cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Standardization of Radiologic Procedures for Pediatric Videofluoroscopic Swallow Studies: A Service-based Quality Improvement Initiative.

Introduction The videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFSS) remains the primary method to evaluate swallowing function in infants and children. However, limited standards exist to guide the image acquisition during pediatric VFSSs, leading to inadequate images, variable assessment quality, and potential for suboptimal diagnostic accuracy. The goal of this quality improvement project was to standardize the radiological procedure for radiologists at our institution. Methods A multidisciplinary team of project leaders established 3 imaging standards to target (magnification, the field of view, and pulse repetition rate), based on the best available evidence. The team used the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Model for Improvement to guide the project, identified key drivers, and implemented specific interventions. Project leaders observed a total of 170 VFSS examinations, performed by radiology faculty, fellows, and residents over 24 months. The primary outcome for this project was physician compliance with 3 established imaging standards: field of view, magnification, and pulse repetition rate. Project leaders collected data without the radiologists' knowledge, and also recorded average radiation exposure as a balancing measure during this process. Results At baseline, compliance with all 3 criteria was 20%. Following interventions designed to improve radiologist performance with the 3 identified standards, the compliance rate reached 100% for the last 50 recorded VFSSs. During this same time, there was no meaningful increase in average radiation exposure compared with the 6 months before the implementation of this project. Conclusions Compliance with standardized image acquisition of VFSSs can be accomplished using a systematic quality improvement protocol targeting simple, inexpensive interventions.
How Student Background and Topic Impact the Doer Effect in Computational Thinking MOOCs

Interactive practice exercises are a fundamental design element of most online courses. Their value can be quantified by the “doer effect” – a reliable correlation between practice and learning outcomes that is stronger than the correlation between video watching and learning outcomes. In two computational thinking and programming MOOCs, we first confirm the doer effect for all certificate earners in short and long term grade outcomes. This leads to asking: Is the doer effect similar when experienced learners are compared to novices? Is it present, regardless of the topic being taught? We find the doer effect varies in magnitude across learners of different experience level and topics, suggesting that the importance of practice depends on the topic and the learner’s background. Our findings inform scalable instructional design in MOOCs by demonstrating that the doer effect, present at a high level, also exhibits fine-grained variation across student background and topics.
REDEM: Real-Time Detection and Mitigation of Communication Attacks in Connected Autonomous Vehicle Applications

Emergent vehicles will support a variety of connected applications, where a vehicle communicates with other vehicles or with the infrastructure to make a variety of decisions. Cooperative connected applications provide a critical foundational pillar for autonomous driving, and hold the promise of improving road safety, efficiency and environmental sustainability. However, they also induce a large and easily exploitable attack surface: an adversary can manipulate vehicular communications to subvert functionality of participating individual vehicles, cause catastrophic accidents, or bring down the transportation infrastructure. In this paper we outline a potential direction to address this critical problem through a resiliency framework, REDEM, based on machine learning. REDEM has several interesting features, including (1) smooth integration with the architecture of the underlying application, (2) ability to handle diverse communication attacks within the same underlying foundation, and (3) real-time detection and mitigation capability. We present the vision of REDEM, identify some key challenges to be addressed in its realization, and discuss the kind of evaluation/analysis necessary for its viability. We also present initial results from one instantiation of REDEM introducing resiliency in Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC).
There is no privileged link between kinds and essences early in development

According to the dominant view of category representation, people preferentially infer that kinds (richly structured categories) reflect essences. Generic language (“Boys like blue”) often occupies the central role in accounts of the formation of essentialist interpretations—especially in the context of social categories. In a preregistered study (n = 240 American children, ages 4 to 9 y), we tested whether children assume essences in the presence of generic language or whether they flexibly assume diverse causal structures. Children learned about a novel social category described with generic statements containing either biological properties or cultural properties. Although generic language always led children to believe that properties were nonaccidental, young children (4 or 5 y) in this sample inferred the nonaccidental structure was socialization. Older children (6 to 9 y) flexibly interpreted the category as essential or socialized depending on the type of properties that generalized. We uncovered early-emerging flexibility and no privileged link between kinds and essences.
Role of colorectal cancer stem cells in resistance to apoptosis and treatment in colorectal cancer

Abstract Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignancies which expresses high mortality, rapid metastasis, and relapse leading to patient death. Substantial evidence has revealed that cancer stem cells (CSCs) play a central role in the metastasis and relapse of CRC and render CRC highly resistant to cancer chemotherapeutic agents, radiotherapy, and apoptosis. These cells are a rare subpopulation of cancer cells endowed with specific properties including self-renewal, unlimited cell division, and differentiation potential. CSCs are immunophenotypically identified using several cell surface markers including CD24, CD133, CD44, EpCAM, LGR5, and ALDH. Therapy and apoptosis resistance are mediated by increased drug efflux capacity, increased expression of Musashi homolog 1 (MSI1), upregulation of antiapoptotic proteins, expression of particular microRNAs, and the interaction between CSC and their niche or supporting microenvironment. Because CSCs are highly tumorigenic, chemo- and drug-resistant, they play a significant role in the metastasis and recurrence of CRC. This chapter focuses on colorectal CSCs with emphasis on their mechanisms of drug and apoptosis resistance and tumor recurrence.
Parabolic subgroups in FC-type Artin groups

