cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Non-Orthodox Cancer Therapy Movement: Emergent Organization in Health Care Crisis

The ideology and organization of the non-orthodox cancer therapy movement are analyzed as social constructions in an area of professional ambiguity and failure. The movement articulates, integrates, and orders the personally and socially disabling consequences of health care failure in cancer. The protest activities of the movement are characterized by political opposition to medical "orthodoxy" and "monopoly." The challenges of the non-orthodox movement are generally ineffective, non-legitimated, or coopted. Yet, in providing conceptual and organizational frames for the disordering consequences of medical failure and in establishing a politically polarized deviant position in relation to conventional practice, this movement socially organizes and isolates various problems in cancer health care that threaten the institutional dominance of professional medicine. The emergence of this movement is discussed as an illustration of the social organization and management of crisis. Medical Crisis and the Alternatives to Disorder Today, in the United States, cancer is the second leading disease killer. Over 1,000 people die of cancer each day, and statistics indicate that the number of fatalities increases each year (Cairns, 1975). Cancer occurs in two out of every three families, one out of every four individuals, and kills one out of every six (American Cancer Society, 1976a). A review of recent developments in the "war on cancer" reports that "not only have there been none of the breakthroughs we're always promised, but.. .there really has been little if any progress in cancer treatments since the mid 1950s" (Von Hoffman, 1975). As the fundamental questions of the origins and pathology of cancer remain unanswered or disputed, social policy is deficient in the development of effective and comprehensive programs for the prevention, control or cure of cancer. On the individual and family level, medical interventions frequently fail to "cure" patients, lead to terminal prognoses, and may compound the fear, hopelessness, and anxiety associated with cancer. Sociologically, the disorientation and dissidence arising from the unresolved problems of cancer threaten basic values, behavioral norms, and institutional conceptions of order (Douglas, 1970; Kleinman, 1978). As the consequences of cancer are personally disruptive and socially disordering, the emergence of conceptual and institutional re-orderings alternative to the perceived failures of conventional medicine is basic to the development of the non-orthodox cancer therapy movement.
Benefits of Mindfulness and Meditation for Adolescents

The benefits of mindfulness and meditation practices for adolescents are wide-ranging and encompass all of the major domains of adolescent development within a holistic bio-psycho-social-cultural framework. Literature substantiating these benefits provides the rationale for using mindfulness and meditation with adolescents. This chapter builds on the historical and theoretical foundations of mindfulness and meditation for adolescents and provides an overview of the existing research literature that highlights benefits of mindfulness and meditation practices and programs for adolescents.
PaintPots: Low cost, accurate, highly customizable potentiometers for position sensing

The PaintPot manufacturing process is a new way to create low-cost, low-profile, highly customizable potentiometers for position sensing in robotic applications. It uses widely accessible materials, requires no special expertise, and creates custom potentiometers in a variety of shapes and sizes, including curved surfaces. PaintPots offer accuracy and precision performance comparable with commercial (non-customizable) options through a calibration process that trades small computation for cost. This paper includes detailed PaintPot manufacturing and calibration processes, and experiments that validate the accuracy, precision, and lifetime performance of PaintPots, comparable to commercial sensors. We also provide a case-study application in the SMORES-EP modular robot, and show how the PaintPot process can be used to create resistive surfaces capable of sensing position in 2D on planes and spheres.
Automated in Situ Measurement of Gas Solubility in Liquids with a Simple Tube-in-Tube Reactor

Data on the solubilities of gases in liquids are foundational for assessing a variety of multiphase separations and gas–liquid reactions. Taking advantage of the tube-in-tube reactor design built with semipermeable Teflon AF-2400 tubes, liquids can be rapidly saturated without direct contacting of gas and liquid. The gas solubility can be determined by performing steady-state flux balances of both the gas and liquid flowing into the reactor system. Using this type of reactor, a fully automated strategy has been developed for the rapid in situ measurement of gas solubilities in liquids. The developed strategy enables precise gas solubility measurements within 2–5 min compared with 4–5 h using conventional methods. This technique can be extended to the discrete multipoint steady-state and continuous ramped-multipoint data acquisition methods. The accuracy of this method has been validated against several gas–liquid systems, showing less than 2% deviation from known values. Finally, this strategy has been ex...
Abstract 12196: ST2 Elevation in Myocardial Infarction - Associations With Cardiac Structure and Function

