cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Craving mediates the association between momentary pain and illicit opioid use during treatment for opioid-use disorder: an ecological momentary assessment study.

AIM To assess the role of momentary pain on opioid craving and illicit opioid use among individuals receiving opioid agonist treatment. DESIGN Observational study using ecological momentary assessment. SETTING The National Institute of Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program in the United States. PARTICIPANTS Fifty-six adults who qualified for opioid agonist treatment. MEASUREMENTS Participants completed randomly prompted assessments of pain severity, stress, negative mood, opioid craving and illicit opioid use for a mean of 66 days [standard deviation (SD) = 27]. Urine samples were collected two to three times/week throughout. FINDINGS Almost 70% of participants reported moderate average pain severity in the past 24 hours at intake and 35% of participants reported chronic pain. There were no significant differences in percent of opioid-positive urine samples (P = 0.73) and average level of opioid craving during the study period (P = 0.91) among opioid agonist treatment only patients versus opioid agonist treatment patients with chronic pain. However, momentary pain severity significantly predicted concurrent opioid craving [B = 0.02, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.01, 0.04], over and above stress and negative mood. Momentary opioid craving, in turn, significantly predicted illicit opioid use that was assessed in the next moment [odds ratio (OR) = 1.72, 95% CI = 1.12, 2.64), while controlling for autocorrelation and the effects of pain, negative mood and stress. Momentary opioid craving significantly mediated the prospective association between momentary pain and illicit opioid use (95% CI = 0.003, 0.032). Exploratory analysis revealed that momentary pain severity also significantly moderated the momentary association between stress and opioid craving (B = 0.02, 95% CI = 0.00, 0.04), such that when momentary pain severity increased, the association between the two intensified. CONCLUSIONS Among people receiving opioid agonist treatment, momentary pain appears to be indirectly associated with illicit opioid use via momentary opioid craving.
Therapeutic Use of the Elkins Hypnotizability Scale: A Feasibility Study.

Hypnotizability assessment can inform hypnotic interventions, and studies on brief hypnotic inductions suggest that it may also confer therapeutic benefits. However, hypnotizability is rarely asses...
Michelle Tien King (2014). Between Birth and Death: Female Infanticide in Nineteenth-Century China.

It seems obvious and trite to discuss female infanticide in China. Female infanticide has long been regarded as a product of backward cultural practices and gender inequities under an authoritarian, patriarchal regime bent on enacting and enforcing a “birth” sub-regime. Along with footbinding, female infanticide becomes a marker of traditional China’s decadent culture and regressive past. This perception of China is reinforced by first a single-child policy and then a prevalent desire to have even smaller, nuclear families in an increasingly affluent society, which have “amplified the effects of a long-standing societal preference for sons, derived from a traditional Confucian value system that still lingers in present form” (p.2).
Review of the Movie on the Mathematical Genius Ramanujan

The Man Who Knew Infinity is a film (referred as INFINITY from here on) about the remarkable life story and path-breaking work of Srinivasa Ramanujan, a self-taught genius from India, who communicated bewildering mathematical formulae in two letters in 1913 to the esteemed G. H. Hardy of Cambridge University, England, a towering figure in the mathematical domains of analysis and number theory. The legend is that the Hindu Goddess Namagiri came in Ramanujan’s dreams and gave him these formulae. Realising that Ramanujan was a genius on par with Euler and Jacobi, Hardy invited Ramanujan to Cambridge where Ramanujan did pioneering work by himself and with Hardy.
Factors Influencing Racial and Ethnic Differences in Prescription Opioid Misuse Among Young Adolescents in the USA, 2009-2019.

BACKGROUND Prescription opioid misuse (POM) is an important public health concern. Not many studies have evaluated factors influencing racial and ethnic differences in POM exclusively in young adolescents. We evaluated factors influencing the racial and ethnic differences in POM in a nationally representative sample of 8th- and 10th-grade (12-15 years old) US adolescents. METHODS Data were from 107,786 adolescents who participated in the 2009-2019 Monitoring the Future survey. Logistic regression and mediation analysis were used to identify risk factors for POM and evaluate mediators of the association of race and ethnicity on the frequency of POM in the past year. RESULTS From 2009 to 2019, the prevalence of POM in the past year decreased from 3.2% to 1.8% (p = 0.032), with significant differences in POM trends by race and ethnicity. Overall, the prevalence was higher among non-Hispanic White adolescents (3.2%) than Hispanic (2.5%) and non-Hispanic Black adolescents (1.6%), p < 0.001. After adjustment for demographic, substance use, lifestyle, and family-related factors, the odds of POM were lower among Black (odds ratio (OR) = 0.81, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.66-0.98) and Hispanic adolescents (OR = 0.64, CI: 0.55-0.74) compared to White adolescents. Illicit drug use and misuse of other prescription drugs together explained 77.2% and 47.3% of the racial and ethnic disparities in POM among Black and Hispanic adolescents, respectively. CONCLUSION In this study, significant racial and ethnic differences in the trends of POM were observed. Illicit drug use and misuse of other prescription drugs substantially explained the racial and ethnic disparities in POM among young adolescents.
The significance of longitudinal excursion in peripheral nerves.

