cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Composition based on pentatonic scales: a computer-aided approach

The use of pentatonic scales to explore some basic techniques of computer-aided composition is reported. The numeric notation employed to represent pitch and duration is described, examples of pentatonic music and scales are given, and the basic techniques for making music under the guidance of a composer are discussed. The score of a short composition generated with these techniques is shown and discussed. >
The Impact of Blurred Vision on Functioning and Well-Being

Objective: To determine the impact of blurred vision on functional status and wellbeing, the authors used a cross-sectional analysis of Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) 2-year follow-up data. Methods: One thousand six hundred forty-two respondents were asked to report how often they experienced blurred vision not correctable by glasses or contact lenses, as well as other various symptoms, at the 2-year follow-up. Participants completed the SF-36 ™ , a general functioning and well-being instrument. Demographic, medical, and other data also were collected. The association of these symptoms, including blurred vision, and tracer medical conditions with SF-36 ™ scores were evaluated. Results: The unique impact of blurred vision on role limitations due to physical health problems was significantly greater than the impact of hypertension, history of myocardial infarction, type II diabetes mellitus, indigestion, trouble urinating, and headache. Blurred vision also had a significantly greater negative impact on energy than Type I diabetes mellitus, on social function than indigestion, and on physical functioning than trouble urinating. Conclusions: Having blurred vision more than once or twice a month has a detectable and significant impact on functional status and well-being, especially in role limitations due to physical health problems. This demonstrates the impact of a common visual symptom on health status and well-being, as measured by the SF-36 ™ . In addition, comparison of the impact of various symptoms and conditions provides important and potentially clinically relevant information.
Using physical models to determine cortical strains in the head during dynamic loading

The physical modeling study presented demonstrates that cortical brain tissue deformation increases substantially when the applied loading is changed from the lateral to sagittal direction. This observation indicates that the direction of loading is an important parameter to consider when investigating the mechanisms of cortical heat injuries. Results from animal studies show that it is not only the magnitude and temporal loading characteristics but also the direction of loading that contributes to the type of injury produced. The two physical models in this study were used to determine the change in cortical brain deformation that occurs when the head undergoes inertial loading in different directions. >
Ethnic Identification Biases Responses to the Padua Inventory for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

The authors report differential item functioning (DIF) between Black and White participants completing the 60-item Padua Inventory (PI) for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The authors use an Internet-generated sample that included 105 Blacks, 67 Hispanics, 582 Whites, and 136 additional participants reporting an OCD diagnosis. Factor analysis replicated prior work indicating the PI consists of four factors: contamination fears, checking behaviors, impaired control over thoughts, and fear of losing control over impulses. On the contamination subscale, nonclinical Black and Hispanic mean scores were as high as the OCD group. Comparing Blacks to Whites, the authors applied an item response theory, DIF-graded response model to each factor and found significant DIF on eight items, with biased items in each factor. Results suggest that extraneous factors contribute to racial differences on scores. Cultural practices and fear of being negatively stereotyped may contribute to item bias.
Molluscan Taphofacies in Recent Carbonate Reef/Lagoon Systems and their Application to Sub-Fossil Samples from Reef Cores

Abstract Modern taphofacies analyses have been worked out for different mixed carbonate and siliciclastic sedimentary environments using molluscan faunas. Studies of how the combined effect of the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the environment of deposition results in a particular taphonomic signature on fossilizable remains must be done on Recent assemblages to understand taphonomic signatures of ancient faunas. Studies have defined modern taphofacies by erecting broad damage categories to which each sample is assigned. Others graphically characterize environments based on individual taphonomic indices (e.g., fragmentation, abrasion), rely on presence-absence data, or construct ternary taphograms for each taphonomic characteristic. This study defines taphofacies based on a statistical treatment of the entire taphonomic signature of molluscs from several carbonate reef and lagoon systems in the northeastern Caribbean. The method uses non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination to...
Establishment and Maintenance of In Vitro Cultures of Human Retinal Pigment Epithelium

The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is a layer of multipotential cells of neural ectoderm origin lying between Bruch's membrane and the neural retina. The RPE subserves several essential ocular functions, including phagocytosis of shed photoreceptor outer segments, maintenance of the blood-retinal barrier, absorption of stray light, regulation of the biochemical, metabolic, and ionic composition of the subretinal space, and induction of embryonic differentiation of adjacent neural retina and choroid (1). Experimental evidence indicates that early in embryonic life, the neural retina can regenerate from the pigment epithelium (2). In vitro cultures of pure RPE provide a vehicle for studying RPE function in both normal and diseased states, and may also serve as a model for other neural cells (3, 4). Multiple techniques have been described for culturing human RPE (5-12). The authors describe here a modtfication of the technique of Del Monte and Maumenee (10), which is simple and effective in establishing primary cultures and extended cell lines of human RPE for research.
Research of University PE Cultivation of Innovative Talents

