cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
SP0190 Improving rheumatologic care and education in the republic of macedonia

In 2009, ILAR (International League of Associations for Rheumatology) funded a project in Macedonia supporting establishment of national Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) registry. An academic partnership between the rheumatology clinics at the University of Michigan and the University of Skopje was established allowing exchanges of rheumatologists, trainees and medical students. Results from this project pointed to unmet needs in patient access to qualified care and suboptimal therapy, among others. For RA patients, the average DAS-28 score was 5.2. All rheumatologists in Macedonia practice in the capital, with half of the population or over one million people without good access to rheumatologic care. Training additional rheumatologists from underserved regions and patient education were some of goals identified for improving access and quality of care for patients with rheumatic conditions. In 2011, ILAR funded a second project in Macedonia, supporting rheumatologic education for physicians from underserved regions and patient education. In a collaborative effort between the rheumatology clinics at the University of Michigan and the University in Skopje, an internist from the city of Bitola commenced training in rheumatology. A local rheumatology clinic has been established within the regional hospital, providing access and care for a region of 300,000 people. The candidate physician has been accepted for formal training at the rheumatology clinic in Skopje, pending approval from the ministry of health. A longitudinal data collection will address the impact of local care on patients with RA. Parallel to this effort, we launched an educational program for patients in partnership with the local patient advocacy group (NORA). We have produced 10 educational brochures on the most common rheumatic conditions for distribution across the country. Based on this model, partnership between academic centers in the developed countries and academic centers in the developing countries can promote rheumatologic education and care in the developing countries. Fostering close working relationship among individuals of academic centers, local patient advocacy groups, and local government agencies are critical components of this model. Potential funding resources include professional societies, local government agencies, pharmaceutical industry and philanthropy. The impact of this intervention should be assessed by metrics such as disease activity scores, patient satisfaction surveys and assessment of standard of care. Disclosure of Interest V. Ognenovski Grant/Research support from: ILAR, Consultant for: Roche
Analysis of Drain Currents During Switching off a-Si:H Based Thin Film Transistors

We present measurements and analysis of a-Si:H thin film transistor (TFT) transients when the gate voltage switches the device from a conducting to a non-conducting state. The drain current transient has been monitored in the medium-long (Ims-100s) time range and exhibits a power law decay extending to at least 10 seconds. The decay has been studied over a range of drain voltages and gate off-state voltages. Measured data show that the gate off-state can help to obtain a low drain leakage current at long times when high drain voltages are being used. However, the decay at low drain voltages shows little sensitivity to different gate off-state voltages. An analytical model is developed, based on the relaxation of the Fermi level toward mid-gap in a spatially uniform TFT channel. The model shows how deep defects are responsible for the current decay slope at long times, while shallower states determine the slope in the short time range. An energy-independent defect density would produce a 1/ t slope for the current decay. Shallow states and deep states affect in opposite ways the slope since their density is energydependent in opposite ways as Fermi level moves deeper into the band-gap. Furthermore, long decay times are associated with a wider depletion region in the channel and increase the total number of defect states involved. A steeper decay than 1/ t is expected and observed for shorttime ranges, while a more gradual (about 1/ t 1/2 ) one corresponds to long time measurements. The implications of the transient decay for the performance of active matrix arrays will be discussed.
Distribution of Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles between Water and Lipid Bilayers as Model Cell Membranes

Lipid bilayers are biomembranes common to cellular life and constitute a continuous barrier between cells and their environment. Understanding the interaction of nanoparticles with lipid bilayers i...
McLuhan's Challenge to Critical Media Literacy: "The City as Classroom" Textbook.

AbstractThis paper examines the high school media education textbook that Marshall McLuhan and coauthors published in 1977. The City as Classroom textbook provides an articulation of the practical implications of McLuhan's media theories. I offer an explication of this approach and its significance for contemporary media education, while articulating how McLuhan's perspective could bolster the educative potential of critical media literacy, which can be distinguished from other forms of media education by its emphasis on examining the ideological content and power relations behind the construction of media messages. McLuhan's curriculum can be considered a form of critical media education, though it takes a broad approach that facilitates student inquiry within a multitude of mediated environments and includes examinations of media forms and grammar in addition to content. McLuhan's approach to media analysis offers possibilities for expanding the boundaries of critical media literacy by making an explora...
A geophysical health‐check for the past decade in North America

The first decade of the third Millenium was a good one as measured by the financial performance of virtually all sectors in our industry, but this is quite an unremarkable observation on its own. Two thousand ten was no ordinary year, with a significant wake-up call for Oil & Gas companies and particularly those based in North America. Following the Macondo tragedy, we witnessed significant more effort placed on EHS (Environment, Health and Safety), and due diligence by Government entities as to the Process for drafting and enforcing new Safety regulations as well as characterizing the readiness or fitness to operate. TRIR_Industry
How to Use Financial Ratios When Advising Clients