SUMMARY It has been shown that nerves do, in fact, have a longitudinal excursion. This excursion is accentuated during adjacent joint motion. It is important for the surgeon treating nerve injuries, compression lesions, and adherent nerves to realize that the restoration of the longitudinal excursion of the peripheral nerves must be accomplished in order to effectively treat the inciting lesion.
Development of an Attitudes Measure for Prenatal Screening in Diverse Populations.

Background: Prenatal screening for chromosomalabnormalities is routinely offered to allpregnant women who present for care by their20th gestational week. Not all women,however, choose to undergo one of these tests,and choice of which test(s) to undergo alsovary. The reasons for variation in screeningtest behavior have not been fully explored.Methods: We examined the psychometricproperties of scales developed to measurefactors related to prenatal screening usingdata collected as part of a survey of 448racial/ethnically diverse pregnant women. These women were consecutively recruited fromprenatal care clinics when they were betweentheir 12th and 20th week ofpregnancy. The Theory of Reasoned Action wasused to develop to measures of attitudes towardand beliefs about prenatal screening. All itemswere subjected to factor analysis. Scalesidentified in the factor analysis were thensubjected to reliability analysis. Allanalysis was conducted for the entire studygroup as well as separately for eachracial/ethnic group.Results: Six scales emerged: who makes medicaldecisions, fatalism, health care trust, valueof screening, fear of screening and value ofpregnancy. All scales had adequate reliabilitywhen the analysis was conducted for the entirestudy group; however there were differences inreliability across racial/ethnic group.Conclusions: Because of these between groupdifferences comparisons of racial/ethnic groupmay be difficult to interpret and potentiallylead to erroneous conclusions.
Differential effects of palmityl coenzyme A on liver microsomal inorganic pyrophosphate-glucose phosphotransferase and glucose 6-phosphate phosphohydrolase.

Abstract The effects of palmityl coenzyme A on both hydrolytic and inorganic pyrophosphate-glucose phosphotransferase activities of glucose 6-phosphate phosphohydrolase (EC 3.1.3.9) of rat liver microsomes have been investigated. It was found that the acyl coenzyme A compound may either stimulate or inhibit, in a pH- and concentration-dependent, activity-discriminating manner. Marked activation of the phosphotransferase activity (to a maximum of 350% of control levels in one instance) was observed under a wide variety of conditions, while the glucose 6-phosphate phosphohydrolase activity was at best but modestly elevated (to a maximum of 120% of control levels) and was significantly inhibited by palmityl coenzyme A under most conditions tested. A concomitant extensive activation of phosphotransferase and inhibition of phosphohydrolase activity was observed with certain levels of the acyl coenzyme A compound. Effective concentrations of palmityl coenzyme A coincided with established levels of hepatic long chain fatty acyl coenzyme A derivatives. Coenzyme A, palmitate, and acetyl coenzyme A were without effect on enzymic activities. Maximal phosphotransferase activity was observed at pH 4.3 with untreated microsomal preparations. This maximum was shifted to pH 6 when assays were carried out in the presence of 4.1 x 10-5 m palmityl coenzyme A, and a significant amount of activity was observed at pH 7.0 under these conditions. It is suggested that changes, in vivo, of functional levels of the hydrolytic and synthetic activities of this enzyme in animals in various altered hormonal states, for example, diabetes, possibly may be mediated in part through these activity-discriminating effects of long chain acyl coenzyme A compounds.
Seizure-induced neuronal death in the immature brain.

Abstract The response of the developing brain to epileptic seizures and to status epilepticus is highly age-specific. Neonates with their low cerebral metabolic rate and fragmentary neuronal networks can tolerate relatively prolonged seizures without suffering massive cell death, but severe seizures in experimental animals inhibit brain growth, modify neuronal circuits, and can lead to behavioral deficits and to increases in neuronal excitability. Past infancy, the developing brain is characterized by high metabolic rate, exuberant neuronal and synaptic networks and overexpression of receptors and enzymes involved in excitotoxic mechanisms. The outcome of seizures is highly model-dependent. Status epilepticus may produce massive neuronal death, behavioral deficits, synaptic reorganization and chronic epilepsy in some models, little damage in others. Long-term consequences are also highly age- and model-dependent. However, we now have some models which reliably lead to spontaneous seizures and chronic epilepsy in the vast majority of animals, demonstrating that seizure-induced epileptogenesis can occur in the developing brain. The mode of cell death from status epilepticus is largely (but not exclusively) necrotic in adults, while the incidence of apoptosis increases at younger ages. Seizure-induced necrosis has many of the biochemical features of apoptosis, with early cytochrome release from mitochondria and caspase activation. We speculate that this form of necrosis is associated with seizure-induced energy failure.
Surgical treatment of valvular heart disease