The review and analysis of the effect of college sports teaching goals that sports an innovative personnel training not only in skills, physical fitness, talent alone cannot constitute a College Physical Education the goal, they are unlikely to reflect the goal of pursuit of human development. College Physical Education, in the face of basic adult college students about to enter the era of knowledge economy in general fully rely on knowledge and knowledge application only from a global human needs, the implementation of life to serve the students, helping students to enhance quality of life directly to obtain and maintain health, beauty, happy for the goal, really reflects the objectives and requirements of the new era of human development and the vital interests of the students’ individual needs, and thus have the potential to radically stimulate the mobilization of students to learn the proactive sports to enhance and expand the effectiveness of College Physical Education.
Discounts for Lack of Marketability: Are Business Appraisers Discounting the Discounts?

We set out to understand the size of DLOMs by comparing the subject of the discounts, privately held companies, to the bases from which discounts should be applied. These relevant bases include publicly traded firms considered as guideline public companies and public market benchmarks from which cost of capital data are obtained. We created a database of 1,328 matched pairs and 9,765 matched industry pairs using transactions from 1995 to 2008. Our results indicate that entity-level discounts average between 68 and 70 percent, which are significantly larger than those reported in other databases and from other studies. We believe one of the main reasons our discounts are larger is because we captured, from privately held company transactions data, the actual value associated with the expected probability of a public market liquidity event. In other words, a matched pairs approach allowed us to calculate the discounted value associated with the expected probability of private firms becoming public firms at some point in the future.
Contextualism And Global Doubts About The World

Several recent contextualist theorists (e.g. David Lewis, Michael Williams, andKeith DeRose) have proposed contextualizing the skeptic. Their claim is that oneshould view satisfactory answers to global doubts regarding such subjects as theexternal world, other minds, and induction as requirements for justification incertain philosophical contexts, but not in everyday and scientific contexts. Incontrast, the skeptic claims that a satisfactory answer to a global doubt in eachof these areas is a context-invariant requirement for justified belief. In this paper,I consider and reject the arguments Michael Williams develops in his bookUnnatural Doubts that are intended to show that the skeptic's interpretationof the significance of global doubts is mistaken. In addition, I argue that Williams'general strategy in opposing the skeptic is extremely interesting and worth furtherinvestigation, even if his particular execution of it is unsuccessful. To this end, Iclarify the general strategy, distinguish it from a variety of others, and discuss itsprospects as an answer to the skeptic.
Studies of bovine Mycoplasma mastitis.

microscopy. This investigation was supported in part by fellowship 5-F2-CA-23, 140-02 from the National Cancer Institute, U. S. Public Health Service. * Based on a thesis submitted by the senior author to the graduate faculty of Cornell University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. f Present address: Physical Sciences Division, United States Army Medical Unit, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Fort Detrick, Frederick, Maryland 21701. broth supplemented with 10*^ swine serum, prepared according to Barber and Fabricant (1962). Occasionally, to visualize individual colonies agar media corresponding to these broths were used, also as described by Barber and Fabricant. All cultures were incubated aerobically in a moist environment at 37 C. Electron microscopy.?Blocks approximately 3 mm on a side were cut from areas of confluent Mycoplasma growth on 4-day-old agar cultures and from selected infected and uninfected tissues. These blocks were fixed for 1
Inclusion of Data Uncertainty and Model Error in Multi-disciplinary Analysis and Optimization

This paper combines efficient uncertainty propagation, surrogate modeling, and sampling techniques for uncertainty quantification and design under uncertainty of aerospace structures. A new method is developed for including data uncertainty and model error quantification in multi-disciplinary system analysis (MDA) and optimization that usually requires iterative analyses with a large number of coupling variables. The methodology for MDA estimates the probability distributions of the coupling variables based on computing the probability of satisfying the inter-disciplinary compatibility equations. This idea is used to develop a likelihood-based approach for multidisciplinary analysis (LAMDA). Using the distributions of the feedback variables, the bi-directional coupling can be reduced to unidirectional coupling, while still preserving the mathematical relationship between the coupling variables. In realistic structures, the number of coupling variables is potentially large. Therefore, principal component analysis (PCA) is adopted to decrease the number of coupling variables. For computational efficiency, a Bayesian Belief Network, along with copula-based sampling, is employed to implement probabilistic multi-disciplinary analysis. The multi-disciplinary optimization (MDO) methodology includes three sources of uncertainty: physical variability; data uncertainty (epistemic) due to sparse or imprecise data; and model uncertainty (epistemic) due to modeling errors/approximations. A Gaussian Process (GP) surrogate model is adopted for the sake of computational efficiency in optimization. The proposed methods are illustrated using 3-D aeroelasticity analysis and optimum design of an aircraft wing.
The Dynamics of Hybrid Sterility Between Boophilus Annulatus and B. Microplus (Acari: Ixodidae) Through Successive Generations

