cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Manual color monitoring to optimize hematopoietic progenitor cell collection on the Fenwal Amicus

A technique was developed to improve consistency of MNC transfers from the centrifuge to the collection bag in the Fenwal Amicus. The operator assures that RBCs completely fill the cassette by the end of the transfer by adjusting the RBC offset in succeeding cycles. We compared yields and crosscellular content before and after implementation of the monitoring technique. Retrospective data from 400 consecutive HPC collection procedures (200 for each technique) were compared. In 40 monitored collections, the RBC offset was adjusted to 6–9 mL to ensure that RBCs completely filled the cassette. Collections requiring these adjustments were not associated with a specific diagnosis. Median values were compared between the 40 collections requiring offset adjustment and those performed before implementation of monitoring. Baseline peripheral CD34+ cell (17 vs. 14 cells μL−1), lymphocytes (2 vs. 1.3 × 109/L), WBCs, HCT, and PLTs were significantly higher in the group requiring offset changes. The group requiring offset changes had significantly more CD34+ cells per collection (190.8 × 106 or 2.04 × 106/kg vs. 84.3 × 106 or 0.89 × 106/kg) and more lymphocytes per collection (16.9 × 109 vs. 11.6 × 109). Crosscellular content of the group requiring offset changes was significantly higher for WBCs (41.8 vs. 33.1 × 109), granulocytes (9.6 vs. 7.2 × 109), RBCs (23 vs. 17 mL), and PLTs (2.1 vs. 1.2 × 1011). Manual monitoring is a simple, inexpensive method to optimize each HPC collection to maximize CD34+ cell and lymphocyte yields. J. Clin. Apheresis, 2011. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
An advanced method for identifying protein-protein interaction by analyzing TAP/MS data

Tandem affinity purification coupled with mass-spectrometry (TAP/MS) analysis has been increasingly used to identify novel endogenous protein-protein interactions (PPIs) in a high-throughput manner. Computational analysis of TAP/MS data is critical, however, and remains challenging because of the noisy nature of the data. We developed an advanced method for identifying PPIs from TAP/MS data. Our approach APPIC, which stands for Advanced Protein-Protein Interactions Capturing, incorporates an improved statistical method and is more powerful than existing tools.
Review of rivastigmine and its clinical applications in Alzheimer's disease and related disorders.

Rivastigmine (Exelontrade mark, Novartis) is a novel intermediate-acting reversible and non-competitive carbamate acetylcholinesterase (AChE) that was recently introduced for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Preclinical studies have shown that rivastigmine has many similarities to other currently available cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) and some important differences. The drug has been evaluated for this use in two well designed, published, adequately powered, Phase III, 26 week clinical trials that included a total of more than 1500 rivastigmine and 700 placebo recipients. Most of these patients had concomitant disorders that were being treated with numerous other drugs. These studies indicate that rivastigmine (6 - 12 mg/day) usually produces cognitive, global and functional changes that indicate significantly less deterioration than was observed with placebo in patients with mild-to-moderate AD, with higher doses producing more benefits. Rivastigmine is beneficial in all three domains (namely cognition, daily activities and behaviour) of AD. Data on long-term efficacy support continued benefits of rivastigmine beyond 6 months. Rivastigmine is generally well-tolerated with no requirement for routine electrocardiogram (ECG) or blood monitoring. Rivastigmine causes adverse events that are generally those expected from a ChEI and mainly involve gastrointestinal system. They are usually mild-to-moderate, of short duration and responsive to dosage reduction. They occur mostly during the dosage titration phase and decrease during the maintenance phase. Clinically significant drug-drug interactions are unlikely. The consistent efficacy in treating all three domains (cognition, daily functioning and behaviour) and good tolerability, particularly with slow titration, makes rivastigmine a good first-line ChEI therapy for the treatment of AD. Therapeutic dose range is 6 - 12 mg/day. Rivastigmine should be started at 1.5 mg b.i.d. with meals and increased at 2 - 4 week intervals to achieve the highest tolerated dose.
Human mitochondrial DNA polymerase γ exhibits potential for bypass and mutagenesis at UV-induced cyclobutane thymine dimers