Abstract Parabolic subgroups are the building blocks of Artin groups. This paper extends previous results of Cumplido, Gebhardt, Gonzales-Meneses and Wiest, known only for parabolic subgroups of finite type Artin groups, to parabolic subgroups of FC-type Artin groups. We show that the class of finite type parabolic subgroups is closed under intersection. We also study an analog of the curve complex for mapping class group constructed by Cumplido et al. using parabolic subgroups. We extend the construction of this complex, called the complex of parabolic subgroups, to FC-type Artin groups. We show that this simplicial complex is, in most cases, infinite diameter and conjecture that it is δ-hyperbolic.
Ideal thermodynamic behaviors of aqueous electrolyte solutions at very high concentrations

Abstract All physical chemistry textbooks state that solutions of strong electrolytes behave in a non-ideal fashion, except at very high dilution. Examples are provided here for ideal behaviors to very high concentrations, as demonstrated by excellent adherence to Raoult’s law: for NaNO2 solutions up to 12 molal (827.9 g per kilogram of water) and for CsNO2 solutions up to 35 molal (6821.9 g/kg). Improved adherence is reported for previously published almost-ideal RbNO2 solutions up to 62 molal (8151.1 g/kg).
Proximity to host plant of a congener determines parasitism of a waterhyacinth biological control agent by a native parasitoid

Abstract The biological control agent Megamelus scutellaris Berg (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) was released in Florida in 2010 to improve control of the invasive aquatic plant, Pontederia (Eichhornia) crassipes (Mart.) Solms (Commelinales: Pontederiaceae). A native egg parasitoid, Kalopolynema ema (Schauff and Grissell) (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae), was documented utilizing M. scutellaris, potentially limiting its effectiveness as a biological control agent. An experiment to determine if the distance from K. ema’s native host impacted parasitism rate of M. scutellaris was conducted in artificial ponds with naturally occurring populations of the native insect species. Models indicated that parasitism decreased with distance from the native host and with increasing M. scutellaris density. Although parasitism increased with K. ema density, rainfall, and temperature, parasitism was low with over half of the test plants indicating no signs of parasitism on M. scutellaris. The lack of a density dependent response by K. ema suggests it will not interfere with biological control of P. crassipes in Florida.
Putative Pseudolysogeny-Dependent Phage Gene Implicated in the Superinfection Resistance of Cutibacterium acnes

Abstract Background Bacteriophage therapy is a promising option to minimize the risk of treatment-associated antibiotic resistance in Cutibacterium acnes. A novel phage (Aquarius) was isolated and analyzed to explore characteristics of C. acnes phages that may confer lysis-evasion properties. Materials and Methods Phage superinfection resistance assays were performed with a range of C. acnes phages, which were assayed for pseudolysogeny via phage release assays and episome PCR. Bioinformatics and qRT-PCR were used to identify candidate genes related to observed phenotypes. Results Assay findings indicated that infected C. acnes strains were broadly resistant to superinfection and were capable of forming stable pseudolysogens. A conserved Ltp family-like gene contained protein signatures which may be contributing to phage-mediated superinfection resistance in a pseudolysogeny-dependent manner. Conclusions C. acnes bacteria are capable of harboring phage pseudolysogens, and this phenomenon may result in superinfection resistance, necessitating consideration in targeting optimization of C. acnes phage-based therapy.
Chronic condition discordance and physical activity among midlife and older couples.

Objective Chronic conditions in middle and later life are associated with lower physical activity. Yet little is known about chronic condition discordance (i.e., the extent to which conditions have nonoverlapping self-management requirements) within older individuals and couples and its implications for physical activity. We determined how the degrees of chronic condition discordance at the individual level and the couple level (i.e., between spouses) were linked to moderate physical activity across an 8-year period. Method The U.S. sample included 1,621 couples from five waves of the Health and Retirement Study (2006-2014). Dyadic growth curve models estimated how individual-level and couple-level chronic condition discordance were linked to initial levels of and rates of change in moderate activity. Models controlled for age, minority status, education, and own and partner reports of baseline negative marital quality, time-varying depressive symptoms, and time-varying number of chronic conditions. Results A considerable proportion of wives (25.4%) and husbands (18.9%) reported moderate activity less than once a week. When individuals (wives: β = -0.10; husbands: β = -0.09) or their spouses (wives: β = -0.04; husbands: β = -0.05) had greater individual-level chronic condition discordance, lower initial moderate activity was reported. When husbands had greater individual-level discordance, both wives (β = -0.16) and husbands (β = -0.19) had a faster rate of decline in moderate activity over time. Couple-level chronic condition discordance was not significantly linked to moderate activity. Conclusions These findings suggest the importance of promoting physical activity among individuals and couples managing complex chronic conditions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
EVALUATING HAND-CRAFTED AND LEARNING-BASED FEATURES FOR PHOTOGRAMMETRIC APPLICATIONS

