cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Multifaceted Hyperimage-Based Organization and Interaction with Bio-Medical Images

The abundance of complex media-rich information in state-of-the-art bio-medical sciences underlines the importance of paradigms for organizing, searching, browsing, and assimilating such data. In this context, image-based information, derived from a plethora of biological and medical devices, presents unique challenges. This is partially due to the richness of information expressible through visual media and the complexity of the underlying semantics. There is today a paucity of paradigms that allow organization and browsing of large image collections, in manners that capture the intricacies of image semantics and support experiential factors in information assimilation and user-data interactions. This paper presents our research in designing such an organizational framework. Central to our approach is the philosophy of recognizing and directly capturing the heterogeneity of semantics that may exist even for a single bio-medical image. Using this as a starting point, we extend the notion of image hyperlinking to support multiple semantic associations between bio-medical images. By using these associations, expressed as hyperlinks, image collections can be organized simultaneously from different biological or medical perspectives. We also consider the issues of creating, storing, and managing information in such an organizational paradigm. Finally, we describe a unified presentation-interaction environment that facilitates user interactions including information organization, querying, and exploration. Examples and case studies demonstrate the promise and broad applicability of this research.
Resistorless Bi-CMOS logic circuit

A logic circuit design which combines bipolar emitter coupled logic (ECL) and CMOS technology with extremely low power consumption and low propagation delay is introduced. The calculated and the simulated results show that the power-speed product is 12.5 P-J which is 35 P-J less than the conventional Motorola ECL-10 k. Simulated results show that the proper operation of the circuit requires an optimum bias of 1.5 V. The corresponding maximum peak transient power is 17 mW, while the maximum RMS power is about 10 mW. >
On the mean motion induced by internal gravity waves

A train of internal gravity waves in a stratified liquid exerts a stress on the liquid and induces changes in the mean motion of second order in the wave amplitude. In those circumstances in which the concept of a slowly varying quasi-sinusoidal wave train is consistent, the mean velocity is almost horizontal and is determined to a first approximation irrespective of the vertical forces exerted by the waves. The sum of the mean flow kinetic energy and the wave energy is then conserved. The circulation around a horizontal circuit moving with the mean velocity is increased in the presence of waves according to a simple formula. The flow pattern is obtained around two- and three-dimensional wave packets propagating into a liquid at rest and the results are generalized for any basic state of motion in which the internal Froude number is small. Momentum can be associated with a wave packet equal to the horizontal wave-number times the wave energy divided by the intrinsic frequency.
Telecommunications diagnostic expert system

The author describes an expert system that performs real-time diagnosis of a large telecommunication digital radio network. She presents the diagnosis in layers emulating the techniques of experienced field engineers. The first two layers provide measured estimates of likely causes for network failures. The last layer determines detailed causes for network misbehaviour reported in the first two layers. >
Poly(bismethylene hydroquinone) (PBHQ). I. Synthesis and characterization

Poly(bismethylene hydroquinone) (PBHQ) has been synthesized. Fourier transform infrared, 13C solid-state CP/MAS NMR and elemental analysis provide strong evidence of two methylene bridges per hydroquinone molecule. The polymer was (1) air oxidized using ammonia and (2) chemically oxidized using bromine/KOH. The initial structure and oxidation process was studied by comparison of the unoxidized and oxidized polymers using Fourier transform infrared, elemental analysis, and 13C solid-state CP/MAS NMR.
Control of aliasing in the harmonic balance simulation of nonlinear microwave circuits

A dual-frequency-set analysis scheme is proposed which reduces aliasing in the harmonic balance simulation of nonlinear microwave circuits without requiring excessive simulation time. The authors investigate the origin of aliasing and present a condition for determining the smallest acceptable transform frequency set which will reduce aliasing. This derivation is for periodic signals, however, the results can be extended to multiple incommensurate input tones if the transform is accomplished by a multidimensional FFT (fast Fourier transform). Results of some dual set analysis (e.g., for a MESFET amplifier) are presented. >
A Behavioral Approach to the Case of Ms.S.

This article provides a behavioral formulation and treatment plan for the case of Ms. S. Given the complexity of Ms. S and the status of current research, interventions proposed emphasize empirically supported principles of change over any specific protocol. This particular behavioral approach incorporates aspects of dialectical behavior therapy and functional analytic psychotherapy in addition to more traditional behavior therapy. The utility of the therapeutic relationship in this approach is described. My approach to psychotherapy is behavioral, such that I conceptualize the development and maintenance of behaviors according to learning theory (operant conditioning, classical conditioning, etc.). I view the context in which behavior occurs as critical to accurate conceptualizations and change. I focus on the function of behavior over the form of behavior (i.e., what the behavior does for the person as opposed to what it looks like), and I place high value on accurate assessments of (the function of) behavior, adhering to the adage, “Assess; do not assume.” I have a broad perspective on behavior and view most things that humans do as behavior (including feeling, thinking, behaving, and even some glandular squirting), all influenced by the same principles of learning, and all worthy of consideration in the development, maintenance, and change of problems. My interventions pull from empirically supported treatments and principles that are targeted to my behavioral formulations. I have been influenced by functional analytic psychotherapy (Kohlenberg & Tsai, 1991), a radical behavioral approach to psychotherapy that places high importance on attending to and addressing clinically relevant in-session behavior and views the therapeutic relationship as critical to change. I also have a strong background in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT; Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Amy W. Wagner, De
Activation of GABA‐A receptor ameliorates homocysteine‐induced MMP‐9 activation by ERK pathway

Hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) is a risk factor for neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. Homocysteine (Hcy) induces redox stress, in part, by activating matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), which degrades the matrix and leads to blood-brain barrier dysfunction. Hcy competitively binds to gamma-aminbutyric acid (GABA) receptors, which are excitatory neurotransmitter receptors. However, the role of GABA-A receptor in Hcy-induced cerebrovascular remodeling is not clear. We hypothesized that Hcy causes cerebrovascular remodeling by increasing redox stress and MMP-9 activity via the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway and by inhibition of GABA-A receptors, thus behaving as an inhibitory neurotransmitter. Hcy-induced reactive oxygen species production was detected using the fluorescent probe, 2'-7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate. Hcy increased nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-oxidase-4 concomitantly suppressing thioredoxin. Hcy caused activation of MMP-9, measured by gelatin zymography. The GABA-A receptor agonist, muscimol ameliorated the Hcy-mediated MMP-9 activation. In parallel, Hcy caused phosphorylation of ERK and selectively decreased levels of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-4 (TIMP-4). Treatment of the endothelial cell with muscimol restored the levels of TIMP-4 to the levels in control group. Hcy induced expression of iNOS and decreased eNOS expression, which lead to a decreased NO bioavailability. Furthermore muscimol attenuated Hcy-induced MMP-9 via ERK signaling pathway. These results suggest that Hcy competes with GABA-A receptors, inducing the oxidative stress transduction pathway and leading to ERK activation.
Glucose and cardiac risk factor control in individuals with type 2 diabetes: implications for patients and providers.

PurposeThe purpose of this descriptive study was to describe attainment of glucose and coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factor goals and to identify factors that were associated with successful goal achievement.MethodsA cross-sectional survey enrolled 110 subjects with type 2 diabetes undergoing screening for asymptomatic myocardial ischemia.ResultsMany participants had HbA1c levels ≥7% (45%), and 46% to 79% were not meeting goals for CHD risk reduction. Individual factors of age, gender, and anxiety; the illness-related factor of lipid-lowering therapy; and the family-related factor of living alone were independently associated with 1 of the 7 outcomes under study. Illness-related factors of a longer duration of diabetes were strongly associated with glucose and blood pressure control, insulin use with glucose control and waist circumference, and antihypertensive use with blood pressure, triglycerides, and body mass index. Family-related factors of higher income were significantly associated with poorer...
Diagnostic usefulness of water‐to‐fat ratio and choline concentration in malignant and benign breast lesions and normal breast parenchyma: An in vivo 1H MRS study

Purpose: To compare total choline concentrations ([Cho]) and water-to-fat (W/F) ratios of subtypes of malignant lesions, benign lesions, and normal breast parenchyma and determine their usefulness in breast cancer diagnosis. Reference standard was histology. Materials and Methods: In this HIPPA compliant study, proton MRS was performed on 93 patients with suspicious lesions (>1 cm) who underwent MRI-guided interventional procedures, and on 27 prospectively accrued women enrolled for screening MRI. (W/F) and [Cho] values were calculated using MRS data. Results: Among 88 MRS-evaluable histologically-confirmed lesions, 40 invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC); 10 invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC); 4 ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS); 3 invasive mammary carcinoma (IMC); 31 benign. No significant difference observed in (W/F) between benign lesions and normal breast tissue. The area under curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for discriminating the malignant group from the benign group were 0.97, 0.72, and 0.99 using [Cho], (W/F) and their combination as biomarkers, respectively. (W/F) performs significantly (P < 0.0001;AUC = 0.96) better than [Cho] (AUC = 0.52) in differentiating IDC and ILC lesions. Conclusion: Although [Cho] and (W/F) are good biomarkers for differentiating malignancy, [Cho] is a better marker. Combining both can further improve diagnostic accuracy. IDC and ILC lesions have similar [Cho] levels but are discriminated using (W/F) values. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2011;33:855–863. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Safety of topical thrombins: the ongoing debate.