Use of financial ratios as a diagnostic and informational tool has become increasingly popular in financial counseling and planning situations. Results of ratio analysis suggest insights not readily apparent from merely studying a balance sheet and an income and expense statement. Nine financial ratios are presented, defined, calculated, and interpreted using an illustrative case family. Application of the financial ratios by practitioners, educators, and researchers will further clarify their usefulness for providing feedback on the financial situation, for measuring change in financial status over time, and for providing recommendations to clients.
Monitoring the cleaning effect of sterilization and supply center lumen device

Objective:To improve the sterilization and supply center lumen cleaning effect.Methods:Use to biological membrane cleaning agent and conventional enzyme lotion to the four lumen devices(palace suction tube,suction head,laparoscopy and endoscopy) processing,use of adenosine triphosphate(ATP) fluorescence techniques for monitoring the four lumen instruments after cleaning the clean level and compare.Results:The palace suction tube,suction head,laparoscopy and endoscopy four lumen devices used to biological membrane cleaning agent processing equipment surface relative fluorescence intensity(RLU) lower than ordinary enzymatic detergent after processing the read value(P0.05).Conclusion:To biological membrane cleaning agent for cleaning the lumen device has good cleaning effect,ATP fluorescence for luminal equipment cleanliness to provide an objective,timely monitoring method.
Caribbean Drug Trafficking

The drug trade in the Americas has national, regional, and global dimensions, which interact and require multifaceted responses. US concern is region-wide in aspiring to control production and transit of drugs throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, and is also global in aiming to disrupt the world-wide drug trade. Latin America and the Caribbean none the less occupy a position of special importance in US anti-drug policy, since this region produces and transports most drugs entering the US market. It was recently estimated that ‘Latin American countries supply one-third of the heroin, perhaps 80% of the marijuana, and all of the cocaine currently used in the United States, representing more than three-fourths of the US drug market which is estimated to exceed $100 billion annually.1 Practically every country in the Western hemisphere has been involved in some facet of the drug trade, with problems resulting for both domestic politics and relations with the United States.
Critical Intimate Praxis

Critical intimate praxis is a method of queering the space of a classroom by subverting discourses around intimacy as inappropriate in “intellectual” spaces. By incorporating affective experience into classroom spaces and interactions and relying on explorations of those experiences as analytic lenses from which to view social relationships, students can view emotions and relationships as socially constructed, created through particular discursive means, and produced by historical and political contexts. This praxis asks both teachers and students to engage in queering the ways in which intimacy and vulnerability lead to both identity construction and social change through the practice of ethical relations.
Moral Panic and the Prostitute in Partitioned Poland: Middle-Class Respectability in Defense of the Modern Nation

In the early twentieth century, police-regulated prostitution experienced a burst of attention from Polish-language news media. In this article, Keely Stauter-Halsted considers the extended moment of “moral panic” that unfolded when a series of public exposes revealed the scope and potential dangers of sex trafficking. Taking into account the ways “respectable” urban audiences absorbed revelations of illicit commercial transactions on city streets and increased “white slavery” activity beyond the Polish lands, Stauter-Halsted stresses the image of the prostitute as a threat to the embattled nation. The figure of the impoverished, morally compromised streetwalker encroaching on bourgeois social spaces and invading the bourgeois home challenged the sense of middle-class respectability so crucial to Polish national regeneration. By exposing innocent members of the community to sexually dangerous behavior, the prostitute came to represent decay, degeneration, and venereal disease attacking the national body, a conclusion used by social purity activists in their protoeugenics campaigns.
Cost‐Effectiveness of Remote Cardiac Monitoring With the CardioMEMS Heart Failure System

Heart failure (HF) is a leading cause of cardiovascular mortality in the United States and presents a substantial economic burden. A recently approved implantable wireless pulmonary artery pressure remote monitor, the CardioMEMS HF System, has been shown to be effective in reducing hospitalizations among New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III HF patients. The objective of this study was to estimate the cost-effectiveness of this remote monitoring technology compared to standard of care treatment for HF. A Markov cohort model relying on the CHAMPION (CardioMEMS Heart Sensor Allows Monitoring of Pressure to Improve Outcomes in NYHA Class III Heart Failure Patients) clinical trial for mortality and hospitalization data, published sources for cost data, and a mix of CHAMPION data and published sources for utility data, was developed. The model compares outcomes over 5 years for implanted vs standard of care patients, allowing patients to accrue costs and utilities while they remain alive. Sensitivity analyses explored uncertainty in input parameters. The CardioMEMS HF System was found to be cost-effective, with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $44,832 per quality-adjusted life year (QALY). Sensitivity analysis found the model was sensitive to the device cost and to whether mortality benefits were sustained, although there were no scenarios in which the cost/QALY exceeded $100,000. Compared with standard of care, the CardioMEMS HF System was cost-effective when leveraging trial data to populate the model.
Assessment of Tobacco Use in Cancer Survivorship Research Among National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Centers or Affiliated Universities: A Systematic Review