Abstract. The image orientation (or Structure from Motion – SfM) process needs well localized, repeatable and stable tie points in order to derive camera poses and a sparse 3D representation of the surveyed scene. The accurate identification of tie points in large image datasets is still an open research topic in the photogrammetric and computer vision communities. Tie points are established by firstly extracting keypoint using a hand-crafted feature detector and descriptor methods. In the last years new solutions, based on convolutional neural network (CNN) methods, were proposed to let a deep network discover which feature extraction process and representation are most suitable for the processed images. In this paper we aim to compare state-of-the-art hand-crafted and learning-based method for the establishment of tie points in various and different image datasets. The investigation highlights the actual challenges for feature matching and evaluates selected methods under different acquisition conditions (network configurations, image overlap, UAV vs terrestrial, strip vs convergent) and scene's characteristics. Remarks and lessons learned constrained to the used datasets and methods are provided.
Essential amino acid requirements of granivorous and omnivorous songbirds and the provision of natural foods

Wild birds must consume certain amounts of protein and an appropriate balance of amino acids while inhabiting environments where foods often differ in the quantity and quality of available protein. The requirements for amino acids are well documented for domestic bird species but are largely unknown for wild birds, which makes it impossible to reliably assess the nutritional adequacy of foods eaten by wild birds. We measured the maintenance requirements for three essential amino acids (lysine, methionine, and arginine) in two species of songbird, the omnivorous Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) and granivorous White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis). Hermit Thrushes and White-throated Sparrows had similar requirements for lysine (20.02 and 19.95 mg/day, respectively) and methionine (12.3 and 10.85 mg/day, respectively), whereas thrushes had lower requirements for arginine (18.07 mg/day) compared to sparrows (34.5 mg/day). Consistent with previous studies, most birds fed diets with inadequate essential amino acid concentrations reduced food intake and fecal output, lost body mass, and had lower, but not negative nitrogen balance. However, we provide the first evidence that songbirds overcompensate when they consume diets very deficient in lysine. Available data on amino acid concentrations in natural foods suggests that most insects contain relatively high concentrations of all essential amino acids, seeds likely satisfy requirements of lysine and arginine but not methionine for Hermit Thrushes and White-throated Sparrows, whereas fruits generally contain inadequate amounts of all essential amino acids. Therefore, birds that eat mostly fruit may consume enough protein but likely must eat other types of foods to satisfy their essential amino acid requirements.
The Dynamics of Opinion Formation

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the informational social comparison within a framework of opinion formation in which an opinion is conceived of as a preparatory set for action by the person (P) toward an object or issue(X). When P anticipates transaction with X, an opinion-forming imperative is induced in P to reduce ambivalence he or she may have toward X. There are two major strategies P may use to reduce ambivalence: reduce the opinion-forming imperative and/or generate supportive information. Subsumed under the latter strategy are several avenues classified into two broad categories of information generation, nonsocial and social. The nonsocial type is a subset of avenues that leads to the generation of information directly relating to specific features of X (e.g., pro and con arguments, positive and negative features), whereas the social category of avenues—e.g., social comparison—refers to indirect information relating to X generated via referral to others. The ubiquitous process of social projection, the tendency for P to assume that others (O's) share his or her opinion, is the basis for such informational social comparison. The three-tiered conception presented in the chapter, in which informational social comparison is based on a substructure of individual opinion dynamics overlaid on goal gradient processes, offers a deeper understanding of some of the older literature and enables to derive additional implications, some which have already been tested and others that are in the process of being tested.
Interaction of soybean trypsin inhibitor with thrombin and its effect on prothrombin activation.