Until recently, only bovine-derived thrombin was available for use as a stand-alone topical hemostat or as a component of other hemostatic devices. Concerns over a number of case reports of immune-mediated coagulopathies associated with the use of bovine-derived thrombin resulted in a United States Food and Drug Administration warning letter being issued in 1996 and the later addition of a boxed warning ("Black Box Warning") to all bovine-derived thrombin products. Since 2007, both a human-pooled plasma thrombin product and a recombinant thrombin have entered the market.
Relativizing Complexity Classes With Random Oracles

It is known that for almost every oracle set A, P(A) ≠ NP(A) and PH(A) ≠ PSPACE(A); but there are no known results that relate these facts to the P =?NP or PH =?PSPACE problems. Here the following result is shown (Theorem 6):
Learning from small devices: Deficits in problem solving performance but not factual recall

Given the increasing use of small screen devices to gather and provide important information, a critical question is how learning and problem solving performance is impacted by collecting data on a small device. This study investigates how learning and application of information differs when it is gathered using a small screen device versus a normal size desktop display. Results indicate that while factual recall is equivalent across interfaces, small screen devices appear to reduce how well participants apply these rules towards correct solutions. Further, it appears that solution time is also increased by using a small screen device. These results suggest that while these small technologies are convenient for fact gathering and other simple uses, there is a potential tradeoff when this learned information must be used in complex and appropriate ways.
Ceftobiprole and ampicillin increase daptomycin susceptibility of daptomycin-susceptible and -resistant VRE

OBJECTIVES The synergistic combination of daptomycin plus ampicillin has proven to be effective against VRE including daptomycin-non-susceptible strains. Ceftobiprole is a cephalosporin with broad binding affinity for enterococcal PBP subtypes including PBP5. Given the synergy between β-lactams and daptomycin against VRE, it was of interest to determine whether ceftobiprole offered any synergistic advantage with daptomycin compared with ampicillin. METHODS MICs were determined by broth microdilution in the presence and absence of ampicillin or ceftobiprole for 20 ampicillin-resistant VRE. Six strains, including two isogenic pairs of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium and two vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis, were evaluated for synergy using time-kill methods. Synergy was defined as a ≥2 log10 cfu/mL reduction of the combination over the most active single agent. Binding of daptomycin-bodipy in the presence and absence of ceftobiprole was quantified. RESULTS Daptomycin MICs ranged from 2 to 256 mg/L. The addition of ceftobiprole and ampicillin reduced daptomycin MICs by a median of 3 and 4 log2 dilutions, respectively. In time-kill studies, daptomycin plus either ceftobiprole or ampicillin was synergistic against four of six strains, but not the same strains. Both combinations were synergistic against the vancomycin-resistant E. faecalis strains. Ceftobiprole exposure increased daptomycin-bodipy binding by 2.8 times (P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS Ceftobiprole appears to offer a similar degree of synergistic activity to ampicillin when combined with daptomycin against VRE. Further research should explore the genetic and phenotypic qualities of strains that respond preferentially to ceftobiprole as opposed to ampicillin.
Searching for minimally invasive aortic valve surgery that can compete with a transcatheter approach.

The study in this issue of the Journal by Wahlers and colleagues 1 demonstrates excellent outcomes after aortic valve replacement with a new sutureless rapid deployment aortic valve developed by Edwards, the Intuity valve (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, Calif), through a full sternotomy, upper hemisternotomy, or right anterior thoracotomy. Crossclamp times were short for the sternotomy approaches (43 minutes) and longer for anterior thoracotomy (88 minutes). The complication rates were similarly low among all cohorts. The same group has previously reported similar excellent outcomes from the first implanted valves, showing reduced aortic crossclamp times relative to conventional surgery as well as low gradients across the valve. 2 In another published report, 1-year outcomes were excellent with the use of this innovative valve. 3
Applying the LSVD to Facilitate Vocational Behavior and Development

This quote was taken from the Introduction to Hollingworth’s (1916) Vocational psychology: Its problems and methods, written by Joseph Jastrow, an early pioneer of scientific methods in psychology. In the previous chapters, we endeavored to carefully lay a solid theoretical foundation. The present chapter will attempt the challenging task of moving from theory to practice.
“Selling” Europe on free enterprise: Advertising, business and the US State Department in the late 1940s

Purpose – A number of scholars have explored the US Government’s postwar efforts, often in collaboration with the business community, to “sell America” to Americans themselves; others have documented the means through which such information was aimed at audiences behind the Iron Curtain. Few scholars have explored the use of the US “propaganda” to secure political loyalty and financial markets among Western allies, and fewer still have studied the government’s use of commercial marketing methods for this purpose. Attempting to fill a void, this paper aims to explore the US State Department’s postwar collaboration with the Advertising Council, a non-profit organization funded and organized by American business, to “sell” the 16 countries that were receiving aid under the Marshall Plan on “the American way of life”. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing primarily from archival sources, the underlying research here is heavily based on various State Department collections housed at the National Archives in Wa...
Eukaryotic core histone diversification in light of the histone doublet and DNA topo II genes of Marseilleviridae