Interspecific crosses between Boophilus annulatus and B. microplus produce viable progeny (F1,) in which all males are sterile, but females are fertile when backcrossed to the original male parent species. The progeny obtained by backcrossing the F1 female (BCI) also contain all sterile males, but fertile females. This pattern of sterile males and fertile females continues through 3 generations of crosses (F1, BCI, and BCII). Some fertility is observed in hybrid males in the 4th generation of backcrosses, and by the 7th generation hybrid male fertility equals that of controls.
Delta F508-CFTR channels: kinetics, activation by forskolin, and potentiation by xanthines

Trafficking, activation, and kinetics of delta F508-cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) and CFTR were compared in stably transduced C127I mouse mammary epithelial cells. Western blots detected a small amount of fully glycosylated delta F508-CFTR Efflux of 125I was stimulated by forskolin with the same mean effective concentration (EC50; approximately 0.5 microM) for CFTR and delta F508-CFTR cells, but the maximum response was reduced more than fivefold and its latency increased approximately threefold in delta F508-CFTR cells. In delta F508-CFTR cells, 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX; EC50 = 1.45 microM) and 8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine (CPX; EC50 = 58 microM) increased the peak forskolin-stimulated efflux rate approximately 2.5-fold and decreased the time to peak. A sevenfold increase in intracellular adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) levels accompanied potentiation of forskolin-induced 125I efflux by IBMX but not by CPX. Elevation of intracellular cAMP increased linear voltage-independent whole cell currents 30-fold in CFTR and 4-fold in delta F508-CFTR cells; the response rate in delta F508-CFTR cells was much slower. Single-channel currents were detected in 57 of 68 cell-attached patches from forskolin-prestimulated CFTR cells vs. 6 of 35 patches in delta F508-CFTR cells. Mean number of active channels per patch was 4.1 for CFTR [open probability (Po) = 0.34] and 0.2 for delta F508-CFTR (Po = 0.11). The lower Po of delta F508-CFTR resulted from an approximately threefold longer mean interburst interval. We estimate that forskolin-stimulated chloride conductance of delta F508-CFTR C127I cells is < 5% of CFTR cells. CPX is approximately 25-fold more potent than IBMX in potentiating delta F508-CFTR and may operate by a mechanism other than elevation of cAMP.
Indications for peripheral, midline and central catheters: summary of the MAGIC recommendations

Patients admitted to acute care frequently require intravenous access to effectively deliver medications and prescribed treatment. For patients with difficult intravenous access, those requiring multiple attempts, those who are obese, or have diabetes or other chronic conditions, determining the vascular access device (VAD) with the lowest risk that best meets the needs of the treatment plan can be confusing. Selection of a VAD should be based on specific indications for that device. In the clinical setting, requests for central venous access devices are frequently precipitated simply by failure to establish peripheral access. Selection of the most appropriate VAD is necessary to avoid the potentially serious complications of infection and/or thrombosis. An international panel of experts convened to establish a guide for indications and appropriate usage for VADs. This publication summarises the work and recommendations of the panel for the Michigan Appropriateness Guide for Intravenous Catheters (MAGIC).
Unity through Division: Religious Liberty and the Virtue of Pluralism in the Context of Legislative Prayer Controversies

In Marsh v. Chambers (1983), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the practice of legislative prayer. While the high Court has been silent on the issue of legislative prayer ever since, in 2008, the United States Courts of Appeal for the Eleventh and the Fourth Circuits issued decisions on the hot-button constitutional question of whether the government may censor non “proselytiz[ing] or disparage[ing]” religious speech a prayer-giver wishes to reference during his or her delivery of legislative prayer. In Turner v. The City Council of Fredericksburg, the Fourth Circuit held that the council did not run afoul of the First Amendment by its imposition of a “nondenominational” prayer policy on prayer-givers. Shortly thereafter, in Pelphrey v. Cobb County, the Eleventh Circuit held that the Court could not pass judgment on the religious content of the prayer-giver’s prayer and that the council could not restrict the prayer-opportunity to prayer-givers of certain faiths – a point that directly conflicts with Simpson v. Chesterfield County (4th Cir. 2005), which held that the council could restrict the prayer-opportunity to members of faiths in the Judeo-Christian tradition. With these thoughts in mind, this Article will first lay a theoretical foundation for the argument that the government may not censor non “proselytiz[ing] or disparage[ing]” religious speech during the delivery of legislative prayer by issuing an informal response to Professor Christopher C. Lund’s thought-provoking article on legislative prayer, Legislative Prayer and the Secret Costs of Religious Endorsements, forthcoming in 94 Minn. L. Rev. (February 2010). A discussion of reasons the Turner case was wrongly decided follows in Section III. Support for the argument that Pelphrey, as informed by Snyder v. Murray City Corp., (10th Cir. 1998) is the model “second generation” legislative prayer decision is offered in Section IV. This Article concludes in Section V, arguing that when the United States Supreme Court next grants certiorari in a legislative prayer controversy, it should affirm the Eleventh Circuit’s rationale. By doing so, the Court will restore the principles of religious freedom implicit in Marsh. The author of this Article was part of the team that represented Councilor Hashmel C. Turner, Jr., in the case of Turner v. The City Council of Fredericksburg.
The Detection and Species Identification of Blood $mdash; A Bibliography of Relevant Papers from 1980 to 1995.