Abstract Because of its importance to an understanding of the mechanisms involved in the conversion of prothrombin to thrombin, the inhibitory properties of soybean trypsin inhibitor on this system were investigated. Kinetic studies showed that the inhibitor participates in a bimolecular reversible reaction with one of the components of the prothrombin-thrombin conversion system and to have an association constant dependent upon the rate of prothrombin conversion. With the use of three different systems for the activation of prothrombin, soybean trypsin inhibitor was found to block the conversion of the zymogen at two stages in the activation sequence. The first stage occurs during the initial peptide bond-breaking step which produces a polymorphic prothrombin intermediate plus a peptide fragment. The second point of inhibition occurs when this intermediate is split into smaller molecules, one of which has thrombin activity. Indirect evidence suggests that the proteolytic activity of thrombin is responsible for these initial events and that some of the bonds normally broken at these two stages are similar to bonds which have been implicated with the reactive site of soybean trypsin inhibitor. By the use of gel filtration columns equilibrated with buffers containing soybean trypsin inhibitor, it is possible to show that human or bovine thrombin (mol wt approximately 30,000 g) combines with soybean trypsin inhibitor (mol wt approximately 20,000 g) to form a mole for mole dissociable enzyme-inhibitor complex (mol wt approximately 50,000 g). This was confirmed by ultracentrifuge analysis. The complex thus formed is enzymatically active against fibrinogen (Arg-Gly bonds) and synthetic ester substrates but its formation is not affected when these catalytic properties are inhibited by sulfonation or alkylation of the residues at the active site of thrombin. Because of this, it is suggested that the mechanism of inhibition may be associated with alterations of secondary binding sites on the enzyme or with steric effects. From other experiments and for reasons which are discussed, these results cannot be explained on the basis of Factor X contamination of the thrombin preparations used. Although these studies do not dispute the possible interaction of soybean trypsin inhibitor with preparations having Factor X activity, they do not support the view that the inhibitor combines with intermediates or derivatives of the prothrombin-thrombin transition. Rather, these studies indicate that soybean trypsin inhibitor interacts with thrombin to block its specific proteolytic capacity to initiate prothrombin activation.
Decentralized Bayesian sequential detection under uniformly distributed observations

We consider a couple of decentralized Bayesian sequential detection problems: the information structure of one is static, and that of the other is dynamic. Explicit member-by-member optimal solutions are derived under the assumption that the observations are uniformly distributed conditioned on each hypothesis. The resulting sequential detection rules are the same as those of analogous optimal centralized detectors.
Regulation of phospholipase A2 activity in undifferentiated and neutrophil-like HL60 cells. Linkage between impaired responses to agonists and absence of protein kinase C-dependent phosphorylation of cytosolic phospholipase A2

We compared the regulation of cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2) activity in undifferentiated and neutrophil-like HL60 cells. Although Ca(2+)-mobilizing P2-purinergic receptors are expressed in both cell types, arachidonic acid (AA) release stimulated by P2-purinergic agonists was 5-7-fold higher in the differentiated cells. Similarly, the stimulation of AA release by AlF4- in intact cells or by ATP and guanosine 5'-3-O-(thio)triphosphate (GTP gamma S) in electropermeabilized cells was significantly higher in the differentiated cells. Treatment with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) enhanced A23187-stimulated AA release in intact HL60 granulocytes with minimal effects in the undifferentiated cells. Immunoblotting experiments showed similar levels of cPLA2 and of agonist-mediated activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase in both cell types. Experiments measuring stimulation of AA release by either melittin, using endogenously labeled intact cells, or Ca2+, using homogenates and exogenous substrate, indicated that undifferentiated cells do not lack an activatable PLA2. The stimulatory effects of GTP gamma S and Ca2+ on AA release in homogenates from endogenously labeled cells suggested that undifferentiated cells display G protein-cPLA2 coupling. Basal and PMA-stimulated phosphorylation of cPLA2 was detected in differentiated, but not in undifferentiated cells. However, the two cell types displayed only subtle differences in the time courses of phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase triggered by agonists and PMA. The observed defect in cPLA2 phosphorylation may represent the alteration preventing agonist-mediated stimulation of AA release in undifferentiated HL60 cells.
Some Day Your Witch Will Come

Reviewed Medium: book Authors: Kay Stone Year: 2008 Pages: 368 Publisher: Wayne State University Press ISBN: 978-0-8143-3286-3 (soft cover). Prices: $29.95 USD(soft cover).
The Sublimation Temperature of the Cometary Nucleus: Observational Evidence for H2O Snows

The sublimation temperature of the cometary nucleus essentially depends on the vapor pressure and the latent heat of the most volatile material available in abundance at the surface of the nucleus. This sublimation temperature sets in turn the characteristic distance ro separating the sublimation steady state (small dependence on distance) from the radiation steady state (steep dependence on distance). ro can therefore be used, not only as a measure of the surface temperature of the nucleus, but also as an identification of the nature of the prevailing snow. Three techniques to measure ro are described here. Two have given significant results because they can cover large ranges of distances: The dependence on distance of the Non Gravitational Forces suggests that the short period comets f sublimations are controlled by water snow only; the light curves of “new” comets concur to the same conclusion. Among all the comets studied so farnone seems to be controlled by anything more volatile than water snow or ice. The large production rates of H and OH observed in cometary atmospheres suggest that they come from the dissociation of H2O in the vapor state. The theory of vaporization only is able to close the gap: it concludes that this water vapor was indeed released by the sublimation of water ice.
CORONARY THROMBOSIS AND MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION IN A 4½-YEAR-OLD BOY