Cyclobutane thymine dimers (T-T) comprise the majority of DNA damage caused by short wavelength ultraviolet radiation. These lesions generally block replicative DNA polymerases and are repaired by nucleotide excision repair or bypassed by translesion polymerases in the nucleus. Mitochondria lack nucleotide excision repair, and therefore, it is important to understand how the sole mitochondrial DNA polymerase, pol γ, interacts with irreparable lesions such as T-T. We performed in vitro DNA polymerization assays to measure the kinetics of incorporation opposite the lesion and bypass of the lesion by pol γ with a dimer-containing template. Exonuclease-deficient pol γ bypassed thymine dimers with low relative efficiency; bypass was attenuated but still detectable when using exonuclease-proficient pol γ. When bypass did occur, pol γ misincorporated a guanine residue opposite the 3′-thymine of the dimer only 4-fold less efficiently than it incorporated an adenine. Surprisingly, the pol γ exonuclease-proficient enzyme excised the incorrectly incorporated guanine at similar rates irrespective of the nature of the thymines in the template. In the presence of all four dNTPs, pol γ extended the primer after incorporation of two adenines opposite the lesion with relatively higher efficiency compared with extension past either an adenine or a guanine incorporated opposite the 3′-thymine of the T-T. Our results suggest that T-T usually stalls mitochondrial DNA replication but also suggest a mechanism for the introduction of point mutations and deletions in the mitochondrial genomes of chronically UV-exposed cells.
SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SI/CS/O NANOCLUSTER THIN FILMS WITH NEGATIVE ELECTRON AFFINITY

Patterned and unpatterned thin films of Si/Cs/O nanoclusters have been synthesized by the technique of supersaturated thermal vaporization of Si and Cs in an oxygen background gas. These films, which were deposited onto conducting or semiconducting substrates, exhibit negative electron affinity (NEA) as evidenced by ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy. Photo, secondary, and field electron emission properties of these nanocluster films were investigated with photoelectron emission microscopy, field electron emission microscopy, secondary electron microscopy, and current-voltage measurements. Flat cathodes covered with thin films of Si/Cs/O nanoclusters exhibited high current outputs and lower turn-on fields ({lt}8.7 V/{mu}m) than most NEA diamond surfaces and gated Si or Mo tip arrays. The films{close_quote} NEA is unaffected by air exposure and is stable to high-temperature annealing (550h{degree}C). The electron emission property of the NEA nanocluster films can be best explained by a subband gap abundant surface-state nanocluster model. A field-emission display unit with a simple diode structure containing a flat cathode coated with a thin film of Si/Cs/O nanoclusters has also been built to demonstrate the potential application of this material in cold cathode electron emitting devices, particularly field-emission flat panel displays. {copyright} {ital 1999} {ital The American Physical Society}
The relation of knowledge organization to performance of a complex cognitive task

The relationship between organization of knowledge in memory and level of proficiency in the performance of a complex cognitive task was evaluated. Based on their performance in a scenario, 42 Electronic Warfare (EW) technicians were categorized into 3 performance levels. To measure the organization of knowledge, the EWs rated all possible pairs of 24 concepts on degree of relatedness, and a Pathfinder net was created for each subject and for 2 expert EWs. A correlation of 0.40 between performance scores and a concept similarity measure indicates a significant positive association between level of proficiency and knowledge organization. Both high and intermediate performance groups produced nets that were more similar to the expert net than were those of the low performance group. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Psychological Distress and the “Medical Student Syndrome” in Abnormal Psychology Students:

We investigated psychological distress and the "medical student syndrome" in a group of undergraduate Abnormal Psychology students. Students planning to major in psychology reported more worry about their psychological health than those planning to major in some other field. Also, students who reported a history of psychological treatment were more likely to intend to pursue an advanced degree in counseling or psychotherapy. Although tthe process of learning about various psychological disorders decreased students' anxiety about their own mental health, it increased their anxiety about the mental health of family members. After completing course work in abnormal psychology, students were more willing to seek help from campus mental health services for personal psychological distress.
Doing the Work: A Portrait of an African American Mother as an Education Activist

In recent years, much research has documented the benefits of parent involvement and offered strategies on how educators can encourage parents’ participation in their children’s education. While the literature has brought much needed attention to school-family relationships, little is known about parents who are activists for educational improvement beyond their own children’s schooling and who concern themselves with district policymaking and governance. This article offers a portrait of one African American mother who is an education activist in Boston, Massachusetts. Drawing on social movement and Black feminist theories, the portrait documents how and why she has devoted her life to educational reform and equity with an emphasis on racial equality. The article concludes with a discussion of two possible factors that contribute to the making of an education activist: the development of a political racial identity and educators’ support for education activism.
Calibration of lightwave detectors to 50 GHz

ABSTRACT Three systems have been developed to measure the frequency response of high-speed photo-receivers to 50 GHz. I willdescribe the systems and their calibration, and show measurements made on the three systems which are in good agreement.1 A fiber and diffraction grating pair compresses the pulses from a mode-locked 1060 nmYAG laser to 2.5 pSFWHM. Peak optical power is adjustable to more than one Watt. We measure a photoreceiver's impulseresponse and the autocorrelation function ofthe optical impulse. From these we calculate the photoreceiver'sfrequency response via Fourier transform. We can observe the broadening of a photoreceiver's impulseresponse with increasing peak optical power.2. Light from a pair of diode-pumped 1320nm Nd:YAG ring lasers is combined. The photoreceiver responds to theoptical power envelope which varies at the difference frequency. We adjust the difference frequency bychanging the lasers' temperature, and record the photoreceiver's frequency response.3 The frequency response of a LiNbO3 waveguide optical modulator is measured using a two-tone technique. It isthen used in both fundamental and second-harmonic generation modes as a calibrated source to measure aphotoreceiver's frequency response.
Dependence of the relative productivity gains of two personnel selection tests on the applicant pool size

