cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Celiac disease-associated autoimmune cholangitis

There is an association between celiac disease (CD) and primary biliary cirrhosis, but there is little information regarding the association between CD and autoimmune cholangitis (antimitochondrial antibody-negative primary biliary cirrhosis). We describe a case of a 60-yr-old woman with chronic serum liver biochemistry elevations, recent onset of pruritus, and unexplained iron deficiency anemia. Liver biopsy was suggestive of stage 1 primary biliary cirrhosis, but serum antimitochondrial antibody testing was negative. Subsequent evaluation revealed CD based on markedly elevated antiendomysial antibody titers and characteristic histological features on mucosal biopsies. Initiation of a gluten-free diet led to resolution of iron deficiency anemia, pruritus, and elevated serum liver biochemistries. This suggests that CD may play a direct role in the development of autoimmune cholangitis. Additionally, normalization of hepatic biochemistries may be achieved without the use of immunosuppressive agents in some patients. CD should be considered in all patients diagnosed with autoimmune cholangitis as a gluten-free diet may avoid the need for immunosuppressive therapy in affected patients.
Association between allelic variation at the Phytoene synthase 1 gene and yellow pigment content in the wheat grain

A better understanding of the genetic factors controlling grain yellow pigment content (GYPC) is important for both pasta (high GYPC) and bread wheat (low GYPC) quality improvement. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) for GYPC have been mapped repeatedly on the distal regions of chromosome arms 7AL and 7BL in wheat, and the Phytoene synthase 1 (PSY-1) gene located in this region has been proposed as a candidate gene. We show here that PSY-E1, the tall wheatgrass orthologue, is completely linked to differences in GYPC, and that selection for white endosperm mutants in recombinant lines carrying this gene resulted in the identification of a mutation in a conserved amino acid of PSY-E1. These results, together with the association between GYPC and allelic differences in PSY-1 in hexaploid wheat, suggest that this gene plays an important role in the determination of GYPC. However, a second white endosperm mutant previously mapped to chromosome arm 7EL showed no mutations in PSY-E1 suggesting the existence of additional gene(s) affecting GYPC in this chromosome region. This hypothesis was further supported by the mapping of QTL for GYPC on 7AL proximal to PSY-1 in a cross between pasta wheat varieties UC1113 and Kofa. Interestingly, the Kofa PSY-B1 allele showed unusually high levels of polymorphisms as a result of a conversion event involving the PSY-A1 allele. In summary, our results support the hypothesis that allelic differences in PSY-1 and at least one additional gene in the distal region of the long arm of homoeologous group 7L are associated with differences in GYPC.
Bleichner's hernia - lumbar hernia.

BACKGROUND We present a case of a lumbar hernia and a review of the literature of this rare hernia type. CASE REPORT The case and the review will discuss the unusual presentations reported, common etiologies, the importance of early operative repair based on the high rate of incarceration and the recent recommendations regarding repair techniques. CONCLUSIONS Lumbar hernias are rare cases, but should be pursued in diagnosis and treated aggressively because of the high rate of incarceration. Repair can be accomplished with a minimally invasive technique.
Regio- and stereocontrolled functionalization of the seven-membered ring using organomanganese chemistry

Abstract Reaction of enolate nucleophiles with cycloheptatriene-Mn(CO)3, hexafluorophosphate gives substituted cycloheptadienyl-Mn(CO)3, complexes, which can be decomplexed with concomitant oxygenation of the cycloheptane ring either by direct cerium(IV) oxidation or by a novel cycloetherification procedure.
Generalized strain probing of constitutive models

Advanced material constitutive models are used to describe complex soil behaviour. These models are often used in the solution of boundary value problems under general loading conditions. Users and developers of constitutive models need to methodically investigate the represented soil response under a wide range of loading conditions. This paper presents a systematic procedure for probing constitutive models. A general incremental strain probe, 6D hyperspherical strain probe (HSP), is introduced to examine rate-independent model response under all possible strain loading conditions. Two special cases of HSP, the true triaxial strain probe (TTSP) and the plane-strain strain probe (PSSP), are used to generate 3-D objects that represent model stress response to probing. The TTSP, PSSP and general HSP procedures are demonstrated using elasto-plastic models. The objects resulting from the probing procedure readily highlight important model characteristics including anisotropy, yielding, hardening, softening and failure. The PSSP procedure is applied to a Neural Network (NN) based constitutive model. It shows that this probing is especially useful in understanding NN constitutive models, which do not contain explicit functions for yield surface, hardening, or anisotropy. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Aggression and resource sharing among foundresses in the social wasp Polistes dominulus: testing transactional theories of conflict