A case of fatal massive myocardial infarction in a 4½-year-old boy is presented. The underlying thickening of the coronary artery, aneurysm formation and thrombosis are believed to be of inflammatory origin.
RFID technical tutorial

Radio frequency identification (RFID) uses radio frequency signals to automatically identify objects. RFID is used to pay for gas without going into the store, in automobile immobilizer systems to prevent theft, in toll road systems to automatically pay tolls without stopping, in animal identification, in secure entry cards, and in the supply chain to manage the flow of pallets, cases, and items. Most media accounts of RFID are actually about one form of RFID the electronic product code (EPC) system used by retailers to manage the supply chain. EPC has standardized chip designs and protocols that have enabled the mass production of low-cost passive RFID tags. EPC provides identification of the product to which the EPC tag is attached like a barcode, except that it can be read at a distance and does not require line-of-sight aiming.
Maturity Effects on Students' Perceptions of How Accounting Scandals Impact the Accounting Profession.

This study examines the impact of recent ethical scandals on business students’ perceptions of the accounting profession and related regulatory reforms, and whether such perceptions may be differentiated by maturity. Student maturity is distinguished by age, class standing, and number of accounting classes taken so far. The study results are based on a survey of student perceptions regarding their understanding of recent accounting scandals and related regulations, the adequacy of the response (from the profession as well as Congress) to these scandals, and the ensuing viability of the accounting profession. Student maturity is found to be a significant determinant of differentiation in these perceptions. Among the results presented, it is interesting to note that more mature students perceive the accounting profession as being more viable than less mature students; however, less mature students purport to have a better understanding of the ethical scandals. The findings of this study have important implications for academicians in their efforts to engage students in meaningful dialog regarding ethical and professional issues.
Whither or whether HCI: requirements analysis for multi-sited, multi-user cyberinfrastructures

Cyberinfrastructures bring together distributed resources to support scientific discoveries. Cyberinfrastructures currently under development are intended to enable the cooperative work of diverse users over long periods of time. We analyze the challenges that cyberinfrastructures present to existing methods of user requirements analysis.
Use of monoclonal anti-light subunit antibodies to study the structure and function of the Entamoeba histolytica Gal/GalNAc adherence lectin

Adherence of Entamoeba histolytica trophozoites to host cells is mediated by a galactose (Gal) and N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc)-specific surface lectin. The lectin is a heterodimeric protein composed of heavy (170 kDa) and light (35-31 kDa) subunits linked by disulfide bonds. Polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies (mAb) raised against a light subunit-glutathione-S-transferase fusion protein were used to probe its structure and function. Four light subunit-specific mAb were produced which recognized distinct epitopes on five different light subunit isoforms. Immunoblots with these mAb demonstrated co-migration of light and heavy subunits when nonreduced trophozoite proteins were analysed by SDS-PAGE, indicating that the subunits do not exist free of the heterodimer in significant quantities. While anti-heavy subunit antibodies had previously been shown to alter adherence, anti-light subunit antibodies did not, suggesting that the heavy subunit contains the carbohydrate recognition domain.
Prognostic Factors for Patients with Breast Cancer: Traditional and New

At the time of breast cancer diagnosis, multiple features of the tumor are routinely assessed to evaluate for prognostic and predictive factors. Prognostic factors provide information about the patient's likely clinical course and include tumor stage (composed of lymph node status, tumor size, and presence of chest wall involvement), tumor histologic type and grade, estrogen and progesterone receptor expression, and HER2 status. These traditional prognostic factors are reviewed with particular attention to problematic areas in classification. Several newer prognostic tests may be able to provide information beyond the traditional prognostic factors and are presented.
Clonal growth of human keratinocytes with small amounts of dialyzed serum.

A survey of commercially availabla media revealed that medium F-12 was superior to medium 199 for clonal growth of human epidermal keratinocytes (HK) when supplemented with 10 μg/ml hydrocortisone (HC) plus dialyzed fetal bovine serum protein (FBSP), rather than the whole serum used in previous studies. Qualitative and quantitative adjustment of the medium composition for optimal clonal growth with minimal amounts of FBSP generated a new medium, MCDB 151, which supports clonal growth of HK with 10 μg/ml HC and as little as 1 mg/ml FBSP (equivalent in protein concentration to 2.0% whole serum). MCDB 151 differs significantly from MCDB 105, previously developed in this laboratory for normal human fibroblasts, and each medium selectively favors growth of its own type of cell in primary cultures of disaggregated human neonatal foreskin cells. Differences in the amounts of calcium and adenine in the two media appear to be among the most influential factors mediating the selective growth. Optimal growth of HK occurs at a very low level of Ca2+ that causes the colonies to remain as monolayers rather than stratifying as they do in the presence of higher levels of calcium. However, keratin synthesis, which was examined through use of highly specific fluorescent antibodies, is not affected by the Ca2+ concentration. Agents that increase intracellular cyclic AMP levels appear to have no effect on HK growth in MCDB 151 with 10 μg/ml HC and 1.0 mg/ml FBSP.
The step response: a method to characterize mechanisms of renal blood flow autoregulation.