Introduction: Soluble ST2 (sST2) is a serum marker of cardiomyocyte stress associated with a large risk of death and heart failure after myocardial infarction (MI). The relationship between sST2 and cardiac structure and function after MI however remains incompletely defined, and greater characterization is required prior to clinical application. Methods: Olmsted County, Minnesota residents who experienced their first MI between 2007 and 2012 were prospectively recruited. MIs were validated using standardized criteria and patients underwent simultaneous comprehensive Doppler echocardiography and sST2 measurement. The association between cardiac morphology and hemodynamics and sST2 were examined. Published normal values were used as referent ranges for sST2 levels. Results: Among 316 patients (mean age 65 [SD 14] years, 67% men, 32% ST-elevation MI), sST2 was measured 2.5 [SD 1.6] days after MI and within 0.7 [SD 2.3] days of echocardiography. Soluble ST2 was elevated in 33% of patients and univariately associated with decreased LV ejection fraction (LVEF), increased LV mass, impaired LV diastolic function and increased pulmonary artery pressure (ePAP) (Table). After adjustment for age, sex, LVEF and key measures of LV filling pressures, elevated sST2 was independently associated with reduced LVEF (p=0.01) mitral valve deceleration time (p=0.03), greater left atrial volume (p=0.03) and mitral regurgitation (≥mild; p=0.09). LVEF and ePAP exhibited the strongest associations with elevated sST2 (both p Conclusions: Soluble ST2 is frequently elevated following MI and is strongly associated with the morphologic and hemodynamic determinants of adverse LV remodeling that infer poor long-term outcome after MI.
Addressing Noncommunicable Disease on Short-Term Medical Trips: A Longitudinal Study of Hypertension Treatment in Santo Domingo

Abstract Background Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of mortality worldwide and pose complex challenges in developing nations. Short-term medical trips, which often operate independently of government and pharmaceutical companies, are in a unique position to address NCDs in developing nations. In 2010, the Dominican Aid Society of Virginia shifted the focus of their semiannual clinic to addressing NCDs in Paraiso, Santo Domingo. Objective This study analyzes the longitudinal impact of a short-term medical trip on the control of hypertension in their patient population. Methods Returning patients were identified through a review of medical records from 2014 and 2016. A sample of patients who only visited in either 2014 or 2016 were matched on sex and age and served as an internal comparison group. A generalized linear mixed model was applied to assess changes in blood pressure, the proportion of patients receiving blood pressure treatment, and the intensity of blood pressure treatment within and between returning and new patients over the study period. Findings There was a significant decrease in diastolic blood pressure within returning patients. Change in systolic blood pressure was significantly different between returning and new patients, with improvement in returning patients. There was a significant increase in the proportion of new patients receiving blood pressure treatment and a higher intensity of blood pressure treatment over time. The change in the proportion of patients receiving blood pressure treatment in the new patient group was significantly higher than that of the returning patient group. Conclusions Short-term medical trips with a recurrent presence in a community may improve control of hypertension and other NCDs in developing nations. Further research into the impact that short-term medical trips may have on NCDs is needed.
IoT based wearable smart insole

Healthcare is one of the fastest growing sectors in the era of technological transformation. Various verticals across healthcare products and services are innovating at a faster rate than ever, and leveraging new technologies to improve the quality of services (QoS) and stay competitive. The global market for self-monitoring health technologies is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28.3% from $20.7 billion in 2017 to reach $71.9 billion by 2022 [1], While there are numerous independent health monitoring products available for healthcare providers and consumers, this paper primarily focuses on a non-intrusive health monitoring system by combining Internet of Things (IoT) and e-commerce platform. The proposed product is a wearable smart shoe insole, which senses and tracks different attributes such as pressure, temperature, and humidity and then stores the data in a secure cloud. The users can connect with the shoe insole by using a software application on their hand-held devices. This allows easy access to the collected data and allows sharing with other users/community and/or the service providers, thereby providing the user a complete personalized end-to-end smart foot monitoring solution, at a relatively lower price and ease of use.
Development of CNNs for feature extraction

There are significant challenges in applying deep learning technology to classifying targets. Among the challenges in deep learning algorithms, limited amount of measured data makes classification of targets using synthetic aperture radar very difficult. Our approach is to use CNNs to extract feature level information. We explore both regression and classification of features, and achieve accurate results in estimating the target’s azimuth angle while using testing and training sets that have no overlap in target types. We introduce dropout into the network architecture to capture confidence in our algorithmic output, with the future goal of confidence across multi-sensor feature-level classification.
Plasma Melting of Selected Compositions in the A12O3-ZrO2-SiO2 System

The application of plasma spraying for coating substrates with refractory materials is a well established discipline.1,2 The use of a plasma to prepare non-crystalline solids from refractory compositions, however, has received far less attention.3,4 There are many reasons why plasma melting is attractive for the preparation of noncrystalline solids. Among these are high melting temperatures (> 5,000°K), availability of strong oxidizing or reducing conditions, the attainment of high quench rates for single particles (> 106 °C/s), the maintenance of high purity (for RF plasma torches) and its potential for inducing gas-phase reactions, e.g., vapor phase oxidation of chloride solutions. These potential benefits offer the possibility of preparing refractory glasses of unusual compositions. It was for this reason primarily that the present work was undertaken.
Lessons from the New Jersey Comparative Risk Project