Abstract In the sick patient with mitral valve disease, surgery is unquestionably an important adjunct in our therapeutic armamentarium. The proper time for surgery can best be defined by correlating the clinical and hemodynamic features of the individual case with the life history of rheumatic valvular disease. Once embarked upon, the operation should be done in the manner which gives the best possible result with the least risk, always preserving the patient's valve when possible.
Making Money From Fair Games

Suppose that a casino offers p fair games. Can we make money by playing the games (a) according to a fixed schedule, (b) using a strategy that depends on our wealth? The answers depend on the moments of the payoff distribution.
Evaluation of Lean Body Weight Equation by Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry Measures

BACKGROUND When managing patients with disorders that require clinical intervention, a practical assessment of body habitus is valued. The Duffull-Green lean body weight (LBW) equation was derived and validated in adults across a wide body mass index (BMI) range. Whether this predictive equation will perform well in patients at BMI extremes or perform better than a widely used empiric "ideal" body weight (IBW) equation is unknown. MATERIALS AND METHODS Calculated LBW and calculated IBW were each compared with the dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA)-derived lean body mass (LBM) by simple linear regression. A mixed model was used to determine how well the LBW equation performed over time in patients with more than 1 DXA measurement. RESULTS At time 0, 32 patients were 18-67 years old, and all were obese (BMI: 36-65 kg/m2), while the remaining 7 had parenteral nutrition-dependent intestinal failure (BMI: 17-25 kg/m2). A subset of patients underwent bariatric surgery after time 0 (BMI at follow-up: 22-49 kg/m2). The LBW equation was a predictor of LBM ( R2 = 0.67, P < .0001), while the IBW equation was not ( R2 = 0.04, P = .25). The LBW equation remained a predictor of LBM over time ( P < .0001) without significant interaction by number of months since time 0. CONCLUSION The Duffull-Green LBW equation successfully predicted lean body mass in a patient population with a wide range of BMIs at both a single point in time and after considerable weight loss. In the clinical setting, an equation that performs well in various disease states and body sizes is advantageous.
A Structured Educational Curriculum Including Online Training Positively Impacts American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination Scores

Objective To assess the effect of a structured postgraduate year 1 educational curriculum, including online surgical training, on American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination (ABSITE) scores. Design This was a retrospective cohort study. Setting The study was performed in an academic surgical residency program in a tertiary care hospital, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio. Participants The participants were 140 surgical postgraduate year 1 residents from 2000 to 2009. Interns from 2000 to 2004 were grouped together and completed a self-directed learning curriculum. Interns from 2005 to 2009 participated in a structured educational curriculum that included lectures and the use of an online program. Lectures were based on the American College of Surgeons curriculum. The online program consisted of 8 to 12 hours of assigned tutorials and quizzes that corresponded to the lectures and 3 multiple-choice (MC) examinations. Results Use of a structured educational curriculum led to improved ABSITE scores (66 ± 9%) compared with that of those who had no curriculum (55 ± 10%, p Conclusions Providing surgery residents a structured curriculum with lectures and an online component positively impacts ABSITE scores.
Fluent Bodies: Ayurvedic Remedies for Postcolortial Imbalance

Fluent Bodies: Ayurvedic Remedies for Postcolortial Imbalance. Jean M. Langford. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2002. ix. 311pp.
A Compartmental Model Predicts That Dietary Potassium Affects Lithium Dynamics in Rats

Lithium is the treatment of choice for manic depression, but therapy often results in nephrogenic diabetes insipidus and lithium intoxication. To investigate the effects of dietary potassium on potential side effects of lithium therapy, a mathematical model was built using the modeling program SAAM (Simulation, Analysis, And Modeling). Experimental data modeled were from adult male Sprague-Dawley rats fed diets with or without lithium and one of three levels of potassium for 17 d. A five-compartment model of lithium dynamics was built that was consistent with data from rats fed a lithium-containing diet adequate in potassium. This model was then compared with data from rats fed the other two lithium-containing diets. The model predicts that both the fractional transfer coefficient and rate of transport of lithium to the serum compartment from the kidney compartment are lower in rats fed the potassium-adequate diet than in those fed the potassium-deficient diet, and even lower in those fed the potassium-supplemented diet. In addition, fractional transfer coefficients into the serum compartment from the sampled and simulated tissue compartments changed differently with time depending on the amount of dietary potassium. The model also predicts that there would be less accumulation of lithium in the kidney, sampled tissue and simulated tissue compartments with supplemental dietary potassium. The model suggests that potassium supplementation, after a 7-d delay, protects against nephrogenic diabetes insipidus and the potentially toxic accumulation of lithium by decreasing the reabsorption of lithium from the kidneys and increasing lithium efflux from the tissues.
Hanatoxin Modifies the Gating of a Voltage-Dependent K+ Channel through Multiple Binding Sites