Response of renal vasculature to changes in renal perfusion pressure (RPP) involves mechanisms with different frequency characteristics. Autoregulation of renal blood flow (RBF) is mediated by the ...
Fishing at the cellular level.

A platform for automated screening of zebrafish larvae in high throughput should allow detection of phenotypic changes in single cells.
City-wide Surveillance for the Occurrence of Respiratory Syncytial Virus(RSV) Respiratory Tract Infections in a Population of High Risk Infants ≤32 weeks Gestational Age † 1453

RSV IGIV has been recommended for use in high-risk infants ≤35 wks GA. In 1996, the following criteria were adopted for RSV IGIV use in all Level III NICUs in the City of Pittsburgh: 1) <1yr of age with chronic lung disease(CLD) - mechanical ventilation, supplemental oxygen, steroids and/or diuretics beyond 14 days of life, 2) ≤32 wks GA and <6 months chronologic age with high risk of non-preventable exposure to RSV (sibs in preschool or daycare). The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of RSV infection and the effectiveness of RSV IGIV in reducing RSV-associated hospitalization in a city-wide population of infants ≤32 wks GA. All infants born at ≤32 wks GA from 7/1/96-4/30/97 who met criteria were eligible to receive 1 to 6 doses of RSV IGIV (given monthly from 11/1/96-4/30/97). Parents were contacted at intervals through 6/30/97 to determine RSV IGIV treatment, occurrence of RSV infection and risk factors. We identified 282 infants ≤32 wks GA; 205 families were contacted (73%). Mean GA and birthweight were 29.5 wks ± 2.4 and 1338 g ± 402 respectively. Of the 53 infants eligible for RSV IGIV, 4 had no doses and 7 received IM RSV. Forty-two infants received 78% of eligible doses of RSV IGIV and one was hospitalized with RSV (2.4%). Twelve infants ineligible for RSV IGIV were hospitalized for RSV infection (8.1%). Of these 13 hospitalized infants, 9 had no recognized risk factors except prematurity, 1 had CLD (RSV-eligible, received 4 of 6 doses), 1 attended daycare and 2 had sibs in daycare or preschool. Mean age at hospitalization was 15 weeks ± 11 and mean length of stay was 8 days ± 8. Ten infants developed an oxygen requirement, 1 was ventilated. There were no infant deaths. We conclude that with 92% compliance with RSV IGIV administration in Pittsburgh using the above criteria, there was a decrease in RSV-associated hospitalization in at-risk infants ≤32 weeks with a case reduction rate of 70%. This study may indicate that current RSV IGIV administration criteria for treatment of high-risk infants ≤35 wks GA may be excessive. Cost analysis will be performed to determine the cost effectiveness of this strategy.
Studies on Amerindian dogs: Taxonomic analysis of canid crania from the Northern Plains

Abstract Archaeological investigation of the economic role of domestic versus wild canids among late prehistoric and historic villagers in the Northern Plains has long been hindered by difficulties in reliably distinguishing between remains of different species, especially dogs ( Canis familiaris ) and wolves ( Canis lupus ). Taxonomic confusion is the result of deliberate human selection for large, strong dogs for use as draft animals, and occasional but probably consistent hybridization between dogs and wolves. Discriminant analysis is used to help identify 33 archaeological canid crania from the Northern Plains, many of which are taxonomically confusing. Reference samples for classification of these specimens consist of six groups of modern or archaeological dog, wolf and coyote ( Canis latrans ) crania from North America. Thirteen measurements are used. Analysis indicates that, relative to wolves, the dogs tend to have proportionally wide posterior cranial vaults, short snouts and palates, steeply rising foreheads, and small teeth. Although convincing evidence for dog—wolf hybrid specimens from recent Plains archaeological contexts is lacking, the identification of such specimens probably has little practical significance with regard to canid domestication in general. Compared to dogs, a greater proportion of specimens identified as wolves exhibit evidence of butchering.
Estimating the Demand for a New Technology: Bt Cotton and Insecticide Policies

This article examines the potential demand for Bt cotton in the Southeast from information gathered in the first year of commercialization. We combine revealed preference (RP) data on adoption of Bt cotton varieties with stated preference (SP) data on willingness to adopt to estimate demand using a double-bounded maximum likelihood procedure. Using estimated demand equations, we simulate the costs of reducing conventional insecticide applications through subsidization of Bt cotton. Results indicate that reducing cotton insecticide applications by 40% in the Southeast would require a $21/acre subsidy, with total annual program costs between $53 million and $60 million.
Relationship Types and Contraceptive Use Within Young Adult Dating Relationships