Tug-of-war models of within-group conflict predict that the frequency of conflict will be positively related to the degree of reproductive sharing within the group; in contrast, a negative relationship supports transactional models, in which reproductive payments among group members limit the degree of within-group selfishness. We tested predictions of the tug-of-war and transactional models by examining cofoundress interactions during the founding (preworker) phase of colony development in 30 naturally nesting colonies of the paper wasp Polistes dominulus. We found that the mean rate of foundress aggression and the mean probability of food sharing were significantly negatively associated, which supports the prediction of the transactional, not the tug-of-war model. Further, cofoundress aggression significantly increased over the founding phase (independently of temperature), while the fraction of aggression initiated by the dominant (alpha) foundress significantly decreased over this period. We show that both of these results are predicted by the transactional model of within-group conflict. Interestingly, the alpha’s rate of aggression was significantly positively temperature dependent, while the beta’s was not. This indicates that the alpha’s aggression level may often be near her physiological maximum, while the beta’s aggression is limi- ted by other factors, contradicting the prediction of the tug-of-war model. Moreover, the alpha’s aggression was significantly positively temperature dependent only in the second half of the founding period, as predicted by the transactional model since this is when there is least reproductive sharing. Finally, our results indicate that the alpha’s level of aggression depends on the resources controlled by the beta.
Asymptotic steady state behavior of fractionally damped systems

Abstract Employing asymptotic expansions, closed form steady state solutions are developed for the forced vibratory response of N-dimensional systems modelled via Riemann-Liouville type fractional integro-differential operators. The generality of the results are such that: (i) The response to spectrally rich harmonic exciting fields can be handled and (ii) dissipative/hysteretic effects can be modelled via the more general class of fractional operators. To illustrate the functional characteristics of fractional formulations of hysteretic behavior, the results of several numerical experiments are included in the presentation. These point to the more comprehensive modelling capabilities associated with such representations.
A constitutive model for the viscoplastic behavior of rubbery polymers at finite strains

A constitutive model is derived for the viscoplastic behavior of rubbery polymers at finite strains. A polymer is treated as an equivalent network of chains bridged by permanent junctions. The elastic response of the network is attributed to the elongation of strands, whereas its plastic behavior is associated with the sliding of nodes with respect to their initial positions. Unlike conventional stress–strain relations in finite viscoplasticity, the rate-of-strain tensor for the sliding of junctions is expressed in terms of the rate-of-strain tensor for macro-deformation. Constitutive equations are developed by using the laws of thermodynamics. These relations are simplified for simple shear of an incompressible medium with finite strains. The governing equations are determined by 3 material constants. To verify the model, a series of shear tests is performed on polycarbonate melts reinforced with short glass fibers. Adjustable parameters in the stress–strain relations are found by fitting the experimental data. Fair agreement is demonstrated between the observations and the results of numerical simulation. It is shown that the material constants change with the filler content in a physically plausible way.
Regional myocardial blood flow and ventricular arrhythmias following one-stage and two-stage coronary artery occlusion in anesthetized dogs.

Abstract Experiments were performed in 29 anesthetized dogs to compare effects of one-stage and two-stage coronary artery occlusion on ventricular arrhythmias and regional myocardial blood flow (MBF). Two periods of arrhythmias were observed and both were associated with evidence suggesting reentry; i.e., activity in ischemic zone electrograms which bridged the diastolic intervals preceding ventricular ectopic beats. Early ventricular arrhythmias followed progressive deterioration of conduction in the ischemic zone, whereas later arrhythmias occurred unexpectedly with the sudden appearance of bridging activity. One-stage occlusion produced a higher incidence of ventricular arrhythmias and ventricular fibrillation than two-stage occlusion. However, there was no difference in central ischemic zone blood flow, indicating that the protective effect of two-stage occlusion was not due to greater blood flow in this region. These results suggest that factors other than the degree of MBF reduction are important determinants of the incidence and severity of ventricular arrhythmias following coronary artery occlusion.
Free-operant and T-maze avoidance performance by septal and hippocampal-damaged rats

Abstract Rats with septal, hippocampal, or cortical damage, and non-operated controls were tested in a free-operant leverpress avoidance task. Separate groups were tested with both signalled and non-signalled shock. Either type of limbic system damage facilitated performance in both avoidance paradigms. The facilitation seemed to result from a lesion-produced reduction in freezing tendencies which permitted earlier adoption of an operant mode of responding and promoted active responses to the CS. The rats were then tested in a T-maze in which light vs. dark was the cue for avoidance of or escape from shock. Most hippocampal and septal-damaged rats did not attain criterion performance in the 60 trials given, whereas controls did learn the discrimination. Many non-learners in the lesioned groups developed persistent side preferences instead of responding to the light cue. The deficit may have been caused by an inability to shift attention from the irrelevant place cue to the light condition.
SHB1 plays dual roles in photoperiodic and autonomous flowering