The comprehensive review of the biochemical forensic literature by Gaensslen covered much of the subject until about 1980. This review focuses on two aspects of forensic serology and reports on the progress and research in the identification of blood and its species determination during the period 1980 to 1995. The development of ELISA techniques and the explosive developments in DNA technology have and will change the course of forensic science. The usefulness of these and other techniques has been extended to archaeology as well as other disciplines. While borrowing heavily from the forensic literature, these researchers have produced their own literature which, in turn, is of interest to the forensic scientist.
Student perception of academic and professional development during an introductory service-learning experience

Abstract Objectives To document students' perceptions of academic and professional growth in a P1 service-learning introductory pharmacy practice experience (SL IPPE) in a College of Pharmacy in Philadelphia, PA. Methods Student perceptions of academic and professional growth in a service-learning course completed at two selected sites were retrospectively assessed through the Survey Monkey platform. The retrospective survey included 24 questions, including 5-point Likert-type scale format answers, and an open ended question concerning the overall perceived educational impact of this SL IPPE. Percentages, means, medians, and standard deviations were calculated to describe results. The paired sample t test, Wilcoxon signed-rank analysis and chi-square test were used to compare ranked data and nominal data, respectively. Results Response rate was 86% (25/29). Over 80% reported improved knowledge of cultural sensitivity, health literacy, health awareness, disease prevention, lifestyle modification, and written and verbal communication skills. Students' perceptions of their ability to improve care, organization, or education increased from 56% initially to 92% upon completion ( p Conclusions Findings suggest a confirmed benefit of this service-learning course in perceived strengthening of students' academic and professional growth. The authors concluded that while the course design, assignments, and activities could remain unchanged, the survey could be implemented for each and every SL IPPE site at this College of Pharmacy, in order to compare results and impact of students' perception of development separately and overall.
A Novel T-Stage Classification System for Adrenocortical Carcinoma: Proposal from the US Adrenocortical Carcinoma Study Group

BACKGROUND:The 7th AJCC T-stage system for adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC), based on size and extra-adrenal invasion, does not adequately stratify patients by survival. Lymphovascular invasion (LVI) is a known poor prognostic factor. We propose a novel T-stage system that incorporates LVI to better risk-stratify patients undergoing resection for ACC. METHOD:Patients undergoing curative-intent resections for ACC from 1993 to 2014 at 13 institutions comprising the US ACC Group were included. Primary outcome was disease-specific survival (DSS). RESULTS:Of the 265 patients with ACC, 149 were included for analysis. The current T-stage system failed to differentiate patients with T2 versus T3 disease (p = 0.10). Presence of LVI was associated with worse DSS versus no LVI (36 mo vs. 168 mo; p = 0.001). After accounting for the individual components of the current T-stage system (size, extra-adrenal invasion), LVI remained a poor prognostic factor on multivariable analysis (hazard ratio 2.14, 95% confidence interval 1.05-4.38, p = 0.04). LVI positivity further stratified patients with T2 and T3 disease (T2: 37 mo vs. median not reached; T3: 36 mo vs. 96 mo; p = 0.03) but did not influence survival in patients with T1 or T4 disease. By incorporating LVI, a new T-stage classification system was created: [T1: ≤ 5 cm, (-)local invasion, (+/-)LVI; T2: > 5 cm, (-)local invasion, (-)LVI OR any size, (+)local invasion, (-)LVI; T3: > 5 cm, (-)local invasion, (+)LVI OR any size, (+)local invasion, (+)LVI; T4: any size, (+)adjacent organ invasion, (+/-)LVI]. Each progressive new T-stage group was associated with worse median DSS (T1: 167 mo; T2: 96 mo; T3: 37 mo; T4: 15 mo; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS:Compared with the current T-stage system, the proposed T-stage system, which incorporates LVI, better differentiates T2 and T3 disease and accurately stratifies patients by disease-specific survival. If externally validated, this T-stage classification should be considered for future AJCC staging systems.
A study of the combined impact of boundary layer height and near-surface meteorology on the CO diurnal cycle at a low mountaintop site using simultaneous lidar and in-situ observations