Schmidt, Hunter, McKenzie, and Muldrow (1979) have recently demonstrated how the use of a new test, which differed from a previous test in terms of valid ity and/or per applicant cost, could result in impres sive gains in productivity (utility). This paper focuses on the consequences of changing the applicant pool size (keeping the number of selectees fixed) on the relative productivity gains of the two tests. It is shown that the utility gain may be larger for one test than for the other for part of the range of possible applicant pool sizes and smaller for the rest of that range. Meth ods are described for determining for any two tests (1) whether such a reversal can occur and (2) the range of applicant pool sizes leading to greater utility gains for each test over the other. An implication is that the choice of a test should be contingent on an analysis of the relative productivity gains of the competing proce dures for the available applicant pool sizes.
Comparative uptake, retention and cytotoxicity of daunorubicin by human myeloid cells

We studied the cellular uptake and retention of daunorubicin (D1) in two human leukemic cell lines (ML1 and K562) and myecloblasts from an untreated patient with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). The rate of uptake and the steady-state level of D1 were not temperature dependent but increased markedly with increases in the pH of the medium. Also, saturation kinetics were not demonstrable using concentrations of D1 up to 111 microM. Together, these observation suggest a transport mechanism for D1 compatible with passive diffusion. Accumulation of D1 was increased only in cells from the AML patient with addition of sodium azide, whereas drug efflux was not increased significantly in the presence of glucose in MLI or K562 cells. Although the rate of uptake and steady-state levels of D1 were the same in these cells, metabolism and cytotoxicity of D1 differed. Our results indicate that ML1 cells can be used as a pharmacologic model for studying the metabolism and resistance of D1 in vivo.
On standards as change agents - From a pragmatic business perspective

Unlike many of the papers on standardization to be presented in this conference which are based on discrete standardization events, this paper looks at standardization as a method, a process, and a business practice (like marketing or finance or engineering). The basic contention of the paper is that standards are tools used by participants whose business goal requires them to use standards to shift or change the market in a manner that marketing, technology, of finance cannot. This view of standards accords them the status of any other management discipline - but with the additional complication that most of the events occur in forums outside the apparent direct control of the players. Additionally, while the environment in which standards operate (as well as the way that they operate) has changed substantially over the past 100 years, the ultimate underlying intention of commercial support of standardization (market control and management) has not. While this paper exposes some of the trends in the standardization industry, it can propose only a limited set of responses to these challenges, since many of the issues transcend standards and are socially and economically based. Please note that the author is somewhat US-centric in his description of the recent history of “commercially focused” ICT standardization, for which he apologizes.
Ethanol-Induced Alterations in Electroencephalographic Activity in Adult Males

The present investigation examined the effects of placebo (P), low-dose (LD), and high-dose (HD) ethanol on dectroencephalographic (EEG) activity in 21 healthy, adult Males (X = 22.7 years). Only one condition (P, LD, or HD) was presented per day and the condition oder was randomized. For each subject, blood-alcohol levels measured via breathalyzer and EEG activity, using the entire 10/20 International System, were recorded both prior to and at intervals of 35, 70, 105, and 140 minutes after P, LD, or HD administration. The Fast Fourier Transform was used to calculate power spectral densities for each EEG recording. Measures of the relative areas unter the power spectral curve were made for each of the following frequency bands: slow alpha (7.5 to 10 Hz); fast alpha (10.5 to 13.0 Hz); slow beta (13.5 to 19.5 Hz); and fast beta (20 to 26 Hz) at electrodes F3, F4, C3, C4, P3, P4, O1, and O2. Repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance performed on normalized relative area values revealed that ethanol had significant effects on EEG activity at anterior sites: frontal (F3, F4) and central (C3, C4) that presented as increased activity in the slow alpha frequency band. These results suggest a differential responsivity of both cortical region and EEG frequency band to the effects of ethanol ingestion.
On a parabolic quadrilateral finite element for compressible flows

Abstract We present a 9-node finite element for compressible flow solutions. A high-order derivative upwind term and a shock capturing term are employed for stability and accuracy of the formulation. We give the solutions of various example problems to illustrate our experiences with the element.
Psychosocial Differences between Elderly Volunteers and Non-Volunteers:

Volunteer workers over age sixty-five were compared to retired elderly who did not engage in any type of work activity. Volunteers were found to have significantly higher degree of life satisfaction, stronger will to live, and fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety, and somatization. Since no differences were found on most demographic or background variables, participation in volunteer work appears to be the salient factor in explaining psychosocial differences between volunteers and non-volunteers.
Non-equilibriurn plasma-based sterilization: overview, state-of-the-art, and challenges

Summary form only given, as follows. Low temperature, high pressure, non-equilibrium plasmas are now routinely used in several material processing applications, and in some cases are competing with lowpressure plasmas in areas where these have historically been dominant. Etching and deposition are examples of such applications. In the past two decades, high-pressure plasmas have also played an enabling role in the development of excimer VUV & UV sources [I]p,la sma-based surface treating devices [2], and in environmental technology such as the cleaning of flue gases [3]. The use of these types of plasmas in emerging applications seems to go unabated. Amongst the novel applications, the use of atmospheric pressure ?cold? plasmas in the biomedical field is experiencing a heightened interest from both the plasma science research community and the biomedical research community. This is due to newly found applications in promising medical research such as electrosurgery [4], tissue engineering [5], surface modification of bio-compatible materials [6], and the sterilization of heat-sensitive medical instruments [7]. In this talk, first a brief overview of some biomedical and environmental plasma applications will be presented. Then, an in-depth coverage of plasma-based sterilizationldecontamination research will be given. Description of several devices will be presented along with their performance as biological sterilizers. The role of each plasma-generated agent in the destruction of the cells of microorganisms will be discussed. To conclude, present challenges and future prospects of the biomedical applications of plasmas will be outlined.
Textbook websites: user technology acceptance behaviour

Compared with course management software (e.g. Blackboard and WebCT), the content and technology offered by a textbook website (TBW) is relatively costless to universities and professors, and is a potentially valuable tool that can be leveraged to help students learn course material. The present study uses the extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM2) and structural equation modelling to examine characteristics associated with the voluntary usage behaviour (UB) of TBW by students in entry-level accounting courses. Analysing survey data from 231 participants, our results indicate that perceptions of usefulness, the ability to demonstrate or explain the benefits of usage and peer usage of the TBW are all positively associated with UB. However, our findings also suggest that notwithstanding the potential benefits accruing to students, faculty encouragement is a critical enabling factor for use of the TBW. Because of persistent concerns on the part of students, educators, administrators, textbook publishers, and legislators regarding the cost and quality of higher education, we discuss the implications of our results for these stakeholders.
Transient thyrotoxicosis and persistent hypothyroidism due to acute autoimmune thyroiditis after interleukin-2 and interferon-α therapy for metastatic carcinoma: A case report

Abstract A 59-year-old man with metastatic renal cell carcinoma developed symptomatic thyroid dysfunction following interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interferon-α (IFN-α) therapy. Thyroid evaluation prior to this therapy revealed evidence of subclinical Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Symptomatic thyrotoxicosis, including atrial fibrillation, developed after the initial two courses of intermittent intravenous bolus therapy with human recombinant IL-2 and IFN-α. At 4 weeks after initiation of immunotherapy, the thyroid antimicrosomal antibody (AMA) titer rose from 1:6,400 to 1:25,600; thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulin was negative. A technetium 99m-pertechnetate thyroid scan obtained while the patient was thyrotoxic showed diminished uptake in a symmetrically enlarged gland. The patient was temporarily treated with propranolol, digoxin, and quinidine. The atrial fibrillation quickly resolved, and thyrotoxicosis abated over the following 5 weeks, while the AMA titer rose further to 1:102,400. By 11 weeks after initiation of immunotherapy, hypothyroidism developed and persisted through two subsequent courses of cytokine therapy at Weeks 16 and 18. The tumor metastases partially responded to the immunotherapy. The patient has remained hypothyroid up to 27 weeks of follow-up. This case history suggests that IL-2 and IFN-α therapy may precipitate a fulminant autoimmune thyroiditis syndrome in a vulnerable patient with preexisting autoimmune thyroid disease.
Statistical analysis of coastal bridge vulnerability based on empirical evidence from Hurricane Katrina

This paper analyses bridge damage along the US Gulf Coast from the 2005 Hurricane Katrina. Most bridges were low-lying water crossings having multiple-span concrete superstructures with limited connectivity to the substructure. The paper emphasises statistical analysis of hazard-damage relationship for the Katrina exposed region. Multivariate logistic regression is conducted to identify which hazard intensities and bridge characteristics were strong predictors of damage level, considering such parameters as surge elevation, water speed, wind speed, relative surge, number of spans, and age of bridge. The results indicate that storm surge, as well as number of spans, correlates to increasing level of damage, and subsequent analyses evaluate this hazard intensity at the damaged and undamaged bridge locations. Empirical damage probability and damage state exceedance matrices are developed. Empirical fragility curves, estimating likelihood of being in or exceeding a damage state, are presented as a first step ...
Nonreward incentive and runway performance