Flowering was initiated by the integration of environmental signals such as day-length with the internal development status in Arabidopsis, a facultative long-day plant. The photoperiodic flowering involves two key components, CONSTANS and FT, whereas the autonomous flowering is operated through a central quantitative floral repressor, FLC, and several other genes that act upstream of FLC. SOC1 acts downstream to integrate the flowering signals from the two pathways. Here, we report that SHB1 plays dual roles in both photoperiodic and autonomous flowering. shb1-D, a gain-of-function mutant, flowered early and shb1, a loss-of-function allele, flowered late under both long days and short days. The shb1-D mutation activated the expression of CO, FT, and SOC1 under both long and short days, and however, the co-2 mutation attenuated the shb1-D activated expression of FT and SOC1 only under long days but not short days. The shb1-D or shb1 mutations also reduced and increased, respectively, the expression of FLC under both long and short days. Transgenic remedy of FLC to wide-type level in shb1-D background also reverted shb1-D flowering and FT or SOC1 expression to wild type mostly under short days. Furthermore, the shb1-D suppression on FLC expression is likely operated through LD as ld-3 blocked this suppression and SHB1 appears to act upstream of LD. In summary, SHB1 represents signaling steps that regulate CO expression in leaves and LD or FLC expression in either leaves or shoot apical meristem, contributing to a threshold expression of SOC1 in shoot apical meristem for floral initiation.
EXAMINING RATING SOURCE VARIATION IN WORK BEHAVIOR TO KSA LINKAGES

We examined Work Behavior to knowledge, skill, or ability linkage ratings for 9 jobs to determine the degree to which differences in the ratings were due to rater type. We collected ratings from incumbents and 2 types of job analysts: project job analysts (analysts knowledgeable of the job) and nonproject job analysts (analysts with very little or no knowledge of the job). In our analyses of the data, we calculated means, standard deviations, effect sizes, and correlations for each rater type, as well as compared the reliability of the ratings. We also estimated variance components for each job by conducting generalizability analyses (Brennan, 1983; Shavelson, Webb, & Rowley, 1989). Our findings indicate that the level of linkage ratings is similar across rater types, that it is important to obtain ratings from multiple raters regardless of rater type, and that ratings from job analysts may be more reliable than those of incumbents.
Menopausal hot flashes and the default mode network

Objective To test whether more physiologically assessed hot flashes were associated with more connectivity in the default mode network (DMN), the network of brain regions active during rest. We particularly focus on DMN networks supporting the hippocampus as this region is rich in estrogen (E) receptors (ER) and has previously been linked to hot flashes. Design Women underwent 24 hours of physiologic and diary hot flash monitoring, functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), 72 hours of sleep actigraphy monitoring, a blood draw, questionnaires, and physical measures. Setting University medical center. Patient(s) Twenty midlife women aged 40–60 years who had their uterus and both ovaries and were not taking hormone therapy (HT). Intervention(s) None. Main Outcome Measure(s) The DMN functional connectivity. Result(s) Controlling for age, race, and education, more physiologically-monitored hot flashes were associated with greater DMN connectivity (beta, B [SE] = 0.004 [0.002]), particularly hippocampal DMN connectivity (B [SE] = 0.005 [0.002]). Findings were most pronounced for sleep physiologic hot flashes (with hippocampal DMN, B [SE] = 0.02 [0.007]). Associations also persisted controlling for sleep, depressive symptoms, and serum E 2 concentrations. Conclusion(s) More physiologically-monitored hot flashes were associated with more DMN connectivity, particularly networks supporting the hippocampus. Findings were most pronounced for sleep hot flashes. Findings underscore the importance of continued investigation of the central nervous system in efforts to understand this classic menopausal phenomenon.
Usefulness of US cost-of-illness studies in healthcare decision making.

Objective: Cost-of-illness studies have been completed on scores of diseases over the past 30 years. The goal of this study was to review published cost-of-illness studies on US populations in order to evaluate the potential usefulness of the results in decision making. Methods: Medline and related databases were searched using diagnosis and economic terms. The bibliographies of the articles found were reviewed visually to identify further studies. Inclusion criteria required a specified diagnosis, the study to be published between 1 January 1985 and 30 April 1999 in an English-language peer-reviewed journal, a clearly defined US sample or national population, available and recent epidemiological data on prevalence and incidence of diagnosis, and money estimates of direct and/or indirect costs. Three readers reviewed each study. The senior reviewer settled all differences. Results: Searches found 1725 published studies; only 110 (6.4%) met all inclusion criteria. Main reasons for rejection were insufficient cost data (80%), insufficient information on data sources and aggregation or estimation methods (56%), inadequate sector data e.g. hospitalisations or work loss (48%), study of value, not cost, of illness (44%), not a US population (30%) and insufficient population detail (19%). There were 80 diagnosis categories, 28 of which had more than one study. Only 5 diagnoses had ≥5 studies — Alzheimer’s dementia, depression, diabetes mellitus, mental illness and stroke. Multifold cost variations were found among studies within diagnosis categories, even with the same method and data sources. The more narrowly defined diagnoses, depression and stroke, had the smallest cost variation, 41.7 and 17.2%, respectively. A generalised linear regression model found that a significant portion of total and direct cost variance could be explained only for Alzheimer’s dementia. Conclusions: The wide variation of cost estimates for the same diagnosis raises serious questions of comparability, accuracy, validity and usefulness of all studies. Implementing guidelines to standardise methods and study design for cost-of-illness studies would be a worthwhile first step. The advantages and disadvantages of using money or another metric such as disability-adjusted life-years as the prime outcome measure should also be publicly discussed.
Opioid analgesics for pain control: wisconsin physicians' knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and prescribing practices.