While eukaryotic and archaean genomes encode the histone fold domain, only eukaryotes encode the core histones H2A, H2B, H3, and H4. Core histones assemble into a hetero-octamer rather than the homo-tetramer of Archaea. Thus it was unexpected that core histone “doublets” were identified in the cytoplasmic replication factories of the Marseilleviridae (MV), one family of Nucleo-Cytoplasmic Large DNA Viruses (NCLDV). Here we analyze the core histone doublet genes from all known Marseilleviridae genomes and show that they encode obligate H2B-H2A and H4-H3 dimers of likely proto-eukaryotic origin. Each MV core histone moiety forms a sister clade to a eukaryotic core histone clade inclusive of canonical core histone paralogs, suggesting that MV core histone moieties diverged prior to eukaryotic neofunctionalizations associated with paired linear chromosomes and variant histone octamer assembly. We also show that all MV genomes encode a eukaryote-like DNA topoisomerase II enzyme that forms a clade that is sister to the eukaryotic clade. As DNA topo II influences histone deposition and chromatin compaction and is the second most abundant nuclear protein after histones, we suggest MV genes underlie a proto-chromatinized replisome that diverged prior to diversification of eukaryotic core histone variants. Thus, combined domain architecture and phylogenomic analyses suggest that a primitive origin for MV chromatin genes is a more parsimonious explanation than horizontal gene transfers + gene fusions + long-branch attraction constrained to each core histone clade. These results imply that core histones were utilized ancestrally in viral DNA compaction, protection from host endonucleases, and/or other unknown processes associated with NCLDV-like progenitors.
Pupillometric analysis of two theories of obesity.

Summy.-A pupillometric analysis was conducted on the effects of internal and external food-related cues on overweight and normalweight sub jects. Specifically, half of the subjects in each of these groups were sated and the other half hungry when they viewed slides of main courses and snacks. Only normalweight hungry subjects responded with markedly increased pupillary dilation, indicating heightened affect/interest, but to pictures of main courses, not to snacks. The lack of marked dilations among overweight subjects, even the s~~alled hungry group, seems to support Schachter's 1971 theory of obesity over Nisbett's 1972 one. The biopsychological basis of hunger in obese individuals is of interest for both practical and theoretical reasons. Two major theories of hunger motivation are those of Schachter ( 1971 ) and of Nisbett ( 1972). Both of these theories have drawn parallels between the eating behavior of obese individuals and the behavior of rats made hyperphagic by surgical lesions in the ventromedial hypothalamus. However, the conclusions of the theories are quite different. Schachter (1971) has hypothesized that the eating behavior of overweight individuals is determined by external stimuli rather than the internal physiological state-the exteroceptive hypothesis. Internal cues such as how long it has been since they last ate do not affect such people. Rather, external cues such as the attractive appearance of the food or the time of day are what they use ro decide whether to eat or not. Nisbett (1972) proposed that the ventromedial hypothalamus acts as a ponderostat, a mechanism which works to keep a person at his biologically programmed weight. This is controlled by the number of adipocytes (fat cells), which in turn is a function of the individual's heredity and early childhood eating experiences. It cannot be changed in adulthood. Because social pressures in our culture keep many obese people on diets, they are often at a weight below their biologically programmed weight, interoceptively controlled by the ponderostat. Thus, their central nervous system causes them to behave as if they were suffering from chronic hunger, even if they do not report being aware of it. However, when they are at their preprogrammed (obese) weight, they behave towards food as do normalweight people.
On Commutation of Reduction and Control: Linear Feedback Control of a von Kármán Vortex Street

Design of feedback controls for distributed parameter systems in fluid flows remains a formidable task for researchers. One popular approach is “reduce-then-contol” which has been successfully implemented by first developing a reduced-order model and then applying the control theory. However, this approach has several drawbacks, such as ensuring the unknown feedback functional gains are well represented in the reduced-basis. Control of vortex shedding past a circular cylinder has become a canonical problem to test or validate a flow control design. Control of the von Karman vortex street has many applications, e.g. when designing ocean platforms–as the vortex shedding induces an oscillatory fatigue load on structural components. In this paper, we follow “control-then-reduce” approach to control von Karman vortex street (periodic shedding) in a channel using cylinder rotation as the actuation. The approach is to linearize the Navier-Stokes equations about the desired (unstable) steady-state flow and design the control for the regulator problem using distributed parameter control theory. The Oseen equations are discretized using finite element methods and the resulting LQR control problem requires the solution to algebraic Riccati equations with very high rank. The feedback gains are computed using model reduction in a “control-then-reduce” framework. Model reduction is used to efficiently solve both Chandrasekhar and Lyapunov equations. The reduced Chandrasekhar equations are used to produce a stable initial guess for a Kleinman-Newton iteration. The high-rank Lyapunov equations associated with Kleinman-Newton iterations are solved by applying a novel model reduction strategy. Numerical results for a 2-D cylinder wake problem at a Reynolds number of 100 demonstrate that this approach works when perturbations from the steady-state solution are small enough. In this study, we map the functional gains computed for the flow past a cylinder in a channel onto an exterior flow past a cylinder to analyze the performance of the controller. We present numerical results for various flow conditions to test the robustness of the control mechanism.
Psychological Nursing of Patients in PET/CT Examination