This systematic review of the literature examined the role of tobacco use measurement in studies of cancer survivorship performed in the last ten years by National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Centers or affiliated universities. It was intended to establish the degree to which tobacco use was considered a determining factor. The scientific articles examined for the basis of this review were acquired through PubMed, Google Scholar, references to published papers, and evidence-based papers in the cancer survivorship literature. The exhaustive review found 198 relevant to our aim. Out of the 198 studies examining cancer survivorship found to be published by NCI-designated Cancer Centers or their affiliated hospitals in the last ten years, only 21.2% measured tobacco use as a variable. Given the clear involvement of tobacco use as a risk factor for most cancers, the review determined the variable should be a key metric in epidemiological studies. This indicated the need for increasing inclusion as a key measure in all types of cancer studies, especially those performed by National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers.
Parallelizing Julia with a Non-Invasive DSL

Computational scientists often prototype software using productivity languages that offer high-level programming abstractions. When higher performance is needed, they are obliged to rewrite their code in a lower-level efficiency language. Different solutions have been proposed to address this trade-off between productivity and efficiency. One promising approach is to create embedded domain-specific languages that sacrifice generality for productivity and performance, but practical experience with DSLs points to some road blocks preventing widespread adoption. This paper proposes a non-invasive domain-specific language that makes as few visible changes to the host programming model as possible. We present ParallelAccelerator, a library and compiler for high-level, high-performance scientific computing in Julia. ParallelAccelerator's programming model is aligned with existing Julia programming idioms. Our compiler exposes the implicit parallelism in high-level array-style programs and compiles them to fast, parallel native code. Programs can also run in "library-only" mode, letting users benefit from the full Julia environment and libraries. Our results show encouraging performance improvements with very few changes to source code required. In particular, few to no additional type annotations are necessary.
Editorial comment on: current applications for prostate-specific antigen doubling time.

[38] Valicenti RK, Desilvio M, Hanks GE, et al. Posttreatment prostatic-specific antigen doubling time as a surrogate endpoint for prostate cancer-specific survival: An analysis of Radiation Therapy Oncology Group Protocol 92-02. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2006;66:1064–71. [39] Stephenson AJ, Scardino PT, Kattan MW, et al. Predicting the outcome of salvage radiation therapy for recurrent prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy. J Clin Oncol 2007;25:2035–41. [40] Moul JW, Wu H, Sun L, et al. Early versus delayed hormonal therapy for prostate specific antigen only recurrence of prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy. J Urol 2004;171:1141–7. [41] Hanlon AL, Horwitz EM, Hanks GE, Pollack A. Short-term androgen deprivation and PSA doubling time: their association and relationship to disease progression after radiation therapy for prostate cancer. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2004;58:43–52. [42] Sengupta S, Blute ML, Bagniewski SM, et al. Increasing prostate specific antigen following radical prostatectomy and adjuvant hormonal therapy: doubling time predicts survival. J Urol 2006;175:1684–90, discussion 1690. [43] Stewart AJ, Scher HI, Chen MH, et al. Prostate-specific antigen nadir and cancer-specific mortality following hormonal therapy for prostate-specific antigen failure. J Clin Oncol 2005;23:6556–60. [44] Rodrigues NA, Chen MH, Catalona WJ, Roehl KA, Richie JP, D’Amico AV. Predictors of mortality after androgen-depri-
Pseudo-creep in Shape Memory Alloy Wires and Sheets

Interruption of loading during reorientation and isothermal pseudoelasticity in shape memory alloys with a strain arrest (i.e., holding strain constant) results in a time-dependent evolution in stress or with a stress arrest (i.e., holding stress constant) results in a time-dependent evolution in strain. This phenomenon, which we term as pseudo-creep, is similar to what was reported in the literature three decades ago for some traditional metallic materials undergoing plastic deformation. In a previous communication, we reported strain arrest of isothermal pseudoelastic loading, isothermal pseudoelastic unloading, and reorientation in NiTi wires as well as a rate-independent phase diagram. In this paper, we provide experimental results of the pseudo-creep phenomenon during stress arrest of isothermal pseudoelasticity and reorientation in NiTi wires as well as strain arrest of isothermal pseudoelasticity and reorientation in NiTi sheets. Stress arrest in NiTi wires accompanied by strain accumulation or recovery is studied using the technique of multi-video extensometry. The experimental results were used to estimate the amount of mechanical energy needed to evolve the wire from one microstructural state to another during isothermal pseudoelastic deformation and the difference in energies between the initial and the final rest state between which the aforementioned evolution has occurred.
Analysis of free-space coupling to photonic lanterns in the presence of tilt errors