Latencies and running times in a runway were measured for inaccessible food incentives of 0, 1, 5, and 25 peanuts. It was predicted that performance would increase linearly as amount of incentive increased. Results were opposite to the prediction, with the 25-peanut group showing the longest latency and running times (p <.05). A frustration interpretation was proposed.
SubCOID: an attempt to explore cluster-outlier iterative detection approach to multi-dimensional data analysis in subspace

Many data mining algorithms focus on clustering methods. There are also a lot of approaches designed for outlier detection. We observe that, in many situations, clusters and outliers are concepts whose meanings are inseparable to each other, especially for those data sets with noise. Clusters and outliers should be treated as the concepts of the same importance in data analysis. In our previous work [22] we proposed a cluster-outlier iterative detection algorithm in full data space. However, in high dimensional spaces, for a given cluster or outlier, not all dimensions may be relevant to it. In this paper we extend our work in subspace area, tending to detect the clusters and outliers in another perspective for noisy data. Each cluster is associated with its own subset of dimensions, so is each outlier. The partition, subsets of dimensions and qualities of clusters are detected and adjusted according to the intra-relationship within clusters and the inter-relationship between clusters and outliers, and vice versa. This process is performed iteratively until a certain termination condition is reached. This data processing algorithm can be applied in many fields such as pattern recognition, data clustering and signal processing.
Extensive shape shifting underlies functional versatility of arrestins

Among four vertebrate arrestins, only two are ubiquitously expressed. Arrestins specifically bind active phosphorylated G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), thereby precluding further G protein activation. Recent discoveries suggest that the formation of the arrestin–receptor complex initiates the second round of signaling with comparable biological importance. Despite having virtually no recognizable sequence motifs known to mediate protein–protein interactions, arrestins bind a surprising variety of signaling proteins with mind-boggling range of functional consequences. High conformational flexibility allows arrestins to show many distinct ‘faces’ to the world, which allows these relatively small ∼45 kDa proteins to bind various partners under different physiological conditions, organizing multi-protein signaling complexes and localizing them to distinct subcellular compartments.
Gastric necrosis associated with acute gastric dilatation and small bowel obstruction.

Abstract Background While acute gastric dilation is a postoperative complication familiar to most surgeons, massive dilatation with necrosis and rupture is a very rare event. We performed a computer search in the MEDLINE database for the years 1966–2001 for articles published in any language using the key words gastric dilation, gastric necrosis, intestinal obstruction, and gynecologic surgery. Our search yielded no reports of massive gastric dilation and ischemic necrosis from a small bowel obstruction following gynecologic surgery. Case A 76-year-old woman developed massive gastric dilatation with ischemic necrosis associated with small bowel obstruction following gynecologic surgery for benign disease. Conclusion Gynecologists should be aware of the entity. Early diagnosis and treatment are essential to minimize morbidity and mortality.
Benefits and risks of oral anticoagulation for stroke prevention in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation.

Abstract Nonvalvular atrial fibrillation is the most common clinically significant cardiac arrhythmia in the United States. It increases both the risk for and the severity of strokes and is associated with substantial morbidity, mortality, decreased quality of life, and related health care costs. Guidelines recommend anticoagulation therapy for the majority of patients with atrial fibrillation. Clinical trials have established that vitamin K antagonists are effective for stroke prevention for patients with atrial fibrillation for whom anticoagulation is recommended. However, vitamin K antagonists remain underutilized for a variety of reasons, including drug, physician, and patient factors. While vitamin K antagonists considerably reduce the risk of stroke, the absolute risk reduction varies according to individual patient risk factors. Accurately assessing each patient's true risk of stroke and bleeding is essential when determining which (if any) antithrombotic strategy should be used. Several stroke risk stratification schemes exist; of these, CHADS2 is widely employed and simple. New, more sophisticated schemes may generate more precise risk estimates and better identify those patients for whom anticoagulant therapy offers a net clinical benefit. More studies are needed to determine the utility of bleeding risk stratification systems, as well as the role of surgical and interventional alternatives to anticoagulation treatment. Several novel oral anticoagulants are in (or have completed) phase 3 clinical trials. Dabigatran etexilate, approved in the United States in October 2010 for reducing the risk of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, now offers the first oral alternative to warfarin for patients with atrial fibrillation.
Gender and Water in Mongolia

Global institutions, academics, and practitioners have long acknowledged the need to consider gender in creating sustainable water management plans. However, for most countries a dearth of context-specific information on gender and water relations hinders gender-sensitive plan development. Mongolia is particularly poorly represented in the gender and water literature. This article presents fieldwork revealing distinctive gendered practices around water use, decision making, and management including an unusually high degree of men's participation in water collection. This research adds new context-specific data to the understanding of actual gender and water relations and underscores the need for further investigation into the Mongolian context.
Quality and Quantity in Higher Education