We studied the mechanism by which Hanatoxin (HaTx) inhibits the drk1 voltage-gated K+ channel. HaTx inhibits the K+ channel by shifting channel opening to more depolarized voltages. Channels opened by strong depolarization in the presence of HaTx deactivate much faster upon repolarization, indicating that toxin bound channels can open. Thus, HaTx inhibits the drk1 K+ channel, not by physically occluding the ion conduction pore, but by modifying channel gating. Occupancy of the channel by HaTx was studied using various strength depolarizations. The concentration dependence for equilibrium occupancy as well as the kinetics of onset and recovery from inhibition indicate that multiple HaTx molecules can simultaneously bind to a single K+ channel. These results are consistent with a simple model in which HaTx binds to the surface of the drk1 K+ channel at four equivalent sites and alters the energetics of channel gating.
The levelized cost of energy for distributed PV: A parametric study

The maturation of distributed solar PV as an energy source requires that the technology no longer compete on module efficiency and manufacturing cost ($/Wp) alone. Solar PV must yield sufficient energy (kWh) at a competitive cost (¢/kWh) to justify its system investment and ongoing maintenance costs. These metrics vary as a function of system design and interactions between parameters, such as efficiency and area-related installation costs. The calculation of levelized cost of energy includes energy production and costs throughout the life of the system. The life of the system and its components, the rate at which performance degrades, and operation and maintenance requirements all affect the cost of energy. Cost of energy is also affected by project financing and incentives. In this paper, the impact of changes in parameters such as efficiency and in assumptions about operating and maintenance costs, degradation rate and system life, system design, and financing will be examined in the context of levelized cost of energy.
Transient modeling of TSV-wire electromigration and lifetime analysis of power distribution network for 3D ICs

In this paper, we present a transient modeling of electromigration (EM) in TSV and TSV-to-wire interfaces in the power delivery network (PDN) of 3D ICs. In particular, we model atomic depletion and accumulation, effective resistance degradation, and full chip-scale PDN lifetime degradation due to EM. Our major focuses are on: (1) time-dependent multi-physics EM modeling approach to model TSVs and connecting wires under the influence of coupled physical phenomenon including electric field, temperature, and stress; (2) time-dependent EM-aware power integrity analysis methodology, which is integrated with the TSV modeling approach to predict long-term IR-drop degradation in full-chip 3D power delivery networks. Our studies show that voids and hillocks grow at various TSV-to-wire interfaces and degrade the effective resistance of TSVs significantly. In addition, our full-chip PDN lifetime analysis shows significant increase in maximum IR drop during lifetime due to EM effects.
A multi-user on-line 8080 microcomputer system

A laboratory control system based upon the Imsai 8080 microcomputer is described. This system is capable of programming separate events in each of five animal operant chambers and recording the resulting behavioral data. The interface between the computer and the chambers is compatible with the 28-V dc nature of these chambers and various peripheral devices, such as cumulative recorders. At present, system software is based on the 8080 assembly language, while the BASIC language is used for data analysis. Cost considerations and comparisons with minicomputers are discussed.
Effects of specialisation in cattle production on ecologically harmful emissions

Abstract The effects of intensification in dairy cattle upon ecologically harmful emissions was investigated using a theoretical model of change in the traits of a dairy cattle population under selection. The demand for milk by the consumer was assumed to be a constant. Therefore, an increase in milk yield per cow and per year would lead to a reduced dairy cattle population with a lowered capacity for beef production. The effects of compensating the reduction of beef output from the dairy cattle population by additional rearing of purebred beef cattle was simulated. The amount of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and methane (CH 4 ) emitted by the two different production systems is used to measure their degree of environmental compatibility. Limits in voluntary feed intake play an important role in the input/output relationships and were given important emphasis in the modelling process. Despite a reduction in the size of the total population (both dairy and beef cows) needed to maintain milk and beef protein production, the calculated corresponding emissions of N, P and CH 4 were increased by 0.5 to 3.0%.
Bark beetle olfaction. III. Antennal olfactory responsiveness ofDendroctonus frontalis Zimmerman andD. brevicomis Le Conte (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) to aggregation pheromones and host tree terpene hydrocarbons

Electroantennograms from males and females ofDendroctonus frontalis andD. brevicomis in response to serial dilutions of the pheromonesexo brevicomin and frontalin and the host terpene hydrocarbons 3-carene and α-pinene show no significant differences in the threshold concentration for response to the compounds for either sex or species. The intensity of response was greater to higher concentrations of the pheromones (10 to >104 μg) than the terpene hydrocarbons, suggesting the presence of more receptors on the antennae for pheromones than terpene hydrocarbons. Antennal olfactory responses to the compounds did not correlate to published data on behavioral responses by the beetles to the compounds in both field and laboratory studies. Adaptation experiments indicated that forD. frontalis, both frontalin andexo brevicomin share the same receptors on the antennae. The results indicated that the terpene hydrocarbons share some, but not all, of the same receptors.
Do lowest-order approximations adequately describe nuclear matter?