Free space coupling to photonic lanterns is more tolerant to tilt errors and F-number mismatch than coupling to single-mode fibers. We analyze the coupling efficiency to single-mode fiber, and 3-mode and 6-mode photonic lanterns in the presence of these errors.
For the Sake of Consistency and Fairness: Why Insurance Companies Should Cover Fertility Preservation Treatment for Iatrogenic Infertility

There is much debate not only about the morality of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) but also about how they should be classified. Should ART be understood as medical treatment for a disease (infertility) or should they be relegated to boutique medicine where they are seen as elective? How we answer this question affects our thoughts about whether ART should be covered by insurance companies. Those who claim infertility is a medical disease usually advocate that ART be covered by insurance. Conversely, those who believe ART are elective procedures generally oppose insurance coverage, insisting that insurance coverage should be limited to medically necessary treatments. While the debate cannot simply be reduced to whether “real” diseases should be covered by insurance and all other conditions should not, in the minds of many, a strong connection exists between what is considered a disease and what insurance should cover.
Invisible Parasites and Their Implications for Coexisting Water Fleas

Abstract The top-down effects of consumers, such as predators, are known to affect abundances, size structure, and species composition in aquatic ecosystems. Parasites are also important in shaping the ecology of free-living species; however, their effects are often overlooked because parasites can be difficult to detect. Parasites can be particularly challenging to observe in zooplankton hosts because of their small size and ephemeral infection periods. To overcome these challenges, we used a quarantine approach combined with high-magnification microscopy to increase detection of parasites of the tropical Cladoceran, Ceriodaphnia cornuta, in Lake Gatun, Panama. Using this approach, we were able to demonstrate that competing morphs of Ceriodaphnia experience differential rates of infection, where the subordinate competitor suffered higher parasite prevalence than did the dominant morph. Predation by fishes on the dominant morph is considered the principal mechanism for their coexistence, but we hypothesiz...
Peer-created motivational climate and motivation of adolescent soccer players

Peers can contribute to adaptive and maladaptive motivational outcomes in youth sport (Smith, 2007; Weiss & Stuntz, 2004). One way this may occur is through the reinforcement of goal structures and expectations that frame perspectives on sport success (Ntoumanis, Vazou, & Duda, 2007). Referred to as peer-created motivational climate, perspectives that are task-involving (improvement, relatedness support, and effort emphasis) and ego-involving (intrateam competition/ability and intrateam conflict emphasis) can be emphasized. In light of the importance of peers during adolescence and the need for empirical work on peer-created motivational climate, the purpose of this study was to examine peer-created motivational climate perceptions as predictors of important motivational outcomes in adolescent soccer players. Participants (N = 96; M age = 15.3 years, SD = 1.2) completed established questionnaires assessing demographic variables, perceptions of the peer-created motivational climate, and adaptive and maladaptive motivational sport outcomes (i.e., enjoyment, commitment, burnout, and anxiety). Multivariate multiple regression analysis demonstrated a significant moderate association (Rc = .47) between the variable sets, p < .05. Hours of soccer per week, a control variable, and all peer climate dimensions except intrateam competition/ability (excluded because unreliably measured) contributed meaningfully and in expected directions to the multivariate relationship, as did all motivational outcome variables. Variance explained in the motivational outcome variables was 13.3%. The findings suggest that peers may both foster and undermine motivation of adolescent athletes through the climate they reinforce. Intensified research on the peer-created motivational climate holds potential to enhance understanding of the youth sport experience.
An Efficient Algorithm for Optimal Trajectory Generation for Heterogeneous Multi-Agent Systems in Non-Convex Environments

Generating optimal trajectories for a large numbers of vehicles in real-time becomes extremely challenging when including realistic dynamic models and time-varying obstacle constraints. We present a novel method to efficiently produce time-optimal collision-free trajectories in complex non-convex maze-like environments while enforcing nonlinear constraints on velocity, acceleration, jerk, and snap. The approach combines two complementary numerical techniques for optimal control: level set reachability analysis and pseudospectral orthogonal collocation. Applied in a multi-agent prioritized planning framework, the methodology allows for heterogeneous sizes, dynamics, endpoint conditions, and individualized optimization objectives, while achieving linear scaling in computation time relative to the number of vehicles. Simulation examples are shown with up to 26 static obstacles and 32 quadcopters in a tightly constrained space with average computation times of 1–3.5 s per vehicle, depending on scenario complexity.
Curves for Profile Tolerance zone boundaries

This paper presents a representation scheme and tools for the analysis of profile tolerances. Innovations in the design of small mechanical parts and complex function parts have made new requirements for profile tolerance definitions. In particular, design intent sometimes requires that the outermost boundaries of profile tolerance zones vary in shape along the surface of single features. A new scheme is required to empower the designer to geometrically specify design intent unambiguously.
Spatial-Temporal Quantification of Interdependencies Across Infrastructure Networks