Objective. Opioid analgesics are the drugs of choice for the treatment of moderate to severe acute and cancer pain. Although their role in the management of chronic pain not related to cancer is controversial, there is increasing evidence for their benefit in certain patient populations. Design. A 32-item survey to assess Wisconsin physicians' knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes toward opioid analgesic use was mailed to 600 randomly selected licensed physicians, resulting in a 36% response rate. Results. Half of the respondents considered diversion a moderate or severe problem in Wisconsin. A majority considered addiction to be a combination of physiological and behavioral characteristics, rather than defining it solely as a behavioral syndrome. Most physicians felt it lawful and acceptable medical practice to prescribe opioids for chronic cancer pain, but only half held this view if the pain was not related to cancer. Fewer physicians considered such prescribing as lawful and generally accepted medical practice if the patient had a history of substance abuse. About two-thirds of physicians were not concerned about being investigated for their opioid prescribing practices, but some admitted that fear of investigation led them to lower the dose prescribed, limit the number of refills, or prescribe a Schedule III or IV rather than a Schedule II opioid. Conclusion. Wisconsin physicians who responded to this survey held many misconceptions about the prescribing of opioids. Such views, coupled with a lack of knowledge about laws and regulations governing the prescribing of controlled substances, may result in inadequate prescribing of opioids with resultant inadequate management of pain.
Revealing the Feminist in Mary Parker Follett

In this article, the authors interpret the work of Mary Parker Follett, a well-known but underappreciated theorist of public administration. In a formal philosophical analysis organized around the ...
Serum creatine phosphokinase and aldolase activity in acute schizophrenic patients and their relatives

Abstract Increased activity of cieatine phosphokinase (CPK) or aldolase, or both, was found, on a blind basis, in the serum of 25 of 39 acute schizophrenic patients at some phase of their illness. The median increase in serum enzyme activity was approximately threefold. Smaller increases in serum CPK and aldolase activity were also found in five of 22 first-degree relatives of the acute patients. In the patients, the serum enzyme activity increased briefly and returned to normal but the enzyme increases were persistent in the relatives.
H-Ras increases urokinase expression and cell invasion in genetically modified human astrocytes through Ras/Raf/MEK signaling pathway.

Previous study reported that the activation of Ras pathway cooperated with E6/E7-mediated inactivation of p53/pRb to transform immortalized normal human astrocytes (NHA/hTERT) into intracranial tumors strongly resembling human astrocytomas. The mechanism of how H-Ras contributes to astrocytoma formation is unclear. Using genetically modified NHA cells (E6/E7/ hTERT and E6/E7/hTERT/Ras cells) as models, we investigated the mechanism of Ras-induced tumorigenesis. The overexpression of constitutively active H-RasV12 in E6/E7/hTERT cells robustly increased the levels of urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) mRNA, protein, activity and invasive capacity of the E6/E7/hTERT/Ras cells. However, the expressions of MMP-9 and MMP-2 did not significantly change in the E6/E7/hTERT and E6/E7/hTERT/Ras cells. Furthermore, E6/E7/hTERT/ Ras cells also displayed higher level of uPA activity and were more invasive than E6/E7/hTERT cells in 3D culture, and formed an intracranial tumor mass in a NOD-SCID mouse model. uPA specific inhibitor (B428) and uPA neutralizing antibody decreased uPA activity and invasion in E6/ E7/hTERT/Ras cells. uPA-deficient U-1242 glioblastoma cells were less invasive in vitro and exhibited reduced tumor growth and infiltration into normal brain in xenograft mouse model. Inhibitors of Ras (FTA), Raf (Bay 54−9085) and MEK (UO126), but not of phosphatidylinositol 3kinase (PI3K) (LY294002) and of protein kinase C (BIM) pathways, inhibited uPA activity and cell invasion. Our results suggest that H-Ras increased uPA expression and activity via the Ras/Raf/MEK signaling pathway leading to enhanced cell invasion and this may contribute to increased invasive growth properties of astrocytomas.
Systematic review on quality control for drug management programs: Is quality reported in the literature?