Abstract The energies of simple many-body systems are calculated with the lowest-order Brueckner theory and with the lowest order constrained variational method, and the results are compared with accurate variational upper bounds. The comparison suggests that the lowest-order methods can have errors of the order of the dispersion correction (∼ 12 MeV in nuclear matter), and hence are not accurate enough to study nuclear matter.
Supply chain variability, organizational structure, and performance: The moderating effect of demand unpredictability

Abstract Supply chain process variability is the level of inconsistency, or volatility, in the flow of goods into, through, and out of a firm. The research investigates the links among organizational structure (formalization and integration), supply chain process variability, and performance as moderated by environmental uncertainty. We found that in a predictable demand environment, only formal control affects supply chain process variability, leading to improved financial results; but in an unpredictable demand environment, only cross-functional integration affects supply chain process variability, leading to improved financial performance. We also examined whether supply chain process variability is a complete or partial mediator of the relationship between organizational structure and performance, and found that: (1) in a predictable demand environment, supply chain process variability completely mediates the relationship between formal control and performance and (2) in an unpredictable demand environment, supply chain process variability partially mediates the relationship between integration and performance. Supply chain process variability has an inverse relationship with financial performance, regardless of the demand environment; and organizational structure provides managers with the mechanisms to mitigate this variability's detrimental impact on financial performance.
The Role of Endometrium in Endometriosis

Endometriosis is defined as the presence of endometrial glands and stroma outside the uterus. Several theories have been proposed to explain the pathogenesis of this disease. According to Sampson's retrograde menstruation theory, endometrial cells are refluxed through the fallopian tubes during the menstruation and implant onto peritoneum or pelvic organs. Since retrograde menstruation is a very common phenomenon among women of reproductive age, there must be other factors that may contribute to the pathophysiology and/or pathogenesis of endometriosis. Genetic predisposition, environmental factors, and alterations in immune and endocrine functions are believed to play significant roles in the establishment and maintenance of endometriosis. Although the eutopic endometriums of women with and without endometriosis are histologically similar, studies revealed that there are many fundamental differences between these two tissues. Invasive properties, decreased apoptosis, alterations in expression of specific gene and proteins, and increased steroid and cytokine production have been identified in eutopic endometrium of women with endometriosis. Furthermore, significant biochemical differences exist even between ectopic and autologous eutopic endometrium. These differences can be explained by the direct effects of an inflammatory peritoneal environment.
A Multidisciplinary Approach to Open Access Village Telecenter Initiatives: The Case of Akshaya

The Akshaya project in the rural Malappuram district of Kerala, India is home to the first and largest district-wide e-literacy project in India, and one of the largest known Internet Protocol-based networks. Through a network of 600 kiosks, the project has been designed to reach computer literacy into over 600,000 households, and bring 3.6 million residents of the district into regular affordable access to computer use. This study uses a regional analysis of Malappuram, and its parent state, to understand the context within which the project is situated and consider questions of generalizability from inferences drawn here. Second, the authors examine the technical network itself and read logs of how residents of the district are actually using the kiosks to discuss the case for content tailored to low-income users, and the larger case of state-underwritten shared-access computer centers.
Forecasting: Trying to Reason from Hurricane Season

Hurricane season presents an excellent illustration of a wide range of issues encountered in developing and responding to business forecasts. The high profile of hurricane forecasts---particularly during the 2004 season in which four hurricanes made landfall in Florida, and during the 2005 season when hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the surrounding region---makes them a convenient, visible, and ideal illustrative classroom example. This paper outlines 25 business forecasting principles and their direct parallels in hurricane forecasting. This compilation has been successfully used by author as a basis for an in-class review of forecasting in an undergraduate operations management introductory course. A report of the positive student feedback and comparative test results is provided.
Water-cooled, high-intensity ultrasound surgical applicators with frequency tracking

High-intensity, focused ultrasound (HIFU) applicators have been developed for arresting bleeding with the ultimate intent of use in surgery. The design uses a tapered titanium component for transmission coupling of the ultrasound energy from a spherically curved transducer to biological tissues. The nominal operating frequency is 5.5 MHz, in a highly resonant mode (quality factor of 327 with water load). Liquid cooling is used to remove energy loss-important at net applied power greater than 18 W/cm/sup 2/ at the surface of the piezoelectric element. A downward resonance frequency shift (>20 kHz) occurs, even with cooling, as the applicator warms with normal operation. A feedback technique is used for maintaining the excitation near optimum resonance. Standing wave ratios of the applied power of 1.6 or less are thus sustained. The system and applicators have been found to be highly robust, effective in achieving hemostasis in the hemorrhaging liver, spleen, lung, or blood vessels in rabbit and pig experiments. One unit has been operated for over 1.7 hours in treating organ hemorrhage in blunt trauma experiments with nine swine with electrical net power of up to 158 W (31 W/cm/sup 2/ across the transducer) and intensity of 2560 W/cm/sup 2/ at focus.
One-stage neonatal corrective repair for d-transposition of the great arteries and complete atrio-ventricular canal