Objective By givng patients psychological nursing,attributing them to cooperation in the examination,perfect images and the correct diagnosis can be obtained. Methods Explaining the knowledge of the equipments and the examination, broadcasting videos ,improving the environment of the waiting-room,and telling the family the details of examination, can reduce or eliminate mental burden of the patients. Results 98% of the patients' mental burden are relieved. Conclusion Knowing patients' informations carefully is the key of the mental nursing. Every patient has different experience,background, the width of knowledge and the details of the examination. Different plans on psychological nursing based on that lead to satisfying results.
Abstract 4506: Identification of druggable transcriptional outliers in urothelial carcinoma

Background: Urothelial carcinoma (UC) is a major public health problem affecting new 75,000 patients and resulting in 15,000 deaths annually. Despite a variety of genetic and epigenetic alterations described in UC, few therapeutically exploitable drivers have been identified and validated. We hypothesized that transcriptional outliers from primary tumor biopsies could reveal such therapeutically exploitable weaknesses. Identification of these druggable outliers would be critical for individualized therapy of patients with UC. Methods: In order to identify transcriptional outliers we calculated Z-scores for a set of 72 druggable cancer-related genes from RNA sequencing data from our Institute of Precision Medicine (IPM) cohort of advanced platinum-resistant UC. We performed similar outlier analyses on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort of UC and the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE) database of urothelial cell lines. Common outliers between IPM and CCLE datasets or between TCGA and CCLE datasets were nominated for further in-vitro testing. Sensitivity scores of cell lines for 130 drugs were extracted from the publicly available cell line browser database and the variance these sensitivity scores across (640) cell lines was calculated. The drugs targeting the outlier genes (real sensitivity z-score) were compared to the mean z-scores of randomly chosen drugs associated with those genes (control sensitive z-score). To investigate the mechanisms underlying comparison of outliers methylation patterns of the promoter regions of outlier genes were examined. Results: 6 druggable outlier genes were common between IPM and CCLE cohorts, and 15 outlier genes between CCLE and TCGA cohorts. Common outliers included FGFR3, KIT, BCL2, ABL1, and SMO. The presence of outlier genes in cell lines correlated with higher sensitivity to drugs predicted to target these genes in comparison to randomly selected drugs (p Citation Format: Bishoy S. M. Faltas, Rohan Bareja, Ethan Shelkey, Rebecca Mayer, Andrea Sboner, Mark A. Rubin, Olivier Elemento. Identification of druggable transcriptional outliers in urothelial carcinoma. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 4506.
An LFT approach for distributed control of nonstationary LPV systems

We develop an operator theoretic framework for heterogeneous, discrete-time, nonstationary linear parameter-varying systems in linear fractional representation. These systems are interconnected over arbitrary directed graphs and subjected to a communication latency of one sampling period. We give results, based on the l2-induced norm performance measure, for analysis and synthesis of distributed controllers that have the same structure as the plant. The analysis and synthesis conditions are convex, but infinite dimensional in general. They become finite dimensional in the case of distributed eventually time-periodic systems over finite graphs.
Barrel Polishing with Alumina-Composite Botanical Abrasives

The applicability of botanical abrasives to metallic materials was examined by subjecting various metal pieces to barrel polishing with a walnut shell botanical abrasive or a walnut shell-based alumina-composite botanical abrasive. The alumina-composite abrasive was prepared by mixing walnut shell with alumina powder, aliphatic acid, mineral oil, surfactant, and water. 7 kinds of metals were used: aluminum, copper, brass, aluminum alloy, duralumin, stainless steel, and titanium alloy. The applicability of botanical abrasives to metallic materials was verified, with metals with lower hardness or higher density polished more easily. The alumina-composite botanical abrasive was superior to the walnut shell botanical abrasive in polishing performance. The mechanism of barrel polishing is discussed on the basis of the obtained results.
Geographic distribution of incidence of pericardial and paratesticular mesotheliomas in the USA