CONTEXT: Although expanding research has found that relationship characteristics can shape contraceptive use among young adults limited research has examined how relationship characteristics intersect to form distinct types of relationships and how relationship types are linked to contraceptive use. METHODS: Data from the 2002-2005 rounds of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort were used to examine contraceptive use in 3485 young adult dating relationships. Latent class analysis was employed to develop a typology of relationships using measures of relationship structure (duration) and quality (intimacy commitment and conflict). Multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to estimate associations between relationship type and contraceptive use and method choice at last sex. RESULTS: Four types of relationships were identified two shorter term and two longer term differentiated by levels of intimacy commitment and conflict. Young adults in longer term relationships with greater conflict and lower intimacy and commitment were less likely than those in other long-term relationships to use hormonal and dual methods versus no method (relative risk ratios 0.6-0.7). Hormonal method use versus no method use or condom use was more prevalent in short-term relationships with greater intimacy and commitment and lower conflict than in other short-term relationships (1.7 and 1.9 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Classifying short-term relationships as "casual" or long-term ones as "serious" may ignore heterogeneity within these categories that may have implications for contraceptive use. Future qualitative research could provide a better understanding of relationship types and couples fertility intentions and access to and use of contraceptives. Copyright (c) 2014 by the Guttmacher Institute.
Development of automatically verifiable systems using data representation synthesis

We present a technique for developing software that can be automatically formally verified for the absence of memory safety errors. Our technique makes use of Data Representation Synthesis to encapsulate all data structures inside within relational interfaces. We show that operations on relations can be precisely reasoned about using existing techniques for automatic precise reasoning on containers. In this work, we present a port of the Fiasco.OC microkernel to structures generated by Data Representation Synthesis that will be automatically verified by precise container reasoning techniques.
Strategies for promoting anti-seizure effects of hippocampal fetal cells grafted into the hippocampus of rats exhibiting chronic temporal lobe epilepsy

Efficacy of hippocampal fetal cell (HFC) grafting for restraining spontaneous recurrent motor seizures (SRMS) in chronic temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is unknown. We investigated both survival and anti-seizure effects of 5'-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) labeled embryonic day 19 (E19) HFC grafts pretreated with different neurotrophic factors and a caspase inhibitor. Grafts were placed bilaterally into the hippocampi of F344 rats exhibiting kainate (KA) induced chronic TLE, where the frequency of SRMS varied from 3.0 to 3.5 seizures/8-h duration. The first group received standard (untreated) HFC grafts, the second group received HFC grafts pretreated and transplanted with brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) and caspase inhibitor Ac-YVAD-cmk (BNC-treated HFC grafts), the third group received HFC grafts pretreated and transplanted with fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) and caspase inhibitor Ac-YVAD-cmk (FC-treated HFC grafts), and the fourth group served as epilepsy-only controls. Epileptic rats receiving standard HFC grafts exhibited 119% increase in the frequency of SRMS at 2 months post-grafting consistent with 125% increase in seizure frequency observed in epilepsy-only controls during the same period. However, in epileptic rats receiving HFC grafts treated with BNC or FC, the frequency of SRMS was 33-39% less than their pre-transplant scores and 73-76% less than rats receiving standard HFC grafts or epilepsy-only rats. The yield of surviving neurons was equivalent to 30% of injected cells in standard HFC grafts, 57% in HFC grafts treated with BNC and 98% in HFC grafts treated with FC. Thus, standard HFC grafts survive poorly in the chronically epileptic hippocampus and fail to restrain the progression of chronic TLE. In contrast, HFCs treated and grafted with BNC or FC survive robustly in the chronically epileptic hippocampus, considerably reduce the frequency of SRMS and blunt the progression of chronic TLE.
Key Concepts in Caspar von Schwenckfeld's Thought: Regeneration and the New Life

E. J. FURCHA, Associate Professor of Church History, Union College of British Columbia Any one looking at Schwenckfeld through the spectacles of a historian who approaches the age of the sixteenth century Reformation with a neatly devised system will find his thought rather confusing. The strange Silesian nobleman wrote voluminous pamphlets on theology without ever aspiring to be a theologian; he preached widely and served as pastor to his adherents without ever claiming to be a clergyman (Predikant). He insisted that his expositions were in keeping with the best and most catholic of Christian thought, yet one finds it next to impossible to delineate his theology within a "system." He was involved in too many arguments and pursued too many theological interests to allow every one of his utterances a fitting place within a well-structured theological system.
Multinuclear magnetic resonance study of aluminum(III)‐isothiocyanate complexes in water‐acetone mixtures

A multinuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) study of the complexes of aluminum(III) with isothiocyanate ion in water-acetone mixtures has been completed. At temperatures low enough to slow proton and ligand exchange, separate resonance signals are observed for coordinated and bulk H2O (1H) and NCS− (13C, 15N), and Al3+ (27Al) in each complex. The 1H NMR spectra reveal six sets of signals for the complexes, [Al(H2O)6]3+ through [Al(H2O)(NCS)5]2−, including isomers for three of the species. Signal area measurements show a decrease in the Al3+ hydration number with increasing NCS− concentration, as this anion replaces water in the solvation shell. In the 27Al NMR spectra of these systems, signals for seven complexes, [Al(H2O)6]3+ through [Al(NCS)6]3−, are observed, with chemical shifts increasing by about 6 ppm with each additional NCS−. Although broadened somewhat by the Al(III) quadrupole, the 13C and 15N NMR spectra also reveal coordinated NCS− signals for these complexes, including 27AlN13CS J-coupling in [Al(NCS)6]3−. Area evaluations of the 15N NMR signals provide an excellent complement to the 1H hydration number data. These NMR results demonstrate that a multinuclear approach to the study of solution complexes can provide detailed structural information about the species being formed.
Breast Brachytherapy and Breast Augmentation: Breast Conservation without Capsular Contracture

Capsular contracture is a significant risk (∼55%) for women receiving whole breast irradiation as part of breast conservation therapy for breast cancer in the presence of augmentation mammoplasty. Fear of this complication leads approximately half of augmented women to have mastectomy for early stage breast cancers despite a high personal priority on appearance. Breast brachytherapy exposes only a tiny fraction of the surface area of the implant to radiation, and has the potential to markedly reduce or eliminate capsular contracture as an issue in these women. Catheter insertion techniques that reliably cover the target volume while preventing inadvertent implant puncture are described. Radiation dose to skin, uninvolved breast, ribs, lung, heart, and the silicone or saline implant is minimized. Our fifteen year experience of partial breast irradiation in augmented women demonstrates excellent tumor control, cosmesis, and quality of life. If the clinical outcomes continue to remain favorable, breast brachy may become the breast-conserving treatment of choice for breast cancer patients with augmentation.
“A sort of previous lubrication”: De Quincey's preface to confessions of an English opium‐eater

The Preface to Confessions of an English Opium‐Eater constitutes a fine example of what Thomas De Quincey called style in its “ministerial” capacity. He achieved the ends of this style in two ways: first, he adopted a strategy of accommodation and challenge, whereby he accepted the reader's viewpoint only to undermine and replace it with another; second, his “licentious” style rehearsed the reader in the activity requisite to understand the difficult, involved text which followed.
The state of funding for new initiatives in computer science and engineering

The intellectual opportunities are huge, the social benefits transforming, yet redesigning a workable funding model for CS&E research will require our collective imagination and collaboration between many IT sectors.
Effects of Gonadectomy and Treatment with Gonadal Steroids on Luteinizing Hormone Secretion in Hypogonadal Male and Female Mice with Preoptic Area Implants

The ability of male and female hypogonadal (hpg) mice with preoptic area (POA) grafts to show negative feedback was studied. GnRH neurons within POA grafts send axons into the median eminence of the hpg host (HPG/POA), resulting in increased gonadotropin production and gonadal development in the mice that are genetically unable to produce GnRH. The present studies evaluated whether negative feedback, an aspect of normal reproductive function, is present in male and female HPG/POA mice. In normal male mice plasma LH was increased 1 or 5 months after castration and returned to baseline after testosterone propionate treatment. In contrast, no alterations in plasma LH were measured in similarly treated HPG/POA males. HPG/POA female mice were ovariectomized 6 weeks or 3 or 6 months after graft surgery and received sc 17 beta-estradiol (E2) implants 3 months later. Normal mice were studied when 6 weeks old and 8 months old (age-matched to HPG/POA mice ovariectomized 3 months after graft surgery). Further, to determine whether the mice were capable of positive feedback, 1 week after receiving E2 implants, mice in the 6-week and 3-month postgraft surgery groups were challenged with sequential administration of estradiol benzoate and progesterone. The significant increase in plasma LH after ovariectomy or decrease after E2 implant in normal female mice was not present in most HPG/POA female mice. Just 2 of the 24 HPG/POA females studied had increased plasma LH after gonadectomy, and in only 1 of these was plasma LH suppressed by E2 treatment. The ability of an individual HPG/POA mouse to show positive feedback did not predict the ability to show negative feedback, nor did the ability to show negative feedback predict positive feedback capability. Among the mice that failed to respond to ovariectomy with increased LH release were some that had elevated LH in response to steroid challenge or had spontaneously ovulated. On the other hand, neither mouse that had increased LH release after ovariectomy had shown positive feedback to a steroid challenge. Immunocytochemical evaluation revealed GnRH cells within the grafts and GnRH fiber innervation of the host's median eminence, but there was no correlation between numbers of GnRH cells or extent of innervation with the ability to show either negative or positive feedback, nor was the presence of vasoactive intestinal peptide cells within the grafts of predictive value. The failure of negative feedback in most of the HPG/POA mice tested may be due to the failure to establish as yet unidentified but essential afferents to the grafted GnRH cells and/or their axonal processes.