Association of d-transposition of the great arteries and complete atrio-ventricular canal constitutes an uncommon and complex cardiac anomaly usually associated with poor prognosis. We report our experience on one-stage neonatal repair for d-transposition of the great arteries and complete atrio-ventricular canal. Between August 1997 and 2005, four patients (two males and two females) underwent anatomical correction for d-transposition of the great arteries and complete atrio-ventricular canal using an arterial switch procedure and two-patch repair. Mean age and weight at operation were 20 days (range from 3 to 28 days) and 3.2kg (range from 2.7 to 3.5kg), respectively. None of the patients received preoperative palliative procedure. Associated lesions were left outflow tract obstruction in three patients and multiple muscular ventricular septal defects in two patients. All four patients survived the operation. There was one in-hospitality death due to fungal sepsis. One patient required late re-operation for left ventricular outflow tract obstruction and left atrio-ventricular valve regurgitation. For a mean follow-up of 67 months (range from 51 to 90 months) all patients are asymptomatic and with no residual defects. Corrective repair of d-transposition of the great arteries and complete atrio-ventricular canal can be successfully achieved in this very challenging population during the neonatal period.
Tandem mass spectrometry

Coupling mass spectrometers in series provides a new technique that has many advantages for the analysis of specific organic compounds in complex mixtures. Sensitivity to picograms of targeted compounds can be achieved with high specificity and nearly instantaneous response. The targeted compound is selectively ionized, and its characteristic ions are separated from most others of the mixture in the first mass spectrometer. The selected primary ions are then decomposed by collision, and from the resulting products the final mass analyzer selects secondary ions characteristic of the targeted compound. Tandem mass spectrometry can achieve specificities and sensitivities equivalent of those of methods such as radioimmunoassay and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, while performing analyses in much shorter times.
Epidemiology of lymphomatoid papulosis.

Background. Lymphomatoid papulosis is a rare skin disease with malignant potential. Its epidemiology is largely unknown. Methods. A case-control study of lymphomatoid papulosis was done to characterize the patient population and investigate the risk factors for its development. Fifty-seven patients with biopsy-proven lymphomatoid papulosis and 67 individually matched control subjects who were recruited among relatives and acquaintances of the patients answered a standard questionnaire over the telephone. Results. Among patients with lymphomatoid papulosis, 3 had a history of Hodgkin disease, 3 had non-Hodg-kin lymphoma, and 10 had mycosis fungoides; none of the control subjects reported such histories. No significant differences were observed between patients and control subjects in regard to residence or travel history or exposures to various physical, chemical, and biologic agents. A higher, although not statistically significant, percentage of patients than control subjects reported a history of radiation therapy and nonlymphoid malignant lesions. No differences were found between patients and control subjects in regard to other medical conditions or family medical history. Conclusions. Patients with lymphomatoid papulosis have a significantly increased frequency of prior or coexisting lymphoproliferative disorders, an increased frequency of nonlymphoid malignant lesions, and exposure to radiation therapy.
Rifampin-Amphotericin B Synergism?

Excerpt To the editor: I have read with interest the "Drugs Five Years Later" paper on rifampin by Dr. Sanders in the July 1976 issue (Ann Intern Med85:82-86, 1976). With reference to his perhaps i...
Strategies for solving the Boolean satisfiability problem using binary decision diagrams

Abstract The Boolean satisfiability (SAT) problem is the problem of finding a solution to the equation f=1, where f is a Boolean formula to be satisfied. Binary decision diagrams (BDDs) have been widely used to solve this problem; each of the individual output requirements of a multiple-output function is represented as a BDD and the conjunction of these requirements (product BDD) provides all satisfying solutions. However, these techniques suffer from BDD size explosion problems. This paper presents two BDD-based algorithms to solve the SAT problem that attempt to contain the growth of BDD size while identifying solutions quickly. The first algorithm, called BSAT, is a recursive, backtracking algorithm that uses an exhaustive search to find a SAT solution. It exploits the well-known unate recursive paradigm to reduce the effective size of search space for the SAT problem. We recursively apply orthonormal expansion on highly binate functions that may eventually lead to unate cofactors. The second algorithm, called IS-USAT (for INCOMPLETE-SEARCH-USAT), incorporates an incomplete search to find a solution. The search is incomplete inasmuch as it is restricted to only those regions that have a high likelihood of containing the solution, discarding the rest. Using our techniques we were able to find SAT solutions not only for all MCNC and ISCAS benchmarks, but also for a variety of industry standard designs, solutions for many of which could not be found by contemporary BDD-based SAT techniques.
Toward a pointwise turbulence model for wall-bounded and free shear flows

A modified version of the Baldwin-Barth two-equation turbulence model is proposed, in which the near-wall function is based on the ratio of the large eddy and the Kolmogorov time scales. This results in a model applicable to both wall-bounded and free shear flows which, nevertheless, does not require explicit knowledge of local distance to walls, rendering it useful within both structured and unstructured computational frameworks for flow predictions involving complex geometries. The new model's predictive capability is demonstrated through a number of flow cases.
Correlates of outcome for atopic dermatitis.