As infrastructure networks become more complex and intertwined, the relevance of network interdependency research is increasingly evident. Interconnected networks bring about efficiencies during normal operations but also come with risks of cascading failures with disaster events. An adequate understanding of network interdependencies and realistic multi-system modeling capabilities enable the exploration of practical operation strategies and mitigation efforts applicable to existing or future coupled networked systems. This chapter examines recent efforts in quantifying infrastructure network interdependencies through spatial and time-series analyses to reveal the heterogeneity and complexity in their coupling. Furthermore, a combined spatial-temporal methodology is recommended for the future calibration and validation of theoretical and computational models of interdependent networks of networks. An example case study is demonstrated using data derived from the 2010 Chilean Earthquake in the Talcahuano-Concepcion region, which highlights the richness in coupling strengths across infrastructure systems, both as a function of time and geographical extent. Insights for design and control of coupled networks are also derivable from joint spatial-temporal analyses of infrastructure interdependence and its evolution.
Voluntary Failure Theory and Nonprofit-Government Partnership

The nonprofit theories of the type proposed by Salamon, Weisbrod, and Hansmann are courageous attempts to unify the field. Their fundamental contributions have provided important insights about the rationale of nonprofits among private and public sector activities and have uncovered some commonalties that merit a unifying framework. Salamon’s theory of government-nonprofit relations adopts the perspective of nonprofits as third party agents (among other agents) in delivering services funded under programs steered by government. His theory of voluntary sector failure rejects the view that this sector is merely a residual response to failures of government and the market. He proposes instead that the sector be viewed as the preferred mechanism for “providing” collective goods, with government as the residual institution needed to compensate for certain shortcomings or failings of the voluntary sector.
Comparisons of techniques for ordinating and classifying old-growth floodplain forests in Southern Illinois

Comparisons are made among the responses of several ordination and classification techniques using a set of 136 plot samples from a diverse old-growth bottomland forest in Southern Illinois. Of the ordination techniques evaluated (PO, PCA, GO and RA), RA provided the most interpretable ordering of species and samples. The RA plot ordination was divided into three segments which correspond to major vegetation units within the study area itself and more broadly within the Southern Floodplain Forest Region. Among the classification techniques used (MINFO, MDISP and CLUSTER), MINFO produced plot clusters and species groupings which are similar to those identified by RA. Classification techniques that assume strict linearity among species or samples, that is those using the correlation coefficient or standard distance similarity measures, are less satisfactory in terms of their ability to recover informative and interpretable patterns from the data set than those techniques using logarithmic terms. Discriminant analysis was used to interpret the plot groups using various environmental variables as predictors This approach successfully provided an environmental interpretation of the group structure as identified by RA and other classification techniques. The vegetation patterns in the old-growth woods at Horseshoe Lake appear to be influenced by a complex flooding-aeration gradient.
What's so special about a special ethics for business?

In business ethics literature, debate over a special ethics generally has framed examination of the rules governing business. By constructing a dilemma faced by proponents of a special ethics, I argue that this framing is misguided. Proponents must adopt either an insular or a derivative conception. The former, the view that business is insulated from moral rules, is problematic because arguments used to support it force proponents to accept the idea that each aspect of life is insulated from moral rules. This idea, however, renders philosophically insignificant the claim that business has a special ethics. Proponents no longer make a claim about business, but, rather, a relativistic claim about ethics in general. The derivative conception is the view that business is a set of circumstances that bear on the application of moral rules. This, however, is true of each aspect of life, and is simply an application of the principle 'ought implies can'. The result is that there is nothing special about this sense of a special ethics. Despite lacking specialness, however, the derivative conception provides proper framing for examination of the rules governing business. It subjects business to moral rules, but, also, accounts for the challenging circumstances businesspersons face.
Rheumatoid arthritis and cataract surgery

The prevalence of patients with adult onset rheumatoid arthritis among populations undergoing cataract surgery is low. Only 0.7% of 982 cataract surgery patients in the 45–79 age group, had rheumatoid arthritis. From the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis in the U.S.A., 12.5% of women and 5.6% of men in the 45–79 age group should have undergone cataract surgery. The lower prevalence of cataracts among rheumatoid arthritis patients may be due to a slower progression of cataracts or to medications (such as acetyl salicylic acid) received for therapy Acetyl salicylic acid which lowers blood tryptophan may delay or prevent the formation of senile cataracts.
Correlation between minute carbon dioxide elimination and pulmonary blood flow in single-ventricle patients after stage 1 palliation and 2-ventricle patients with intracardiac shunts: A pilot study.