Maintaining quality of care while managing limited healthcare resources is an ongoing challenge in healthcare. The objective of this study was to evaluate how the impact of drug management programs is reported in the literature and to identify potentially existing quality standards. This analysis relates to the published research on the impact of drug management on economic, clinical, or humanistic outcomes in managed care, indemnity insurance, VA, or Medicaid in the USA published between 1996 and 2007. Included articles were systematically analyzed for study objective, study endpoints, and drug management type. They were further categorized by drug management tool, primary objective, and study endpoints. None of the 76 included publications assessed the overall quality of drug management tools. The impact of 9 different drug management tools used alone or in combination was studied in pharmacy claims, medical claims, electronic medical records or survey data from either patient, plan or provider perspective using an average of 2.1 of 11 possible endpoints. A total of 68% of the studies reported the impact on plan focused endpoints, while the clinical, the patient or the provider perspective were studied to a much lower degree (45%, 42% and 12% of the studies). Health outcomes were only accounted for in 9.2% of the studies. Comprehensive assessment of quality considering plan, patient and clinical outcomes is not yet applied. There is no defined quality standard. Benchmarks including health outcomes should be determined and used to improve the overall clinical and economic effectiveness of drug management programs.
INVASIVE ASPERGILLOSIS OF THE SCROTUM

A 17-year-old man had a relapse of acute myelogenous leukemia 8 months a h r receiving a bone marrow transplant from his identical twin brother. He underwent induction chemotherapy a t another institution with ifosfamide, carboplatin and etoposide, followed by mesna in preparation for a second bone marrow transplant, which was canceled after the development of frontal sinus pain and bilateral yellow nasal discharge consistent with sinusitis. Computerized tomography (CT) of the sinuses showed pansinusitis versus air fluid levels without bone destruction. Sinus washings were suggestive of mucormycosis, and the patient was given 1 mg./kg. amphotericin B daily. Fungal cultures subsequently yielded Rhizopus species. The patient was transferred to our institution, and endoscopic inspection of the sinuses 9 days after starting therapy with amphotericin B (540 mg. total dose) showed edematous mucosa with no evidence of pus or necrotic invasion. Biopsy of the sinuses revealed chronic sinusitis with no evidence of fungal organisms and fungal cultures were negative. Bacterial cultures yielded coagulasenegative staphylococcus epidermidis. The patient presented with a 2 cm. black lesion on the superior left hemiscrotum with surrounding erythema and tenderness, and several smaller lesions on the left side and lower scrotum (fig. 1). There was no evidence of trauma or loss of scrotal skin integrity. Digital rectal examination showed no evidence of perirectal or prostatic abscess. Biopsy of the scrotal lesion revealed angioinvasive fungal hyphae consistent with Aspergillus. Extravaginal partial scrotectomy was performed with closure of the scrotal skin over a Penrose drain. Intraoperative findings showed no involvement of the tunica vaginalis. Final pathological examination demonstrated angioinvasive Aspergillus with clear surgical margins (fig. 2). Fungal cultures yielded Aspergillus species, and not fumigatus. Fevers persisted despite daily treatment with multiple antibiotics, including 1.5 mg.kg. amphotericin and the addition of 800 mg. itraconazole. Repeat whole body CT showed no evidence of focal infection, and blood and urine cultures remained negative. Three weeks later focal seizures
Ontogenetic studies of a catecholamine-containing nucleus of the toad hypothalamus in relation to metamorphosis

Abstract The ontogenetic development of catecholamine-containing cells bordering the preoptic recess was studied by means of fluorescence histochemical and electron microscopic techniques. The cells first develop fluorescence due to catecholamines at metamorphic climax. At this same stage the cells begin to exhibit increased granular and smooth endoplasmic reticulum, large numbers of mitochondria, and dense-cored vesicles ranging in diameter from 400–1400 A. Innervation of the cells is also first seen at this time. In a series of drug experiments designed to determine the influence of thyroxine on the cells' development, it was found that when metamorphic climax was induced prematurely by thyroxine treatment the cells developed fluorescence concurrently. However, when metamorphic climax was prevented by propylthiouracil treatment, the cells remained nonfluorescent. If tadpoles were treated with reserpine or a combination of reserpine and thyroxine, the animals metamorphosed even though the cells did not develop fluorescence. These studies are consistent with the view that the preoptic recess cells are dependent on thyroxine for their differentiation and that the presence of catecholamines in them is not a prerequisite for metamorphosis.
Energetics of zinc-mediated interactions in the allosteric pathways of metal sensor proteins.

A metal-mediated interprotomer hydrogen bond has been implicated in the allosteric mechanism of DNA operator binding in several metal-sensing proteins. Using computational methods, we investigate the energetics of such zinc-mediated interactions in members of the ArsR/SmtB family of proteins (CzrA, SmtB, CadC, and NmtR) and the MarR family zinc-uptake repressor AdcR, which feature similar interactions, but in sites that differ widely in their allosteric responsiveness. We provide novel structural insight into previously uncharacterized allosteric forms of these proteins using computational methodologies. We find this metal-mediated interaction to be significantly stronger (∼8 kcal/mol) at functional allosteric metal binding sites compared to a nonresponsive site (CadC) and the apo-proteins. Simulations of the apo-proteins further reveal that the high interaction energy works to overcome the considerable disorder at these hydrogen-bonding sites and functions as a “switch” to lock in a weak DNA-binding conf...
Comparative analysis of expression and secretion of placental leptin in mammals

Increased plasma level of leptin appears to be a ubiquitous feature of pregnant mammals. The mechanisms by which leptin levels are increased may be species specific, however, with some species upre...
Trends in medical expulsive therapy use for urinary stone disease in U.S. emergency departments.