Abstract Evaluations of air pollutants and trace gas measurements over mountaintop sites and their application in inverse transport models to estimate regional scale fluxes are oftentimes challenging due to the influences associated with atmospheric transport at both local and regional scales. The objective of this study is to investigate the diurnal cycle pattern of CO mixing ratio over a low mountaintop influenced by: (1) two different convective boundary layer (CBL) regimes (shallow and deep) and associated growth rates over the mountaintop, (2) the combined effect of a deep CBL with and without diurnal wind shift, and (3) slope flows and associated air mass transport. For this purpose, we used simultaneous measurements of lidar-derived CBL heights, standard meteorological variables, and CO2 and CO mixing ratio from Pinnacles, a mountaintop monitoring site in the Appalachian Mountains. We used both water vapor and CO2 mixing ratio as tracers for upslope flow air masses. We used case studies to focus on two different scenarios of daytime CO mixing ratio variability: (1) a gradual increase in the morning with a maximum in the afternoon, and (2) a gradual decrease in the morning with a minimum in the late afternoon. The second scenario is similar to the CO variability observed atop tall towers in flat terrain. Using the lidar-derived CBL height evolution and in situ CO, CO2 and meteorological measurements over the mountaintop, we found that the CBL height dynamics, regional scale wind shift, and upslope flow air masses arriving at the mountaintop in the morning affect the CO mixing ratio variability during the remaining part of the diurnal cycle. These findings help introduce a conceptual framework that can explain and differentiate the opposite patterns (i.e. daytime increase versus daytime decrease) in the CO diurnal cycles over a mountaintop site affected by upslope flows and provide new roadmaps for monitoring and assimilating trace gas mixing ratios into applications requiring regionally-representative measurements.
A structured mentoring program to develop junior faculty into successful co-coordinators of a large multi-instructor pathophysiology course.

Abstract Background and purpose To develop and implement a system for junior clinical faculty to become successful course coordinators with the use of a mentoring program and ensure that student performance and satisfaction are maintained at a high level. Educational activity and setting For five years, first-time faculty discussion group leaders in a required large (>225 students) multi-instructor pathophysiology course opted into a structured mentoring program for course coordination in the subsequent year. Program categories included course material development, exam and quiz management, discussion group management, and communication among students, faculty, and staff. Findings Mentors’ previous coordination experience ranged from a few years to over a decade. Faculty participants included three second-year faculty. Each participant successfully undertook a full co-coordinator role the following year. Subsequently, each then became a lead mentor the following year for new participants. Exam quality/reliability statistics were sustained at a high level, course evaluations and student performance improved throughout the program, and all mentor/mentee reflections demonstrated a positive and impactful experience. Discussion and summary Course coordination can be a small percentage of clinical faculty workload, yet is a significant time commitment. Pharmacy resident certificate or new faculty academy programs often do not include course coordination, which is a vital, higher level function/role. Structured mentoring early in professional career of junior faculty aids in the assumption of pedagogical leadership roles, while also developing mentoring skills of mid-level faculty.
Leibniz on Causation and Agency

This book presents a comprehensive examination of Gottfried Leibniz's views on the nature of agents and their actions. Julia Jorati offers a fresh look at controversial topics including Leibniz's doctrines of teleology, the causation of spontaneous changes within substances, divine concurrence, freedom, and contingency, and also discusses widely neglected issues such as his theories of moral responsibility, control, attributability, and compulsion. Rather than focusing exclusively on human agency, she explores the activities of non-rational substances and the differences between distinctive types of actions, showing how the will, appetitions, and teleology are key to Leibniz's discussions of agency. Her book reveals that Leibniz has a nuanced and compelling philosophy of action which has relevance for present-day discussions of agency. It will be of interest to scholars and students of early modern philosophy as well as to metaphysicians and philosophers of action.
New Teachers' Perspectives of Informal Mentoring: Quality of Mentoring and Contributors.

AbstractAs an individual socialization initiative, informal mentoring has often been lauded as an effective tool to provide spontaneous and immediate social–emotional and career-related assistance to new teachers. Little is known about how informal mentoring is perpetuated in workplace. Through the conceptual lens of dynamic process theory of mentoring, we seek to illuminate the interactional patterns of informal mentoring as manifested through its contributors and quality. The findings of our study reveal that social interaction, time, organizational contexts, and individual characteristics mediate the process of informal mentoring. Further, informal mentoring is limited primarily to seeking information and is low in frequency of interaction and follow-up activities. Finally, we discuss a number of practical and theoretical implications related to informal mentoring, including the advantage of a hybrid model of mentoring and the addition of social interactions as a mediating factor of the dynamic process...
β Subunits Control the Effects of Human Kv4.3 Potassium Channel Phosphorylation