Abstract The first part of this article discusses the effort made by each state to provide the opportunity of a college education for its residents. Based on the per cent of the college age population that study at an institution of higher learning within their state, Utah, Arizona, North Dakota, Kansas, and Montana rank as the national leaders. The second section develops a number of criteria which are used to rank graduate schools in the United States. A separate ranking is presented for the science and the social science-humanities fields.
Prostaglandins and cancer: A review of tumor initiation through tumor metastasis

Abstract Prostaglandin is a term applied to a series of compounds derived enzymatically and nonenzymatically from 20 carbon fatty acids such as arachidonic acid (20:4). Research over the past 20 years has identified the prostaglandins as products of almost every cell although the amount and class of prostaglandin produced varies considerably with cell type. Within the last ten years additional, related products of 20:4 metabolism (operationally termed eicosanoids) have been discovered, eg. prostacyclin, thromboxanes, malondialdehyde, leukotrienes, hydroperoxy and hydroxy fatty acids. The role of these 20:4 metabolites in physiological and pathological states is currently under intensive investigation and the biological action of these compounds have been implicated in many key regulatory processes. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to predict that these potent bioregulatory compounds may have a central role in the initiation and regulation (positive and negative) of the spectrum of diseases which we functionally term “cancer”.
Anti-Endothelial Cell Antibodies in Dogs with Immune-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia and Other Diseases Associated with High Risk of Thromboembolism

Background: Dogs with immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA) and certain inflammatory diseases are at high risk of developing thromboembolic disease. The presence of anti-endothelial cell autoantibodies (AECA) has been associated with an increased risk of thromboembolism in humans. Hypothesis: AECA will be detected more often in dogs at risk of thromboembolism than in healthy control animals or dogs with diseases not associated with a higher risk of thromboembolism. Animals: Ninety-one sick dogs and 22 healthy control dogs. Methods: Retrospective case-controlled study. Serum was screened for the presence of AECA. Dogs were identified for the study based on the risk of thromboembolism as determined by clinical impression and the underlying disease process. Flow cytometry and normal canine endothelial cells were used to screen serum samples from sick and healthy control dogs for the presence of AECA. In addition, serum from dogs with confirmed thromboemboli was also screened for the presence of AECA by immunohistochemistry. Results: AECA were detected in 2/91 sick dogs, both with infectious diseases, but were not found in healthy dogs. Anti-endothelial antibodies were not detected in 21 dogs with IMHA and 20 dogs with systemic inflammatory response syndrome, sepsis, or both. Conclusions: We conclude that AECA are rarely detectable in dogs considered at high risk of thromboembolism. These findings suggest that AECA may not play an important role in the pathogenesis of thromboembolism in dogs with IMHA and other inflammatory diseases.
Evaluating the role of biotic interactions in structuring communities using a gradient analysis of multiple interacting guilds

The extent to which ecological communities are coherent entities as opposed to mere intersections of individual species distributions has long been one of the fundamental questions of ecology. Gradient analysis is one commonly used tool for addressing this question; however, all such studies have used organisms from a single taxon or guild. This risks missing important connections due to non-competitive interactions, which should be more likely to occur between members of different guilds. Such organisms are unlikely to compete for resources and can have complementary niches that promote non-competitive interactions. We examined the abundances of taxa in four interacting guilds along an elevation gradient in a forest in the southern Appalachian mountains. A causal discovery algorithm was used to investigate the relative frequencies of interguild and intraguild interactions. These were approximately equally common once taxonomic richness was taken into account. We used elements of metacommunity structure analysis to study the extent to which species distributions are non-independent and tested the hypothesis that combinations of two or more interacting guilds exhibit more coherence than single guilds. In this analysis, all guilds other than collembola were classified as Clementsian or quasi-Clementsian. (Collembola were classified as random.) When sets of multiple guilds were examined, Clementsian and quasi-Clementsian structures predominated. We also compared boundary conjunction, measured as Morisita’s index (MI) for these sets of guilds to the weighted average of the guilds’ MI values. Only sets of directly interacting guilds had higher-than-baseline boundary conjunction values, and such boundary conjunction values are found in all but one set of directly interacting guilds. Our results highlight the importance of inter-guild interactions in structuring patterns of cooccurrence. Trophic interactions and plant–fungus symbioses (mutualistic and/or pathogen–host) appear particularly important.
Quantitative evaluation of discrete failure events in composites using infrared imaging and acoustic emission

We describe the successful synchronization of thermal imaging with acoustic emission to observe and characterize for the first time the thermal responses of discrete fiber breaks and matrix cracks in composite panels under load in real time. These events can be accurately described by ideal buried point and line thermal sources.
Parental reflective functioning: analysis and promotion of the concept for paediatric nursing.