Objectives Between 2000 and 2006, 11 randomized controlled trials were published, demonstrating the efficacy of medical expulsive therapy (MET) for promoting upper tract stone passage. Although its use is gaining traction among urologists, they evaluate a minority of patients who present to the emergency department (ED) for acute renal colic before discharge. As such, measuring the uptake of MET into the broader medical community is important. Methods Data were analyzed (2000-2006) from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. Sampled ED visits for stones were identified. The use of MET was ascertained by the prescription of a calcium channel or α blocker at the ED visit. National estimates of the prevalence of MET use were computed. Logistic regression was used to examine linear and nonlinear time trends in MET prescription. Results The use of MET increased throughout the study period. In fact, the odds of being treated with this approach more than doubled with each successive year (OR, 2.15; 95% CI, 1.31-3.5; P Conclusions Despite the growing body of evidence to support its safety and efficacy, our analysis reveals the sluggish dissemination of MET into the broader medical community. The observed underuse represents a block in the translation of clinical science into practice and raises a quality of care concern.
Improvements of the DIII-D Cryosystem from Analysis of Failure Modes and Their Effects

The cryogenic system at General Atomics' DIII-D Tokamak fusion facility provides cryopumping for the fusion vessel and neutral beams, cooling for the superconducting magnets for electron cyclotron heating, and cooling for the deuterium pellet injector. The operation of the fusion facility requires a reliable cryosystem, since upsets can result in significant downtime. A failure modes and effects analysis of the cryosystem was performed to identify and evaluate potential failures. This paper describes the methodology used for identifying the potential failures, based on likelihood of occurrence and consequence to operations. This paper further describes the analysis developed to understand these failure modes, and the improvements and testing to reduce the likelihood and the consequences of these failures. This failure analysis focused on maintaining the helium liquefier operation by providing reliable backup power and cooling for the helium compressors, and resulted in several recommendations which improved the liquifier's availability.
Enhanced thermal conductivity of phase change materials with ultrathin-graphite foams for thermal energy storage

For thermophysical energy storage with phase change materials (PCMs), the power capacity is often limited by the low PCM thermal conductivity (κPCM). Though dispersing high-thermal conductivity nanotubes and graphene flakes increases κPCM, the enhancement is limited by interface thermal resistance between the nanofillers, among other factors such as detrimental surface scattering of phonons. Here, we demonstrate that embedding continuous ultrathin-graphite foams (UGFs) with volume fractions as low as 0.8–1.2 vol% in a PCM can increase κPCM by up to 18 times, with negligible change in the PCM melting temperature or mass specific heat of fusion. The increase in κPCM, thermal cycling stability, and applicability to a diverse range of PCMs suggests that UGF composites are a promising route to achieving the high power capacity targets of a number of thermal storage applications, including building and vehicle heating and cooling, solar thermal harvesting, and thermal management of electrochemical energy storage and electronic devices.
THE MORALITY, POLITICS, AND IRONY OF WAR: Recovering Reinhold Niebuhr's Ethical Realism

The American experience of war is ironic. That is, there is often an intimate and unexamined relationship between seemingly contrary elements in war such as morality and politics. This article argues that without understanding such irony, we are unlikely to reflect in morally comprehensive ways on past, present, or future wars. Traditional schools of thought, however, such as moralism and political realism, reinforce these apparent contradictions. I propose, then, an alternative—“ethical realism” as informed by Reinhold Niebuhr—that better explains the irony of war. Through an ethical realist examination of the U.S. Civil War, World War II, and the Iraq War, I consider how American political interests have been inextricably linked with deep moral concerns. Ethical realism charts a middle path that ennobles traditional realpolitik while eschewing certain perfectionist tendencies of moralism. Ethical realism provides a conceptual framework for evaluating these other frameworks—a distinct form of moral-political deliberation about war.
Survey of Spanish Parents of Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: Decision-Making Factors Associated With Communication Modality and Bilingualism

Purpose The purpose of the present study was (a) to describe factors and trends associated with Spanish parents' choice of communication modality and spoken-language bilingualism for children who a...
Multi-scale use of lands providing anthropogenic resources by American Crows in an urbanizing landscape

The conversion of forests and farmlands to human settlements has negative impacts on many native species, but also provides resources that some species are able to exploit. American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos), one such exploiter, create concern due to their impact as nest predators, disease hosts, and cultural harbingers of evil. We used various measures of crow abundance and resource use to determine crows’ response to features of anthropogenic landscapes in the Puget Sound region of the United States. We examined land cover and land use composition at three spatial scales: study sites (up to 208 ha), crow home ranges within sites (18.1 ha), and local land cover (400 m2). At the study site and within-site scales crow abundance was strongly correlated with land cover providing anthropogenic resources. In particular, crows were associated with the amount of ‘maintained forest’ cover, and were more likely to use grass and shrub cover than forest or bare soil cover. Although crows did not show a generalized response to an edge variable, they exhibited greater use of patchy habitat created by human settlements than of native forests. Radio-tagged territorial adults used resources within their home ranges relatively evenly, suggesting resource selection had occurred at a larger spatial scale. The land conversion pattern of new suburban and exurban settlements creates the mix of impervious surfaces and maintained vegetation that crows use, and in our study area crow populations are expected to continue to increase.
Ferrite-loaded cavity-backed antennas including nonuniform and nonlinear magnetization effects