Exposure to asbestos is thought to cause the large majority of pleural mesotheliomas in the USA. It is unknown whether asbestos exposure plays a role in the etiology of rarer forms of mesothelioma, e.g., those located in the pericardium or in the tunica vaginalis of the testis. In order to address this question, we sought to determine whether geographic patterns of incidence of these mesotheliomas have paralleled those of pleural mesotheliomas. We used age-adjusted incidence data from the nine populations served by the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program during 1973–2011. Among men ages ≥50 years, we compared the incidence of pericardial and paratesticular mesotheliomas, respectively, with the incidence of pleural mesothelioma across the nine populations. The rate of pleural mesothelioma was approximately twice as high in the San Francisco–Oakland (SFO) and Seattle–Puget Sound (SPS) areas compared to the other regions. In contrast, rates of paratesticular and pericardial mesotheliomas were not elevated in SFO (n = 3 paratesticular, 1 pericardial) or SPS (n = 4 paratesticular, 1 pericardial) relative to other regions. The results of this ecologic study do not support a role for asbestos exposure in the etiologies of either pericardial or paratesticular mesotheliomas; however, this study was limited by small numbers and was unable to directly ascertain asbestos exposure.
A Novel Fluorescent Method for Rapid Screening of Compounds for Antioxidant Activity

Lipid peroxidation is a very undesirable reaction in foods and is generally recognized as the primary factor limiting the shelf-life of most processed food products1. To mitigate the detrimental effects of lipid peroxidation on food quality, many highly effective antioxidants have been developed. Some of the most effective antioxidants such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) are currently falling into disfavor due to alleged carcinogenic properties2. This, coupled with the consumer’s demand for “natural” food ingredients has created considerable interest in the identification and use of effective plant-derived antioxidants as potential replacements for synthetic compounds. Some of these compounds are not only effective as antioxidants but may also impart significant health benefits to foods such as antiatherogenic, antimutagenic, and anticarcinogenic activities3,4.
Molecular-Genetic Classification of Gliomas and Its Practical Application to Diagnostic Neuropathology

Gliomas represent a broad category of tumors affecting the central nervous system of patients of all ages. Those that are diffusely infiltrative, such as the diffuse astrocytomas and oligodendrogliomas, occur most frequently in the cerebral hemispheres of adults and have a strong tendency toward clinical progression. The highest grade form, glioblastoma (GBM), WHO grade IV, has a dismal prognosis and can present either de novo or evolve from a lower grade precursor. The classification and grading of diffuse gliomas has historically been based primarily on histopathologic features, yet molecular biomarkers have now become an established component of the neuropathologic diagnosis, since molecular alterations are more reproducible classifiers and provide additional value in prognostication and prediction of therapeutic response. Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutations are frequent in grade II and III diffuse gliomas of adults, as well as secondary GBMs, and are a major discriminate of biologic class. IDH-mutant diffusely infiltrative astrocytomas (grades II and III), as well as secondary GBMs, are characterized by TP53 and ATRX mutations. Oligodendrogliomas are also IDH-mutant, but instead are characterized by 1p/19q co-deletion and mutations of CIC, FUBP1, Notch1 and the TERT promoter. Primary GBMs typically lack IDH mutations and demonstrate EGFR, PTEN, TP53, PDGFRA, NF1 and CDKN2A/B alterations and TERT promoter mutations. Pediatric gliomas differ in their spectrum of disease from those in adults; high grade gliomas occurring in children frequently have mutations in H3F3A, ATRX and DAXX, but not IDH. Low grade neuroepithelial tumors of childhood, such as pilocytic astrocytoma, pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma, ganglioglioma, dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor and angiocentric glioma have molecular pathogenesis and clinical behavior distinct from adult gliomas often harbor mutations or activating gene rearrangements in BRAF, FGFR1 and MYB.
Conductance and statistical properties of chaotic and integrable electron waveguides

We show that the S-matrix for electrons propagating in a waveguide has different statistical properties depending on whether the waveguide cavity shape gives rise to chaotic or integrable behavior classically. We obtain distributions of energy level spacings for integrable and chaotic billiards shaped like the waveguide cavity. We also obtain distributions for Wigner delay times and resonance widths for the waveguide, for integrable and chaotic cavity geometries. Our results, obtained by direct numerical calculation of the electron wave function, are consistent with the predictions of random matrix theory.
IoT Security Framework for Smart Water System

The Internet of Things (IoT) will connect not only computers and mobile devices, but it will also interconnect smart buildings, homes, and cities. The IoT take advantage of the latest communication technologies in order to provide optimal and reliable services to Smart Cities (SC). The backbone of SC are the Critical Infrastructures such as the city's water system. In SC, the water system benefits from the development of automation and communication technologies to create smart environments which are more efficient in the use of the available resources; we call it Smart Water System (SWS). In this paper we present a multilayer architecture to integrate the SWS to the IoT, making it available from everywhere at any time. However, with the introduction of IoT we will be experiencing grand challenges to secure and protect its advanced information services due to the significant increase of the attack surface, complexity, heterogeneity, and number of interconnected resources. We also introduce an IoT Framework for SWSs to build trustworthy and secure applications and services. The framework enables developers to consider security issues at all IoT layers and integrate security algorithms with the functions and services offered in each layer instead of considering security in an ad-hoc and after thought manner. We show how this framework can be used to develop highly secure and trustworthy SWS services and how to apply our Anomaly Behavior Analysis methodology to secure and protect these services against any type of attacks.
Distance Education Assessment Infrastructure and Process Design Based on International Standard 23988.