Aims and objectives To identify the definitional elements of parental reflective functioning and develop a framework for nurses to apply this concept in their clinical work with families. Background In recent years, researchers have concluded that parental reflective functioning is a key mechanism in the development of child attachment security leading to lifelong mental and physical health benefits. Despite its clinical relevance, little has been published in the nursing literature on this concept. Design Concept analysis. Methods The Walker and Avant (2011, Strategies for theory construction in nursing. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ) method of concept analysis and the Whittemore and Knafl (Journal of Advanced Nursing, 52, 2005, 546) method of integrative review were used. A search of the literature published from 1989–2013 was conducted using edited texts and online databases – Scopus, CINAHL, PubMed and PsychInfo. Among the 85 sources, 31 empirical studies, 17 book chapters, 32 review papers and five case studies were identified concerning parental reflective functioning. Results The concept of reflective functioning, defined as the capacity to envision the mental states of self and other, was first described in 1989 by Fonagy. Slade (Attachment and Human Development, 7, 2005, 269) expanded the concept specifically for parents (i.e. parental reflective functioning). Results of this concept analysis describe seven defining attributes and five antecedent conditions. Consequences of parental reflective functioning are related to a child's attachment early in life and behaviour later in life. A model case is provided to contextualise the concept. To date, there are three measures for parental reflective functioning. Conclusions While parental reflective functioning has been predominately featured in psychology and parenting interventions, the potential consequences of secure attachment and longer-term children's behavioural outcomes suggest that the concept has global implications for paediatric nurses and primary healthcare clinicians. Relevance to clinical practice Parental reflective functioning offers exciting and promising opportunities for paediatric health and new approaches for those who provide paediatric health care.
Minimally Invasive Radical Prostatectomy

The development of advanced laparoscopic techniques and robot-assisted technology has resulted in several new surgical approaches for treating organ-confined prostate cancer. Outcomes with these new or minimally invasive techniques should be assessed carefully to ensure that they are similar to or surpass patients' oncologic and functional outcomes after open radical prostatectomy. This article reviews the current published experience with minimally invasive approaches to increase awareness about viability. Several of the larger series of patients who have undergone laparoscopic (transperitoneal and extraperitoneal) or robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomies are discussed and evaluated critically. Comparisons to published data on open radical prostatectomy are included for completeness. The different minimally invasive techniques are described and contrasted in regard to prostate-specific antigen progression-free survival, surgical margin status, blood loss, transfusion rates, postoperative pain, length of hospitalization, duration of urinary catheterization, potency, continence, and complications. The relative costs of each method are provided. The coexistence of multiple surgical approaches should and can challenge surgeons who perform open and minimally invasive procedures to strive for a new standard of care above and beyond what is accepted today to minimize patient morbidity while maximizing functional and oncologic outcomes.
Description of the Design and Implementation of a School-Based Obesity Prevention Program Addressing Needs of Middle School Students

ABSTRACT This article describes the design and implementation of a school-based obesity prevention program, the successes associated with its implementation, and challenges with development and application of the program's curriculum base. The program is described, including purpose and goals, content and structure of the curriculum, type and training of personnel, and budgetary concerns. Formative program evaluation results were reviewed, including whether the target population was reached, whether the implementation followed the content and structure originally designed, revisions made to the implementation process and curriculum, feedback and reactions from instructors, school personnel, and students, and an overview of strengths and limitations of the program. Recommendations for others considering implementation of school-based prevention programs in real-time settings are offered. Future research expanding and refining the program and its curriculum is planned, using a community-based participatory ...
Large-scale, long-term nonadiabatic electron molecular dynamics for describing material properties and phenomena in extreme environments