Background The worldwide incidence and prevalence of atopic dermatitis (AD) are increasing. Few good studies have addressed AD in terms of the factors affecting disease prognosis. Objective To identify significant correlates of persistent AD because this would be clinically valuable information. Methods Potential correlates of AD, including race, onset age, age of solid food introduction, breastfeeding, sinopulmonary infections, other atopic diseases, peripheral eosinophilia, total IgE level, and eosinophilic cationic protein levels, were investigated in 177 patients aged 5 to 18 years. Correlates were compared with AD remission vs nonremission status. Results A total of 133 patients (75.1%) were not in remission at the age of 5 years or older and were, thus, classified as having persistent AD. Patients with histories of peanut allergy (odds ratio [OR], 2.92; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.30–6.55), egg allergy (OR, 2.71; 95% CI, 1.17–6.30), or dust mite allergy (OR, 4.02; 95% CI, 1.84–8.82) were significantly more likely to have persistent AD than those without these factors. There was a trend toward increased odds of persistence in those with peripheral eosinophilia ( P = .06) and decreased odds of persistence in those with frequent sinopulmonary infections (OR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.25–1.03). Conclusions Egg, peanut, and dust mite allergies are significant correlates of AD persisting beyond school age. There may also be increased odds in those with peripheral eosinophilia and decreased odds in those with frequent sinopulmonary infections. This highlights the importance of assessing these correlates in patients with AD and modifying the correlates that can be modified. Further studies on whether modification of these correlates and/or early aggressive AD management improves outcome are needed.
Asian summer monsoon prediction in ECMWF System 4 and NCEP CFSv2 retrospective seasonal forecasts

The seasonal prediction skill of the Asian summer monsoon is assessed using retrospective predictions (1982–2009) from the ECMWF System 4 (SYS4) and NCEP CFS version 2 (CFSv2) seasonal prediction systems. In both SYS4 and CFSv2, a cold bias of sea-surface temperature (SST) is found over the equatorial Pacific, North Atlantic, Indian Oceans and over a broad region in the Southern Hemisphere relative to observations. In contrast, a warm bias is found over the northern part of North Pacific and North Atlantic. Excessive precipitation is found along the ITCZ, equatorial Atlantic, equatorial Indian Ocean and the maritime continent. The southwest monsoon flow and the Somali Jet are stronger in SYS4, while the south-easterly trade winds over the tropical Indian Ocean, the Somali Jet and the subtropical northwestern Pacific high are weaker in CFSv2 relative to the reanalysis. In both systems, the prediction of SST, precipitation and low-level zonal wind has greatest skill in the tropical belt, especially over the central and eastern Pacific where the influence of El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is dominant. Both modeling systems capture the global monsoon and the large-scale monsoon wind variability well, while at the same time performing poorly in simulating monsoon precipitation. The Asian monsoon prediction skill increases with the ENSO amplitude, although the models simulate an overly strong impact of ENSO on the monsoon. Overall, the monsoon predictive skill is lower than the ENSO skill in both modeling systems but both systems show greater predictive skill compared to persistence.
The rhetoric of Reaganomics: A redemptive vision

Ronald Reagan, the Great Communicator, may be remembered as a President whose economic agenda was central to his political philosophy. This study describes Reagan's rhetorical skills in promoting a vision of economic prosperity over the course of his eight year term. Situational factors interwoven in Reagan's optimistic discourse created the vision of America as a shining city on a hill, while de‐emphasizing negative economic occurrences.
Living polymerization of α-amino acid-N-carboxyanhydrides

This article reviews recent developments in the polymerization of α-amino acid- N-carboxyanhydrides (NCAs) to form polypeptides. Traditional methods used to polymerize these monomers are described, and limitations in the utility of these systems for the preparation of polypeptides with controlled molecular weights and narrow molecular weight distributions are discussed. The development of transition-metal-based initiators, which activate the monomers to form covalent active species, permits the formation of polypeptides via the living polymerization of NCAs. In these systems, polymer molecular weights are controlled by monomer-to-initiator stoichiometry, polydispersities are low, and block copolypeptides can be prepared. The scope and limitations of these initiators and their key features and mode of operation are described in detail in this highlight. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 3011–3018, 2000
Custom total hip arthroplasty in skeletal dysplasia

Purpose Osteochondrodysplasias are characterised by aberrant cartilage and bone development; consequently, patients may be subject to premature hip degeneration. In this population hip arthroplasty outcomes are variable. This series reviews the use of custom femoral implants in total hip replacements for patients with severe skeletal dysplasia.
Fatty acid synthesis in developing mouse liver.