Assessment is an important part of distance education (DE). As class sizes get larger and workloads increase, the IT infrastructure and processes used for DE assessments become more of an issue. Using the BS ISO/IEC 23988:2007 Standard for the use of technology in the delivery of assessments as a guide, this paper describes a rational approach to an information technology infrastructure and process which helps to answer questions regarding the quality and integrity of DE based assessments.This paper remains agnostic with regard to the validity of types of assessments used for various purposes, and deals only with the issues of IT delivery and the management of assessments. The information presented can be used as a basis for in-house written software development or to compare and contrast various off-theshelf options.
Custom Wavelet Packet Image Compression Design

Publisher Summary No single image compression algorithm can be expected to work well for all classes of digital images. The sampling rates, frequency content, and pixel quantization influence the compressibility of the original data. Subsequent machine or human analyses of the compressed data, or its presentation at various magnifications, all influence the nature and visibility of distortion and artifacts. Thus, compression standards like those of the JPEG committee, established for “natural” images intended to be viewed by humans, do not satisfy the requirements for compressing fingerprint images intended to be scanned by machines. This chapter presents a meta-algorithm for designing a transform coding image compression algorithm specific to a given application. The goal of the chapter is to select a decorrelating transform that performs best on a given collection of data. It consists of conducting experimental trials with adapted wavelet transforms and the best basis algorithm, evaluating the basis choices made for a training set of images, then selecting a transform that, on an average, delivers the best compression for the data set. A crude version of the method is used to design the wavelet scalar quantization (WSQ) fingerprint image compression algorithm.
Information Security Principles for Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Systems

A growing number of healthcare organizations are replacing their traditional record keeping methods with the electronic medical record (EMR) systems as part of an on-going effort toward the digitization of healthcare. With the growing use of this digital information system, concerns about the state of security for the EMR systems have also increased. In recent years, a large number of academic and non-academic research activities are directed toward the use and implementation of EMR, however, very few of these studies are focused on the issue of security within the EMR systems. This paper explores the basics of computer security and proposes security principles that should be considered as guidelines at the time of EMR systems implementations. Our analysis of the literature and theory provides new insight for researchers and assists healthcare practitioners with increased security for EMR adoption.
Mortality After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: Narrowing the Knowledge Gap.

See Article by Brener et al During the past 4 decades, we have been witness to a major reduction in mortality in the general population primarily because of improved survival from coronary heart disease.1 The management of coronary artery disease has been revolutionized by both pharmacological advances and percutaneous coronary intervention with a significant mortality reduction, particularly in the acute coronary syndrome population.2,3 Although percutaneous coronary intervention has been shown to reduce symptoms in patients with stable ischemic heart disease, a mortality benefit, the ultimate measure of treatment effect, has not been shown in this patient population and the prognostic benefits still remain uncertain despite multiple clinical trials.4 Assessment of mortality is especially important when considering therapies that may be lifesaving or are associated with complications that are life threatening. Mortality is fortunately infrequent, and differences between therapies are usually small, requiring large studies with thousands of patients to measure statistically significant differences. Most trials that have assessed clinical outcomes with coronary stenting have not been large enough to assess mortality, but rather are designed to explore adverse ischemic complications, including myocardial infarction, stent thrombosis, and restenosis. The original stent trials that led to their Food and Drug Administration approval had a combined total of just over 900 patients with a primary end point of angiographic restenosis.5,6 In addition to the small size, most of these trials exclude the highest risk patients who may benefit the most. Given the small sample …
Thermo-Mechanical Properties of Thermoset Polymers and Composites Fabricated by Frontal Polymerization

Thermoset polymers are commonly used as the matrix material in fiber-reinforced polymer composites (FRPCs) due to their good mechanical properties, chemical stabilities, and ease of manufacturing. Conventional curing of thermosets and their composites requires heating the matrix monomers at elevated temperatures during long cure cycles for producing fully crosslinked polymers, resulting in high manufacturing cost in terms of time, energy, and capital investment. Frontal polymerization (FP) is a promising approach for rapid, energy-efficient fabrication of high-performance thermosets and FRPCs. In FP, a thermal stimulus (trigger) causes a self-propagating exothermic reaction wave that transforms liquid monomers to fully cured polymers, eliminating the need for external energy input by large ovens or autoclaves. We have used the FP of dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) to successfully fabricate thermoset polymers and composite parts. In this novel curing strategy, the final degree-of-cure of the polymer, and thereby its mechanical performance, is governed by the heat transfer phenomenon that occur at the polymerization front. During the fabrication of FRPCs some fraction of the generated heat is absorbed by continuous fibers or lost through the tooling. In this work, we will discuss the characterization of the thermo-mechanical properties of DCPD polymer manufactured by FP curing.
Laparoscopic appendectomy - Outcomes of senior trainees operating without supervision versus experienced pediatric surgeons