The transient outward K+ current, Ito, activates early in the cardiac myocyte action potential, to begin repolarization. Human Ito is generated primarily by two Kv4.3 potassium channel α subunit splice variants (Kv4.3L and Kv4.3S) that diverge only by a C-terminal, membrane-proximal, 19-residue stretch unique to Kv4.3L. Protein kinase C (PKC) phosphorylation of threonine 504 within the Kv4.3L-specific 19-residues mediates α-adrenergic inhibition of Ito in human heart. Kv4.3 is regulated in human heart by various β subunits, including cytosolic KChIP2b and transmembrane KCNEs, yet their impact on the functional effects of human Kv4.3 phosphorylation has not been reported. Here, this gap in knowledge was addressed using human Kv4.3 splice variants, T504 mutants, and human β subunits. Subunits were co-expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes and analyzed by two-electrode voltage-clamp, using phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) to stimulate PKC. Unexpectedly, KChIP2b removed the inhibitory effect of PKC on Kv4.3L (but not Kv4.3L threonine phosphorylation by PKC per-se), while co-expression with KCNE2, but not KCNE4, restored PKC-dependent inhibition of Kv4.3L-KChIP2b to quantitatively resemble previously reported effects of α-adrenergic modulation of human ventricular Ito. In addition, PKC accelerated recovery from inactivation of Kv4.3L-KChIP2b channels and, interestingly, of both Kv4.3L and Kv4.3S alone. Thus, β subunits regulate the response of human Kv4.3 to PKC phosphorylation and provide a potential mechanism for modifying the response of Ito to α-adrenergic regulation in vivo.
Blood Gas IV

During hypothermia in cardiac surgery, anesthesiologists and perfusionists are faced with an important question—should one correct blood gases to patient’s temperature (pH stat) or not (α stat)?
After the Rainy Day: How Private Resources Shape Personal Trajectories following Job Loss and Amplify Racial Inequality:

Using data from in-depth interviews with a diverse group of people who lost jobs between 2007 and 2011, my study identifies the important role of private resource banks—reserves of personal resourc...
Prediagnosis Use of Statins Associates With Increased Survival Times of Patients With Pancreatic Cancer.

Background & Aims Statin medications, most commonly prescribed to reduce lipid levels and prevent cardiovascular disease, may be associated with longer survival times of patients with cancer. However, the association of statins with outcomes of patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma is not clear. Methods We analyzed the association of statin use before a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer with survival times of 648 participants in the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study who were diagnosed with pancreatic adenocarcinoma from 2000 through 2013. We estimated hazard ratios (HRs) for overall mortality using Cox proportional hazards models with adjustment for potential confounders. We assessed the temporal association between prediagnosis statin use and cancer survival by 2-year lag periods to account for a possible latency period between statin use and cancer survival. Results Regular statin use before diagnosis of pancreatic cancer was associated with modestly prolonged survival compared with nonregular use (adjusted HR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.69–0.97; P = .02). A 1-month longer median survival was observed in regular statin users compared with nonregular users. Regular statin use within the 2 years prior to cancer diagnosis was most strongly associated with longer survival. We observed no statistically significant effect modification by smoking status, body mass index, diabetes, or cancer stage (all Pinteraction > .53). Regular statin use before diagnosis was similarly associated with survival in the Nurses' Health Study (HR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.64–0.97) and Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.63–1.15). Conclusions Regular statin use before diagnosis of pancreatic cancer was associated with modest increases in survival times in 2 large prospective cohort studies.
Skin, Soft Tissue, and Wound Healing in the Elderly

Aging leads to significant changes that predispose people to problems with their skin. Aging-related alterations in skin can be classified into “intrinsic” changes that are simply related to the natural aging processes and “extrinsic” effects that are due to exposure to the ultraviolet rays of the sun. The elderly tend to have a thinner dermis, flattening of the dermal-epidermal junction, and decreases in the dermal appendages. These changes lead to an increased propensity of skin to tear and shear. The decreased density of appendages impairs the ability to reepithelialize superficial wounds. As everyone knows, the skin also tends to stretch (or sag) which allows for contraction of wounds with less functional impairments. There are also body composition changes to the muscle and fat stores that decrease padding that increase the risk for pressure damage. Age-related disease processes such as urinary incontinence, diabetes mellitus, vascular disease, malignancy and its treatment, and other neurologic diseases predispose patients to increased risk. As people age, their reaction times may decrease to prevent injury, and confusion may lead to increased risky behavior. The incidence of pressure ulcers, arterial ulcers, venous stasis ulcers, and diabetic ulcers increases with age. This chapter will cover the pathophysiology of aging of the skin, the risks that increase the risk for wounds in the elderly, chronic wounds, prevention of wounds, and the outcomes of the elderly with wounds.
Oxidation of galactose by galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase-deficient lymphoblasts.