Abstract Fatty acid synthesis in developing mouse liver has been studied by measuring incorporation of labeled acetate and pyruvate into fatty acids by tissue slices (lipogenic capacity) in conjunction with the determination of the activities of several enzymes involved in lipogenesis. Hepatic lipogenic capacity, which is normally low in suckling pups, can be prematurely increased by weaning onto a fat-free diet on or after Day 16 postpartum. Furthermore, pups ingesting a linoleate-deficient milk during Days 6 to 15 postpartum showed greater hepatic lipogenic capacities than pups ingesting a linoleate-rich milk. The data have been interpreted to indicate that hepatic lipogenesis in suckling and weanling mice can be regulated by the dietary linoleate content. The increase in hepatic lipogenic capacity in mouse pups weaned onto a fat-free diet and the accompanying increase in the activities of citrate cleavage enzyme, acetyl CoA carboxylase, fatty acid synthetase, and malic enzyme are dependent on the synthesis of new protein and new RNA. The increases in activities of these enzymes at weaning follow different time courses; fatty acid synthetase was observed to reach maximum activity earliest.
The microdetermination of dissolved oxygen in water. IV. Test of winkler's reaction to below 0·001 P.P.M. of dissolved oxygen

An experimental test is described of the analytical efficiency of Winkler's reaction, for the determination of dissolved oxygen in water at concentrations in the range 0·0007−0·0544 mg./1. No bias exceeding 0·0002 mg./1. was obtained by using the reaction as described, the analytical procedure giving a precision for a single estimate is ±0·0006 mg./1.
Kinetics and dynamics of response to haloperidol in acute schizophrenia: A longitudinal study of the therapeutic process.

Abstract The nature of the therapeutic process was studied during a double-blind, multidimensional study of treatment with haloperidol in a group of acute schizophrenics. The data indicated that changes in social avoidance behavior might be a primary indicator of neuroleptic action. The use of an anticholinergic anti-Parkinsonism agent seemed to adversely affect these changes. It was noted that cognitive dysfunctions probably consisted of a “primary” drug-resistant element, originating perhaps in developmental defects of cognitive structure, and a “secondary” drug-sensitive element, which seemed to be a reflection of the superadded psychotic processes of decompensation. The drug-sensitive aspects of social and cognitive-integrative dysfunctions and indicators of arousal disturbance such as sleeplessness seemed to be fundamentally related and suggested a neurobiological hypothesis of neuroleptic action centered around cholinergic suppressor mechanisms in the brainstem and limbic system. Other findings of interest included the observations that patients reacting with dysphoric mood to neuroleptic treatment showed a less favorable pattern of therapeutic response and that overt aggression showed a diurnal variation which seemed internally determined. An analysis of the residual deficits after six months of treatment suggested that the patients had considerable problems in initiating and structuring social relations and organizing thoughts in terms of abstract principles. A developmental hypothesis was proposed to explain these observations.
The effect of intravenous cyclosporine on rates of colonic surgery in hospitalized patients with severe Crohn's colitis.

BACKGROUND The role of intravenous (IV) cyclosporine in severe Crohn's colitis (CC) is poorly studied. AIM Our primary aim was to determine the in-hospital colonic resection rate in patients with severe CC who received IV cyclosporine, and the potential predictors of resection among these patients. METHODS An inpatient pharmacy query of all patients who received IV cyclosporine at Mount Sinai Medical Center for 12.5 years after January 1, 1996 was reviewed. Patients with CC or indeterminate colitis favoring Crohn's were included and their medical records were reviewed. Subsequent need for colonic surgery was assessed. A Kaplan-Meier plot with log-rank testing was performed to determine the rate of colonic surgery avoidance. Forward stepwise logistic regression was performed to determine independent predictors of surgery. RESULTS Forty-eight patients met our inclusion criteria. Prior thiopurine and anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) use was 85% and 69%, respectively. The median follow-up time was 12 months (range, 1 to 60 mo). 12.5% of patients required colonic resection during their admission for IV cyclosporine. Anti-TNF use in the 4 weeks preceding IV cyclosporine was the only predictor of surgery in this setting (P=0.05). The cumulative colonic surgery avoidance rate was 72±13% at 6 months and 59±15% at 12 months. CONCLUSIONS The use of IV cyclosporine resulted in a low rate of in-hospitalization colonic surgery among CC patients with severe disease, the majority of whom previously failed anti-TNFs and thiopurines.
Chief Executives from 1960-1989: A Trend toward Professionalization

There has been a long-standing debate whether the field of Management is deserving of professional status, rather than simply status as an occupation. Critics claim that the absence of a required educational background and a professional organization with its own code of ethics are what keep management from joining established professions such as medicine and law. Rather than the study management as a field, this paper studies its participants, 1070 different Chief Executive Officers from 247 companies across thirty years (1960-1989) to determine whether their demographic characteristics have changed over time in a manner reflecting professionalization of the field. Changes in CEO characteristics documenting increased reliance on human capital and decreased reliance social capital, as well as greater job mobility suggest the field of Chief Executive has become more professionalized over the course of the study.