Ca, 78 Ni, and 132 Sn have been measured recently using the beta counting system at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) at Michigan State University. Some of the technical challenges faced by these experiments, including charge-state ambiguities, prompt gamma radiation flash, and presence of beta-decaying isomeric states, are discussed.
Factor analysis of the WISC‐R (Spanish version) at 11 age levels between 6½ and 16½ years

The Spanish version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R, Wechsler, 1974)-the Escala de Inteligencia para Ninos-Revision (EIWN-R, Wechsler, 1982)-has a potentially important role in the assessment of Hispanic children. However, little is known regarding its psychometric characteristics. This study used the normative data from the EIWN-R standardization sample (N = 532 Cuban Americans) to examine its factorial composition and general comparability with the WISC-R. Within each of the 11 age groups (ages 6 1/2 to 16 1/2), the correlation matrix of raw scores was subjected to a principal components analysis and varimax rotation. The results supported a 2-factor solution across age groups roughly corresponding with Wechsler's verbal and performance dimensions. The existence of a meaningful third factor, which has empirical support in the WISC-R literature, failed to emerge for the EIWN-R.
Application of non-market valuation to the Florida Keys marine reserve management

Abstract The quality of the coral reefs in the Florida Keys is essential to sustain nature-based tourism in the Keys. The recently established marine reserves (MR) are expected to improve the reef environment, particularly coral and fish abundance and diversity. In this paper, a combined model of travel cost and contingent behavior was estimated in order to measure the non-market recreational benefits of reef quality improvements. The results indicated that an average visitor would undertake 43–80% more number of trips to the Florida Keys and experience a 69% increase in the use values per trip, as a result of the MR-induced reef quality improvements. The above non-market value estimates were further applied to evaluating alternative management proposals for funding the MR program. It was found that the annual management costs of the MR program would constitute an insignificant portion—only around one to 2%—of the annual recreational benefits that the MR would generate. The results provide a strong economic justification for designing user-based funding mechanisms in order to make the MR program self-sustaining in the future.