BACKGROUND Assessment of pulmonary blood flow and cardiac output is critical in the postoperative management of patients with single-ventricle physiology or 2-ventricle physiology with intracardiac shunting. Currently, such hemodynamic data are only obtainable by invasive procedures, such as cardiac catheterization or the use of a pulmonary artery catheter. Ready availability of such information, especially if attainable noninvasively, could be a valuable addition to postoperative management. AIMS The aim of this study was to assess the correlation between volume of CO2 elimination obtained by volumetric capnography and pulmonary blood flow in pediatric patients with single-ventricle physiology after stage 1 palliation as well as in patients with other cardiac lesions associated with intracardiac shunting. METHODS This prospective cohort study included children with congenital or acquired heart disease who underwent cardiac catheterization as part of clinical care. Cardiac output, pulmonary blood flow, and volume of CO2 elimination were simultaneously collected. Spearman's rank correlation coefficients were used to assess correlation between measurements after controlling for minute ventilation. RESULTS Thirty-five patients were enrolled and divided into 3 groups. Group 1 (n = 8) included single-ventricle patients after stage 1 palliation. Group 2 (n = 10) patients had structural heart disease with 2 ventricles and intracardiac shunting. Group 3 (n = 17) had structurally normal hearts. Among Group 1 patients, the correlation coefficients (R2 ) between volume of CO2 elimination and pulmonary blood flow and volume of CO2 elimination and cardiac output were 0.60 (P = .02) 95% CI [0.01-0.79] and 0.29 (P = .74) 95% CI [-0.91 - 0.86], respectively. In patients with 2 ventricles associated with intracardiac shunts (Group 2), the correlation coefficients between volume of CO2 elimination and pulmonary blood flow and volume of CO2 elimination and cardiac output were 0.86 (P = .001) 95% CI [0.53 - 0.97] and 0.73 (P = .001) 95% CI [0.29 - 0.95], respectively. Among Group 3 patients, the correlation coefficient between volume of CO2 elimination and pulmonary blood flow was 0.66 (P = .038) 95% CI [0.29 - 0.87]. CONCLUSION Volume of CO2 elimination may be a surrogate marker of pulmonary blood flow in single-ventricle patients and patients with biventricular physiology with intracardiac shunting. Also, among patients with normal cardiac anatomy, volume of CO2 elimination may be a marker of cardiac output.
An Overview of the IEEE SPS Speech and Language Technical Committee [In the Spotlight]

As part of the IEEE Signal Processing Society (SPS), the Speech and Language Technical Committee (SLTC) promotes research and development activities for technologies that are used to process speech and natural language. Much of the SLTC's efforts are devoted to the annual IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing (ICASSP), where the SLTC manages the review of papers covering speech and language and organizes conference sessions, special sessions, and tutorials. In addition, it promotes and supports various workshops, most prominently the Automatic Speech Recognition and Understanding (ASRU) and the Spoken Language Technology (SLT) workshops.
Gendered context of assimilation: the female second-generation advantage among Latinos

Recent macro-level trends have created a gendered context of assimilation for second-generation Latinos, pointing to favourable condition among Latina women and potential vulnerability among Latino...
Functional imaging of tumor vasculature using iodine and gadolinium-based nanoparticle contrast agents: a comparison of spectral micro-CT using energy integrating and photon counting detectors.

Advances in computed tomography (CT) hardware have propelled the development of novel CT contrast agents. In particular, the spectral capabilities of x-ray CT can facilitate simultaneous imaging of multiple contrast agents. This approach is particularly useful for functional imaging of solid tumors by simultaneous visualization of multiple targets or architectural features that govern cancer development and progression. Nanoparticles are a promising platform for contrast agent development. While several novel imaging moieties based on high atomic number elements are being explored, iodine (I) and gadolinium (Gd) are particularly attractive because of their existing approval for clinical use. In this work, we investigate the in vivo discrimination of I and Gd nanoparticle contrast agents using both dual energy micro-CT with energy integrating detectors (DE-EID) and photon counting detector (PCD)-based spectral micro-CT. Simulations and phantom experiments were performed using varying concentrations of I and Gd to determine the imaging performance with optimized acquisition parameters. Quantitative spectral micro-CT imaging using liposomal-iodine (Lip-I) and liposomal-Gd (Lip-Gd) nanoparticle contrast agents was performed in sarcoma bearing mice for anatomical and functional imaging of tumor vasculature. Iterative reconstruction provided high sensitivity to detect and discriminate relatively low I and Gd concentrations. According to the Rose criterion applied to the experimental results, the detectability limits for I and Gd were approximately 2.5 mg ml-1 for both DE-EID CT and PCD micro-CT, even if the radiation dose was approximately 3.8 times lower with PCD micro-CT. The material concentration maps confirmed expected biodistributions of contrast agents in the blood, liver, spleen and kidneys. The PCD provided lower background signal and better simultaneous visualization of tumor vasculature and intratumoral distribution patterns of nanoparticle contrast agent compared to DE-EID decompositions. Preclinical spectral CT systems such as this could be useful for functional characterization of solid tumors, simultaneous quantitative imaging of multiple targets and for identifying clinically-relevant applications that benefit from the use of spectral imaging. Additionally, it could aid in the development nanoparticles that show promise in the developing field of cancer theranostics (therapy and diagnostics) by measuring vascular tumor biomarkers such as fractional blood volume and the delivery of liposomal chemotherapeutics.
Justice Robert H. Jackson's Unpublished Opinion in Brown v. Board: Conflict, Compromise, and Constitutional Interpretation. By David M. O’Brien. (Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press, 2017. Pp. xii, 220. $34.95.)