The ability of EB virus-transformed lymphoblasts with undetectable galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase (GALT) from 15 galactosaemic patients to oxidize [1-14C]galactose to 14CO2 was compared to that of cells from 7 normal subjects. The oxidation of galactose but not of glucose was markedly diminished by cells from Q188R homozygous galactosaemic patients but was not absent. After 2.5 h these cells liberated 14CO2 at nearly 3% and at 5 h up to 9% of normal. Cells from patients homozygous for the S135L mutation produced much larger amounts of 14CO2 (15–17% of normal) and were distinguishable from the Q188R homozygous cells. A cell line with a homozygous deletion of the GALT gene oxidized galactose at 7% of the normal rate, suggesting that pathways(s) other than GALT exist in these cells as well as Q188R homozygous cells for oxidation of galactose to CO2. Concentration dependence studies are consistent with the presence of a pathway that is unsaturable or has a very high Km. The ability of 107 lymphoblasts with the S135L genotype to oxidize more than 7% of the sugar to 14CO2 in 5 h suggests the presence of residual GALT despite the inability to detect the activity by enzymatic analysis.
Sonar Visual Inertial SLAM of Underwater Structures

This paper presents an extension to a state of the art Visual-Inertial state estimation package (OKVIS) in order to accommodate data from an underwater acoustic sensor. Mapping underwater structures is important in several fields, such as marine archaeology, search and rescue, resource management, hydrogeology, and speleology. Collecting the data, however, is a challenging, dangerous, and exhausting task. The underwater domain presents unique challenges in the quality of the visual data available; as such, augmenting the exteroceptive sensing with acoustic range data results in improved reconstructions of the underwater structures. Experimental results from underwater wrecks, an underwater cave, and a submerged bus demonstrate the performance of our approach.
Abstracts from the Proceedings of the 2011 Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) Conference on Medical Student Education

The Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM; http://www.stfm.org) is a community of professionals devoted to teaching family medicine through undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical education. This multidisciplinary group of physicians, educators, behavioral scientists, and researchers works to further STFM's mission of improving the health of all people through education, research, patient care, and advocacy. The STFM held its 37th Conference on Medical Student Education in Houston, Texas, from January 20 to 23, 2011. The unifying theme of the conference was sustaining and cultivating innovations in family medicine education. Kevin Eva, Ph.D., from the University of British Columbia opened the conference with a plenary presentation discussing diagnostic error from an educational perspective. Catherine Florio Pipas, M.D., from Dartmouth Medical School continued with a plenary presentation on the Patient-centered Medical Home Model and its role in an academic medical center. Finally, Jerry Kru...
Physicochemical Characterization of Yellow Cake Prepared with Structured Lipid Oleogels

Oleogels were produced using a phytosterol blend of β-sitosterol/γ-oryzanol or a blend of sucrose stearate/ascorbyl palmitate (SSAP) as oleogelators. Four lipid phases were compared in oleogel formation for each oleogelator blend: menhaden oil, structured lipid (SL) of menhaden oil and 30 mol% caprylic acid (SL-C), SL of menhaden oil and 20 mol% stearic acid (SL-S), and SL of menhaden oil and 14 mol% each of caprylic and stearic acid (SL-CS). All SLs were produced enzymatically using a recombinant lipase from Candida antarctica as the biocatalyst. Menhaden oil, SL, phytosterol, or SSAP oleogels were evaluated as alternatives to shortening in the preparation of yellow cake in terms of batter and cake physicochemical properties. The shortening, phytosterol, and SSAP oleogel batters exhibited statistically similar specific gravities (0.85). The shortening, and menhaden oil phytosterol and SSAP oleogel batters, exhibited similar Power-Law values (n: 0.78, k: 31 Pa sn ), while all SL (and respective oleogels) batters typically had lower flow index values (n: 0.68 to 0.72), and higher consistency index values (k: 45 to 79 Pa sn ). All SL (and respective oleogels) cakes exhibited lower hardness (5 to 8 N) and chewiness (4 to 6 N) than the shortening cake (12 N, 9 N). Menhaden oil and SL-S phytosterol oleogel cakes, and SL-CS SSAP oleogel cake, showed similar textural properties to the shortening cake. Both phytosterol and SSAP oleogels were acceptable as zero trans-fat substitutes for shortening in yellow cake. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The oleogels in this study may be a suitable replacement for shortening in yellow cake. These oleogels, which contain health beneficial omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), have the potential to lower consumer consumption of total saturated fat when used in foods.
Family-healthcare Provider Communication and Reported Health among Children and Adolescents in the United States: Results from the National Survey of Children’s Health

Background and Purpose: Most research regarding healthcare communication focuses on adults. The study investigated how family-healthcare provider communication influences reported health and activity limitations among U.S. children ages 0 to 17. Methods: In the 2011-2012 National Survey of Children’s Health, parents reported information on 87,133 children aged 0 to 17 years. The influences of different aspects of perceived healthcare communication on reported health and activity limitations were assessed using weighted logistic regression. Results: Children who were Hispanic or non-Hispanic Black, spoke a language other than English, had unemployed parents, and received public health coverage tended to have healthcare providers who did not communicate effectively. Hispanics reported worse communication experiences than non-Hispanic Blacks. Children whose provider never/sometimes spent enough time with them were more likely to have poor/fair health and to have activity limitations compared to those whose provider usually/always spent enough time. Having a healthcare provider who reportedly never/sometimes listened carefully to the caregiver was associated with poor/fair health and activity limitations (among children. Conclusion: Ineffective communication between healthcare providers and families was associated with poor reported health. Ineffective communication was more commonly reported by non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic families compared to non-Hispanic White families. Interventions to improve communication may promote children’s health.
Hippocampal Subregions Express Distinct Dendritic Transcriptomes that Reveal Differences in Mitochondrial Function in CA2