A method of analyzing both the electromagnetic and the magnetostatic phenomena involved in ferrite-loaded cavity-backed antennas is presented. The high-frequency modeling of the antenna is based on a hybrid of the finite element method (FEM) with the method of moments (MoM). The (magnetostatic) demagnetizing process of the finite ferrite loadings is modeled with the use of a nonlinear static FEM. The results of the magnetostatic analysis are used to compute the internal field of the ferrite samples. Through the use of an appropriate ferrite permeability tensor, the nonuniform internal bias field is incorporated into the high-frequency FEM/MoM analysis. The input impedance characteristics of two different ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) antennas are presented using different ferrite models. Results for the tuning range and sensitivity are presented for different bias directions. The numerical results are also compared with experimental data.
Cytotoxicity of Nanoparticles

Human exposure to nanoparticles is inevitable as nanoparticles become more widely used and, as a result, nanotoxicology research is now gaining attention. However, while the number of nanoparticle types and applications continues to increase, studies to characterize their effects after exposure and to address their potential toxicity are few in comparison. In the medical field in particular, nanoparticles are being utilized in diagnostic and therapeutic tools to better understand, detect, and treat human diseases. Exposure to nanoparticles for medical purposes involves intentional contact or administration; therefore, understanding the properties of nanoparticles and their effect on the body is crucial before clinical use can occur. This Review presents a summary of the in vitro cytotoxicity data currently available on three classes of nanoparticles. With each of these nanoparticles, different data has been published about their cytotoxicity due to varying experimental conditions as well as differing nanoparticle physiochemical properties. For nanoparticles to move into the clinical arena, it is important that nanotoxicology research uncovers and understands how these multiple factors influence the toxicity of nanoparticles so that their undesirable properties can be avoided.
INFLATION CONTROL THROUGH A NATIONAL WAGE POLICY

WITH THE IMPACT of Keynes' General Theory, and the implications which followed from the analysis therein, a growing conviction developed that the fiscal and monetary tools had been shaped which could provide a relatively stable economy at a high level of employment. Some fluctuations would still continue, but these were to be expected as a necessary characteristic of an economic system which produces "today" the. goods to be purchased "tomorrow." Because of the uncertainty inherent in such a situation, minor fluctuations could not possibly be eliminated. But this was unimportant. What really mattered was that the business cycle could finally be controlled by instituting the appropriate policies. In Dr. Lerner's phraseology, we had only to apply the principle of functional finance and discard the casuistic principles of "sound finance." We need not discuss here how functional finance would work; it is all clearly presented in the numerous writings of Professor Lerner. This school of thought grew in importance, and a very large proportion of the profession, especially among the younger economists, accepted the policy recommendations either wholly or in large part. In fact, failure to accept them tended to mark that person either as one of the oldtimers trained in the classical tradition, whose mind was no longer flexible enough to accept new ideas and to go along with Keynes in the "struggle of escape from habitual modes of thought and expression, or, if he were a younger man, one who had not grasped the teachings of the new doctrine. As a result, perhaps the only serious reservations about the "new economics" which one
Maximum entropy method for estimating seismic wave amplitude

A new concept for reconstructing a class of signals is introduced. The signal under construction is modeled as a product of terms. Different approaches can be used to estimate these terms separately. Seismic signal processing is used as an illustrative example, i.e. a simulated seismic reflected wave is reconstructed in a noisy environment. This wave is modeled as an attenuated and delayed version of a known incident wave. The time delay is estimated using cross correlation, and the maximum-entropy method (MEM) is used to estimate the attenuation factor. It is also reformulated as an efficient MEM image reconstruction algorithm. The efficient MEM algorithm is shown to yield better results than conventional methods. >
Enzymic Coagulation of Casein Micelles: A Review

Abstract Much is known about the coagulation that takes place when a proteolytic enzyme is added to milk. People from many disciplines and often with different purposes in mind have contributed to this knowledge. This paper is intended to bring together this variety of facts and views on enzymic milk coagulation.
Bivalirudin for the treatment of patients with confirmed or suspected heparin‐induced thrombocytopenia