David O'Brien manages to offer a fresh perspective on Brown v. Board by examining Justice Robert Jackson's unpublished opinion in the case. The book offers insight into Jackson's struggles to recon...
The Object Model

In this chapter, we give a detailed description of a semantic data model for design data called the Object Model. It defines the basic primitives from which the design data structure is formed. As we have seen in the previous chapter, many different schemes are possible, but similar themes are readily apparent. These include: (1) an applications interface based on the manipulation of “objects”, which are structured collections of data, rather than individual records; (2) explicit support for design alternatives and versions, with operations to access the design description at a particular point in time; and (3) the critical importance of interface descriptions as a part of the design description. The objective of the Object Model is to make the design as self describing as possible, thus enabling the design management system to assist in keeping its description consistent. It is interesting to note that a new draft standard interchange language, called EDIF (Electronic Design Interchange Format), is just beginning to emerge from the CAD system community, and bears a strong resemblance to the model presented in this chapter.
Die Medikamentenallergie beim Kind: häufiger vermutet als existent

Drug allergy in children: more often suspected than real Abstract. Adverse drug reactions are frequent in the pediatric population. However, only a small proportion of all adverse reactions are drug allergic reactions. About 10 % of the parents report a suspected drug allergy in their children. Even though, no accurate epidemiological data are available, studies suggested that as few as 10 % of those reported an allergy really are. The most common drug allergy among children is a drug hypersensitivity to antibiotics, especially to betalactam antibiotics.In children, one of the major difficulty in the diagnosis of drug allergies, and especially to antibiotics, is the differentiation of maculopapular eruption as an allergic reaction from a viral exanthema, which is very common among children. Therefore, a high number of children are inappropriately labeled as "drug allergic". In case of suspicion of an allergy, it is recommended to perform a complete allergy workup.
The Effect of Nanoclays on Nanofiber Density Gradient in 3D Scaffolds Fabricated By Divergence Electrospinning

Abstract Tissue engineering generally requires the use of artificial scaffolds to recreating the in vivo milieu which coordinates complex spatiotemporal mechanisms to guide cell behavior. Studies showed that aligned nanofiber scaffolds provide biophysical stimuli to promote cell adhesion, proliferation, morphogenesis, and motility. This study presents a 3D assembly process of aligned polycaprolactone nanofibers directed by a symmetrically divergent electric field. Nanoclays (phyllosilicate) were added into the polymer solution to enhance the homogeneity of fiber distribution within the scaffold. The conductivity and viscosity of solutions were characterized. The nanofiber attributes including fiber diameter, fiber density, and fiber alignment were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the homogeneity of nanofiber distribution with regard to density and alignment were positively correlated with the conductivity and viscosity of polymer solution. This study demonstrated the feasibility of fine-tuning the microstructure of 3D assembled nanofiber scaffolds by altering the material properties.
Heterogeneity of AtT-20 cell glucocorticoid binding sites: evidence for a membrane receptor.

In previous studies we have found that intact AtT-20 cells contained two glucocorticoid binding sites with distinctly different affinities and specificity. In this paper, the nature of these sites was investigated by studying glucocorticoid binding to cytosol and to plasma membranes isolated from AtT-20 mouse pituitary tumor cells. Plasma membrane vesicles were isolated from AtT-20 cells and found to take up α-aminoisobutyric acid, indicating that they were properly oriented and functionally intact. Corticosterone bound to these vesicles in a time- and temperature-dependent manner. The binding exhibited a glucocorticoid preference since non-glucocorticoids such as progesterone, testosterone or estradiol were unable to inhibit binding. In addition, binding specificity differed from that of the cytoplasmic receptor since the synthetic glucocorticoids were also ineffective competitors. The major inhibitors of binding were corticosterone > 11-dehydrocorticosterone > 11-ketoprogesterone > cortisol. In other complementary studies, AtT-20 cell cytosol was tested to determine whether heterogenous soluble sites exhibiting a preference for the natural vs the synthetic steroid could also be identified. We found that binding sites for both steroid classes were approximately similar in number, specificity and behavior on ion-exchange chromatography.
A generalizable method for false-discovery rate estimation in mass spectrometry-based lipidomics