RNA localization is one mechanism neurons use to spatially and temporally regulate gene expression at synapses. Here, we test the hypothesis that cells exhibiting distinct forms of synaptic plasticity will have differences in dendritically localized RNAs. Indeed, we discover that each major subregion of the adult mouse hippocampus expresses a unique complement of dendritic RNAs. Specifically, we describe more than 1,000 differentially expressed dendritic RNAs, suggesting that RNA localization and local translation are regulated in a cell type-specific manner. Furthermore, by focusing Gene Ontology analyses on the plasticity-resistant CA2, we identify an enrichment of mitochondria-associated pathways in CA2 cell bodies and dendrites, and we provide functional evidence that these pathways differentially influence plasticity and mitochondrial respiration in CA2. These data indicate that differences in dendritic transcriptomes may regulate cell type-specific properties important for learning and memory and may influence region-specific differences in disease pathology.
History of surgical stabilization for posterior shoulder instability.

Background Posterior shoulder instability is common in young athletes. Although the posterior shoulder instability literature is less robust than its anterior counterpart, many surgical procedures have been developed and refined over the past several centuries to address this condition. Materials and methods This article represents a retrospective historical analysis of the most common procedures used to treat posterior shoulder instability after sports injuries. A systematic approach to obtain published information on posterior shoulder instability was performed using the PubMed/MEDLINE database, manual searches of high–impact factor journals, and conference proceedings and books. Results A wide array of both soft tissue–based and bone-based procedures have been developed for the treatment of posterior shoulder instability, ranging from procedures addressing the soft tissue alone (capsular shift, labral repair, reverse Putti-Platt) or bone-based procedures (glenoid and/or humeral osteotomy, glenoid bone block) to a combination of both bone and soft-tissue procedures (modified McLaughlin procedure). Discussion Over the past several centuries, a number of procedures have been developed to address posterior shoulder instability, particularly as this pathology has become better understood. Future work is required not only to continue to advance these procedures but also to assess their outcomes. An understanding of the historical perspective of posterior shoulder instability procedures is essential as surgeons continue to modify these procedures in an effort to best help their patients.
(Re)moving blinders: Communication-as-constitutive theorizing as provocation to practice-based organization scholarship:

Practice-based organization scholarship has made significant contributions, but its vision is narrow. It aims to show organizational scholars that what are taken to be entities are better understoo...
Validation Challenges in Recent Trends of Power Management in Microprocessors

Modern PC power management has evolved to provide Always On, Always Connected, and Instant Resume kind of experiences to the user, along with longer battery life. It enhances productivity and greatly improves the user experience and brings in a Mobile-like experience to the PC user. The connectivity to the system is maintained even during the standby, which keeps the data up-to-date and readily available, when the user resumes the system from standby. This modern behavior needs to be supported at both the Operating System and at the SoC level. On Windows, this is supported through the ‘Modern Standby’ feature followed by the ‘Active Idle’ feature supported by the SoC.Legacy Standby (S3) validation involved mostly checking the power, software and hardware status and the corresponding wake capabilities. Validating Modern Standby involves a lot of new methodologies and techniques such as Sleep Residency during standby, seamless transition between various Power Management states (avoiding system crashes and hangs), Instant Resume time and seamless connectivity during Modern Standby.This paper discusses the new validation methodologies established to accelerate the failure detection during these complex and error-prone use cases, and defines effective debug methodologies, thus enabling early fixing of these issues. The new validation methodologies include residency measurement techniques, verifying system stability during state transitions and measuring resume time from standby.
A two-trick pony: lysosomal protease cathepsin B possesses surprising ligase activity

Cathepsin B is an important protease within the lysosome, where it helps recycle proteins to maintain proteostasis. It is also known to degrade proteins elsewhere but has no other known functionality. However, by carefully monitoring peptide digestion with liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry, we observed the synthesis of novel peptides during cathepsin B incubations. This ligation activity was explored further with a variety of peptide substrates to establish mechanistic details and was found to operate through a two-step mechanism with proteolysis and ligation occurring separately. Further explorations using varied sequences indicated increased affinity for some substrates, though all were found to ligate to some extent. Finally, experiments with a proteolytically inactive form of the enzyme yielded no ligation, indicating that the ligation reaction occurs in the same active site but in the reverse direction of proteolysis. These results clearly establish that in its native form cathepsin B can act as both a protease and ligase, although protease action eventually dominates over longer periods of time.