Summary. Background: Heparin-induced thrombocytope-nia (HIT) is an adverse immune-mediated response tounfractionated heparin and, less commonly, lowmolecular weight heparin. It is associated with a highthrombotic risk and the potential for limb and life-threatening complications. Argatroban is the onlyapproved and currently available anticoagulant for HITtreatment in the USA. Objectives: To report safety andefﬁcacy outcomes with bivalirudin for HIT treatment.Methods: We retrospectively examined records from ourregistry of patients with a suspected, conﬁrmed or pre-vious history of HIT and who had received bivalirudinfor anticoagulation in a single tertiary-care center overa 9-year period. Results: We identiﬁed 461 patients whoreceived bivalirudin: 220 (47.7%) were surgical patients,and 241 (52.3%) were medical patients. Of this popula-tion, 107 (23.2%) were critically ill, and 109 (23.6%)were dialysis-dependent. Suspected, conﬁrmed and previ-ous history of HIT were reported in 262, 124 and 75patients, respectively. Of 386 patients with suspected orconﬁrmed HIT, 223 patients (57.8%) had thrombosisat HIT diagnosis. New thrombosis was identiﬁed in21 patients (4.6%) while they were on treatmentwith therapeutic doses of bivalirudin. No patientrequired HIT-related amputation. Major bleedingoccurred in 35 patients (7.6%). We found a signiﬁ-cant increase in major bleeding risk in the criticallyill population (13.1%; odds ratio 2.4, 95% conﬁ-dence interval 1.2–4.9, P = 0.014). The 30-day all-cause mortality rate was 14.5% (67 patients), andeight of 67 (1.7%) deaths were HIT-related.Conclu-sion: Bivalirudin may be an effective and safe alterna-tive option for the treatment of both suspected andconﬁrmed HIT, and appears to reduce the rate of HIT-related amputation.Keywords: amputation; antithrombins; death; heparin;thrombocytopenia; thrombosis.IntroductionHeparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a highly pro-thrombotic, potentially lethal adverse immunogenic reac-tion to unfractionated heparin (UFH) or low molecularweight heparin (LMWH) [1]. It is triggered by the releaseof procoagulant microparticles from platelet a-granulesresulting from activation of platelets by means of an inter-action between their FccIIa receptors and immune com-plexes consisting of heparin-dependent IgG antibodies [2].These antibodies are bound to multimolecular heparin–platelet factor 4 (PF4) complexes. Rapidly acting non-hep-arin anticoagulants that inhibit thrombin or its generationconstitute the mainstay for treatment of HIT [2].Because the production of the direct thrombin inhibitor(DTI) lepirudin was discontinued in 2012, and the hepari-noid danaparoid is not available in the USA, argatrobanis the only available Food and Drug Administration(FDA)-approved anticoagulant for the prevention andtreatment of HIT. Argatroban, a hepatically cleared DTI,
Electrostatically Embedded Many-Body Approximation for Systems of Water, Ammonia, and Sulfuric Acid and the Dependence of Its Performance on Embedding Charges

This work tests the capability of the electrostatically embedded many-body (EE-MB) method to calculate accurate (relative to conventional calculations carried out at the same level of electronic structure theory and with the same basis set) binding energies of mixed clusters (as large as 9-mers) consisting of water, ammonia, sulfuric acid, and ammonium and bisulfate ions. This work also investigates the dependence of the accuracy of the EE-MB approximation on the type and origin of the charges used for electrostatically embedding these clusters. The conclusions reached are that for all of the clusters and sets of embedding charges studied in this work, the electrostatically embedded three-body (EE-3B) approximation is capable of consistently yielding relative errors of less than 1% and an average relative absolute error of only 0.3%, and that the performance of the EE-MB approximation does not depend strongly on the specific set of embedding charges used. The electrostatically embedded pairwise approximation has errors about an order of magnitude larger than EE-3B. This study also explores the question of why the accuracy of the EE-MB approximation shows such little dependence on the types of embedding charges employed.
Efficient concerted integration by recombinant human immunodeficiency virus type 1 integrase without cellular or viral cofactors.

Replication of retroviruses requires integration of the linear viral DNA genome into the host chromosomes. Integration requires the viral integrase (IN), located in high-molecular-weight nucleoprotein complexes termed preintegration complexes (PIC). The PIC inserts the two viral DNA termini in a concerted manner into chromosomes in vivo as well as exogenous target DNA in vitro. We reconstituted nucleoprotein complexes capable of efficient concerted (full-site) integration using recombinant wild-type human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV-1) IN with linear retrovirus-like donor DNA (480 bp). In addition, no cellular or viral protein cofactors are necessary for purified bacterial recombinant HIV-1 IN to mediate efficient full-site integration of two donor termini into supercoiled target DNA. At ∼30 nM IN (20 min at 37°C), approximately 15 and 8% of the input donor is incorporated into target DNA, producing half-site (insertion of one viral DNA end per target) and full-site integration products, respectively. Sequencing the donor-target junctions of full-site recombinants confirms that 5-bp host site duplications have occurred with a fidelity of ∼70%, similar to the fidelity when using IN derived from nonionic detergent lysates of HIV-1 virions. A key factor allowing recombinant wild-type HIV-1 IN to mediate full-site integration appears to be the avoidance of high IN concentrations in its purification (∼125 μg/ml) and in the integration assay (<50 nM). The results show that recombinant HIV-1 IN may not be significantly defective for full-site integration. The findings further suggest that a high concentration or possibly aggregation of IN is detrimental to the assembly of correct nucleoprotein complexes for full-site integration.