We describe the first principle-based electron force field (eFF) methodology for modeling the simultaneous dynamics of electrons and nuclei (eMD) evolving nonadiabatically under transient extreme conditions. We introduce the parallel implementation of eFF (pEFF) that makes it practical to perform simulations of the nonadiabatic dynamics of materials in extreme environments involving millions of nuclei and electrons, over multi-picoseconds time scales, and demonstrate its application to: (i) accurately determine density and predict percent ionization of hydrogen at high pressure (~61 GPa) and temperatures up to 15,300K and (ii) determine, the single shock Hugoniot for lithium metal directly from the shock wave kinematics, i.e., mass velocities (U_p) and shock wave velocities (U_s), and shock density data. For (i), the density and ionization fractions of hydrogen atoms were calculated using the isobaric–isothermal ensemble at an isotropic pressure of 61.4 GPa and for temperatures between 300K and 15,300 K. The results at 15,300K describe a molecular fluid with density ρ = 0.36 g/cm^3, in close agreement with existing experiments and theory, and ~0.5% ionization. This result provides no indication of the existence of a critical plasma phase-transition point at this particular temperature and pressure, as previously predicted by others. For (ii), the relationship between U_p and U_s was characterized to be linear and plastic in the range 1–20 km/s, and the single shock Hugoniot was determined in close agreement with published results for experimentally reported U_ps. In addition to this, we provide a description of the materials’ behavior for large U_ps in terms of the appearance of a weak metallic plasma phase by U_p = 10 km/s, with ≃ 8% ionization, gradually transitioning to a denser plasma with an estimated ≃ 35% ionization by U_p = 15 km/s. Last but not least, we confirm the computational efficiency and scalability of pEFF by comparing its single processor performance against the fastest existing serial code, which results in a linear speedup ≃10 × faster for every 16,000 particles in favor of pEFF, and by evaluating its parallel performance in terms of its strong and weak scaling capabilities. Our results, on Los Alamos’s Lobo supercomputer (a 38 TFLOPSs Linux HPC with Quad-core AMD Opteron nodes interconnected with an Infiniband), show strong scaling with near ideal speedups for loads >62 particles per processor. Weak scaling is shown to be close to linear under the same per-processor load range. As an absolute reference, an NVT run with 2 million particle lithium bulk system (0.5M nuclei and 1.5M electrons) on Lobo takes ~0.44 s/timestep on 1024 processors (~1 day/ps using an integration timestep of 0.005 fs).
The numerical range of functions and best approximation

In this note, we state general conditions which imply that the numerical range of a function mapping a set S into a normed linear space Y is the closed convex hull of the spatial numerical range of the function. This conclusion is of interest since, for example, it is equivalent to an extension to non-compact spaces of Kolmogoroff's characterization of functions of best approximation.
Diagnosis of acute cholecystitis with color Doppler sonography: significance of arterial flow in thickened gallbladder wall.

Thickening of the gallbladder wall is a common though nonspecific sonographic finding. The purpose of this study was to determine if color Doppler sonography shows arterial flow in thickened gallbladder walls more frequently in patients with cholecystitis than in patients with other causes of thickening of the wall.Seventy-six patients with thickened gallbladder walls (> or = 3 mm) were prospectively examined with color Doppler sonography. When arteries were detected, Doppler waveforms were used to determine resistive indexes. The final diagnosis was based on pathologic reports, results of percutaneous cholecystostomy, and clinical records.Of the 23 patients (30%) with cholecystitis (11 acute, 12 chronic), nine (39%) had arterial flow and 14 (61%) had no arterial flow. Of the 53 patients (70%) without cholecystitis, 20 (38%) had arterial flow and 33 (62%) had no arterial flow (p = 1.00). The mean resistive indexes (+/- 1 SD) for patients with and without cholecystitis were 60% +/- 13% and 65% +/- 9%, resp...
Micropipette aspiration of substrate-attached cells to estimate cell stiffness.

Growing number of studies show that biomechanical properties of individual cells play major roles in multiple cellular functions, including cell proliferation, differentiation, migration and cell-cell interactions. The two key parameters of cellular biomechanics are cellular deformability or stiffness and the ability of the cells to contract and generate force. Here we describe a quick and simple method to estimate cell stiffness by measuring the degree of membrane deformation in response to negative pressure applied by a glass micropipette to the cell surface, a technique that is called Micropipette Aspiration or Microaspiration. Microaspiration is performed by pulling a glass capillary to create a micropipette with a very small tip (2-50 μm diameter depending on the size of a cell or a tissue sample), which is then connected to a pneumatic pressure transducer and brought to a close vicinity of a cell under a microscope. When the tip of the pipette touches a cell, a step of negative pressure is applied to the pipette by the pneumatic pressure transducer generating well-defined pressure on the cell membrane. In response to pressure, the membrane is aspirated into the pipette and progressive membrane deformation or "membrane projection" into the pipette is measured as a function of time. The basic principle of this experimental approach is that the degree of membrane deformation in response to a defined mechanical force is a function of membrane stiffness. The stiffer the membrane is, the slower the rate of membrane deformation and the shorter the steady-state aspiration length.The technique can be performed on isolated cells, both in suspension and substrate-attached, large organelles, and liposomes. Analysis is performed by comparing maximal membrane deformations achieved under a given pressure for different cell populations or experimental conditions. A "stiffness coefficient" is estimated by plotting the aspirated length of membrane deformation as a function of the applied pressure. Furthermore, the data can be further analyzed to estimate the Young's modulus of the cells (E), the most common parameter to characterize stiffness of materials. It is important to note that plasma membranes of eukaryotic cells can be viewed as a bi-component system where membrane lipid bilayer is underlied by the sub-membrane cytoskeleton and that it is the cytoskeleton that constitutes the mechanical scaffold of the membrane and dominates the deformability of the cellular envelope. This approach, therefore, allows probing the biomechanical properties of the sub-membrane cytoskeleton.