Abstract Aim of the study Pediatric surgery trainees at our program are allowed to perform unsupervised laparoscopic appendectomies during their last year of training to promote independent operative decision-making skills. We reviewed the outcomes of laparoscopic appendectomies done by senior trainees without supervision and compared them to experienced pediatric surgeons. Methods We reviewed 500 laparoscopic appendectomies performed without supervision by the last 10 pediatric surgery trainees during their last year of training (first 50 cases of each trainee). We compared the outcomes of those 500 cases to the outcomes of 200 laparoscopic appendectomies performed by eight experienced pediatric surgeons (last 25 cases of each surgeon). Data are expressed as mean (SD), unless otherwise indicated. A P value of ≤ 0.05 was regarded as significant. Main results Median age in the “trainees” and “surgeons” groups was 11 (range 2–22) and 12 (2–20) years, respectively (P = 0.35). The proportion of perforated appendicitis was similar: 98/500 (19.6%) in the trainees group and 42/200 (21%) in the surgeons group, respectively (P = 0.75). Mean operative time was 41 (SD 14.5) min in the trainees group vs. 39 (SD 16.1) min in the surgeons group (P = 0.05). Minor intraoperative complications occurred in 3/500 (0.6%) cases in the trainees group vs. 1/200 (0.5%) in the surgeons group (P = 0.69). No major complications occurred in either group. Mean hospital stay was 2 (range 0.5–26) and 2.3 (range 0.5–18) days in the trainees and surgeons groups, respectively (P = 0.25). There were 13/500 vs. 5/200 readmissions (P = 0.92), and 1/500 vs. 1/200 reoperations in the trainees and surgeons groups, respectively (P = 0.91). Conclusion Allowing senior pediatric surgery trainees to perform laparoscopic appendectomies without supervision to stimulate surgical autonomy is safe and does not compromise patient outcomes. Level of evidence III.
Relation of Minor Electrocardiographic Abnormalities to Cardiovascular Mortality.

Although minor electrocardiographic (ECG) abnormalities are common findings in clinical practice, their prognostic significance remains unclear due to inconsistent reports. We hypothesized that this inconsistency is due to the traditional focus on examining their prognostic significance as a binary variable (i.e., presence vs absence of any abnormality) ignoring the number of abnormalities. We tested this hypothesis in 6,467 participants (mean age 59 years, 53% women) from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey who were free of baseline cardiovascular disease (CVD) and major ECG abnormalities. ECG abnormalities were defined from digitally recorded and centrally processed standard electrocardiograms using the Minnesota ECG Classification. CVD mortality was ascertained using National Death Index. About 38% of participants (n = 2,438) had at least 1 minor ECG abnormality at baseline. During a median follow-up of 13.9 years, 755 CVD deaths occurred. In a multivariable Cox model, presence of at least 1 minor ECG abnormality was marginally associated with increased risk of CVD mortality (hazard ratio (95% confidence interval):1.15(1.00,1.34), p-value = 0.04)). However, as the number of ECG abnormalities increases, the association with CVD mortality showed a dose-response relation (event rate per 1,000 person-year of 7.3, 10.1, and 16.7 in participants with 0, 1, and ≥2 ECG abnormalities, respectively; p-value for trend
Solar-TK: A Solar Modeling and Forecasting Toolkit

There has been significant prior work on solar performance modeling and forecasting that infers a site's current and future solar generation based on different factors including a site's location, time, weather, and physical attributes. Unfortunately, much of the prior work is not accessible to researchers, either because it has not been implemented and released as open-source, is too complex and time-consuming to re-implement, or requires access to proprietary data sources. To address the problem, we present Solar-TK, a data-driven toolkit for solar performance modeling and forecasting that is simple, extensible, and publicly accessible. Solar-TK's simple approach models and forecasts a site's solar output given only its location and a small amount of historical generation data. We plan to publicly release Solar-TK as open-source to enable research that requires realistic solar models and forecasts, and to serve as a baseline for comparing new solar modeling and forecasting techniques.
Osseous reconstruction of the midface and orbits.

Reconstruction of the midface and orbits is best accomplished when both functional and aesthetic needs are addressed. Analysis of the defects shows that the area can be considered a juxtaposition of the orbital cavity, nasomaxillary complex, and oral cavity. The most important functional surfaces are the infraorbital area, the lateral nasal wall-medial orbital wall, the palate, and the malar-buccal skin surfaces. The use of vascularized bone and soft tissue transferred by microvascular techniques is the best way of reconstructing large and complex defects.
Closed form solution for the energy release rate and mode partitioning of the single cantilever beam sandwich debond from an elastic foundation analysis

The goal of this paper is to derive closed form expressions for the energy release rate and mode partitioning offace/core debonds for the Single Cantilever Beam Sandwich Composite testing configura...