Abstract Mass spectrometry (MS)-based lipidomics is revolutionizing lipid research with high throughput identification and quantification of hundreds to thousands of lipids with the goal of elucidating lipid metabolism and function. Estimates of statistical confidence in lipid identification are essential for downstream data interpretation in a biological context. In the related field of proteomics, a variety of methods for estimating false-discovery are available, and understanding the statistical confidence of identifications is typically required for data analysis and hypothesis testing. However, there is no current method for estimating the false discovery rate (FDR) or statistical confidence for MS-based lipid identifications. This has slowed the adoption of MS-based lipidomics research, as all identifications require manual inspection and validation to ensure their accuracy. We present here the first generalizable method for FDR estimation, a target/decoy approach, that allows those conducting MS-based lipidomics research to confidently adjust spectral score thresholds to minimize false discovery and to enable full automation of data analysis.
Increasing Heart Transplant Volume by Expansion of Donor Heart Selection Criteria: A Single-Center Analysis.

Abstract Background Our transplant center recently expanded the acceptance criteria for cardiac donors to increase heart transplant volume. Our purpose was to assess the success of this strategy while maintaining acceptable 1-year survival. Methods We retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent heart transplantation at our institution from January 2011 through December 2017. This time period was divided into 2 periods: 2011 to 2014 (Period A) and 2015 to 2017 (Period B) because we implemented our new donor acceptance policy at the onset of 2015. We compared recipient and donor characteristics from the 2 time periods. The primary outcomes were 1-year graft and patient survival. Results Transplant volume increased in Period B with the expanded donor acceptance policy: 128 heart transplants over 36 months compared to 52 transplants in 48 months in Period A. Mean (± SD) recipient age was significantly higher in Period B (54 ± 12 vs 50 ± 15 years; P = .04) whereas other recipient variables were similar. Donors in Period B were significantly older, more likely to be female, had larger body mass index, were located a greater distance from the transplant center, and had a higher sequence number. Female donor to male recipient occurred more often in Period B than in Period A (27% vs 10%; P = .01). Both 1-year patient survival and graft survival were unchanged between Period B (95% for both) and Period A (96% for both). Conclusions Using a more aggressive donor acceptance policy allowed for an increase in heart transplant volume while maintaining acceptable 1-year graft and patient survival.
Indole(ethyl)amine N-methyltransferase in human brain.

TANIMUKAI et al.1, using gas-liquid separation, correlated the appearance of a bufotenin-like substance in urine and the onset of psychosis in latent schizophrenics brought on by administration of a monoamine oxidase inhibitor with amino-acid precursors of indoleamines and methyl groups. Serious doubt about endogenous bufotenin as the cause of psychiatric disturbance was cast by research demonstrating that intravenously administered bufotenin produced nothing but bizarre cardiovascular symptoms in man2, 3. One objection to such work is that bufotenin may not easily cross the blood-brain barrier. Recent preliminary evidence gathered in our laboratories from rats infused intraventricularly with bufotenin has suggested that this substance is at least as potent as its powerfully hallucinogenic 5-methoxy congener (unpublished results of D. Segal and A. J. M.).
Continuous Fc detection for protein A capture process control.

Purification of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies usually involves a protein A affinity capture step. Because column breakthrough of antibody in complex, UV-absorbing culture fluid cannot be readily detected in real time, processes are designed so conservatively that column capacity is usually underutilized, wasting adsorbent and reducing productivity. We have developed a fluorescence-based monitoring technology which allows real-time mAb monitoring and used it to detect IgG in column breakthrough. The column effluent was continuously contacted with soluble fluorescein-labeled Fc-binding ligands to produce an immediately-detectable shift in both fluorescence polarization and intensity. To extend the upper limit of inlet flow rate, a 14:1 split-ratio flow splitter was tested with an inlet flow of 15 mL/min (0.9 L/h), producing a sampling stream at 1 mL/min while still enabling continuous detection functionality. We observed significant shifts in fluorescence intensity in CHO cell culture fluid spiked with human IgG, and detected 0.02-0.1 g/L human IgG in protein A column breakthrough at a flow velocity of 80 cm/h. The increase in fluorescence intensity upon 0.1% breakthrough of an 1 g/L feed was used to trigger column switching using Python-enabled two-way communication with the standard Unicorn OPC process control protocol. The technology allows rapid, continuous and reliable monitoring of IgG in a flowing process stream, without elaborate sample preparation.
Bicycle Ridership Using Crowdsourced Data: Ordered Probit Model Approach

AbstractCycling is a healthier and greener travel mode that city planners and policymakers have encouraged for short-distance trips. Because cycling provides an efficient way to improve public heal...
Personal Names in the Aramaic Inscriptions of Hatra: By Enrico Marcato. Antichristica 17 Studi Orientali 7. Venice: Edizioni Ca’Foscari, 2018. Pp. 206. Open Access (eBook), ISBN 9788869692314

The publication of onomastic resources for the study of West Semitic texts and inscriptions, particularly personal names related to Aramaic texts and their dialects, reached new heights in the 1970...