Experience is a great teacher, and learning from someone else’s experience can make the lessons much less painful. This chapter shares lessons learned from the recently completed New Jersey Comparative Risk Project (NJCRP). It briefly describes the project and offers a preliminary evaluation of its adequacy, value, effectiveness, and legitimacy. The main purpose of this broadly scoped project was to inform a state regulatory agency’s strategic decisions. The project involved a large number of technical experts from a variety of fields, plus public officials, high-profile stakeholders, and members of the general public over a four-year period. It gathered and organized a vast amount of useful information, but found that there was still an inadequate scientific basis for a precise single ranking of environmental threats. The NJCRP instead developed policy findings using a humbler approach that involved less aggregation. Highlighted environmental threats for New Jersey included land use change, indoor environmental problems, a set of traditionally regulated pollutants, and invasive exotic species.
A self-labeling speech corpus: collecting spoken words with an online educational game.

We explore a new approach to collecting and transcribing speech data by using online educational games. One such game, Voice Race, elicited over 55,000 utterances over a 22 day period, representing 18.7 hours of speech. Voice Race was designed such that the transcripts for a significant subset of utterances can be automatically inferred using the contextual constraints of the game. Game context can also be used to simplify transcription to a multiple choice task, which can be performed by non-experts. We found that one third of the speech collected with Voice Race could be automatically transcribed with over 98% accuracy; and that an additional 49% could be labeled cheaply by Amazon Mechanical Turk workers. We demonstrate the utility of the self-labeled speech in an acoustic model adaptation task, which resulted in a reduction in the Voice Race utterance error rate. The collected utterances cover a wide variety of vocabulary, and should be useful across a range of research.
Role models and role distance

Fall semester, 1960 was a good time nationally. The country was confident and optimistic. The rust corroding America's underbelly was barely visible. John F. Kennedy had just been elected President. It seemed there was no Viet Nam, no Silent Spring, no dogs and water hoses turned on demonstrators. There were no assassinations, no burning cities, no Orangeburg or Kent State, no Watergate. Grass still meant lawn. Bob Zimmerman had not become Bob Dylan. A beard symbolized nonconformity, rather than conformity. Unemployment was relatively low and there were few Ph.D.s without jobs, except by choice. If you happened to live in a warm sunny environment with a magnificent view of the San Francisco Bay through the eucalyptus and be a twenty-one year old male in good health with a sports car, able to prolong the youth culture by staying in school, it was a good time indeed.
Prevalence and nature of hearing loss in a cohort of children with sickle cell disease

Background Sickle cell disease (SCD) may cause injury to any organ, including the auditory system. Although the association of SCD and hearing loss has been described, the nature of this complication is unknown. We sought to establish the prevalence and nature of hearing loss in a referred cohort of children with SCD and to identify correlating disease- or treatment-associated factors. Procedure We conducted a retrospective review of patients with SCD Results Two hundred and ten audiograms among 81 patients were reviewed, and 189 were evaluable. Seventy-two children constituted the referred cohort. Fourteen (19.4%) had hearing loss documented on at least one audiogram. Seven (9.7%) patients had only conductive hearing loss, and the loss persisted for up to 10.3 years. The median age of first identification was eight years. Six (8.3%) patients had hearing loss that was at least partially sensorineural. One patient's hearing loss was ambiguous. All sensorineural hearing losses were unilateral and 4/6 patients had prior documented normal hearing, indicating acquired loss. No correlations were identified. Conclusions Both conductive and sensorineural hearing losses are more prevalent in our study population than those observed in the general pediatric population. In children with SCD, sensorineural hearing loss appears to be acquired and unilateral. Conductive hearing loss was identified in older children and can persist. Serial screening is needed for early detection and more prompt intervention in this population.
Structure–activity relationship of the cinnamamide family of antibiotic potentiators for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a global public health threat. MRSA has evolved a complex set of biochemical processes that mobilize the organism for inducible resistance on challenge by β-lactam antibiotics. Interfering pharmacologically with this machinery has the potential to reverse the β-lactam-resistance phenotype, whereby susceptibility to obsolete antibiotics would be restored. We describe herein our discovery of one class of such agents, the cinnamamide family of antibiotic potentiators. A hit compound of the class (compound 1) showed modest potentiation of the activity of oxacillin, a penicillin antibiotic, against an MRSA strain. A total of 50 analogues of compound 1 were prepared and screened. Seven of these compounds showed more dramatic potentiation of the antibacterial activity, which lowered the minimal-inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for the antibiotic by as much as 64- to 128-fold.
Hydroxyapatite cement cranioplasty for translabyrinthine surgery: A single institution experience.

OBJECTIVE To assess complication rates in hydroxyapatite cement (HAC) cranioplasty for translabyrinthine acoustic surgery compared with historical controls. METHODS Retrospective chart review of patients undergoing de novo translabyrinthine surgery with HAC cranioplasty without concurrent adipose tissue graft or additional material between 2010 and 2017 at a tertiary otology center. RESULTS Fifty-two patients underwent HAC cranioplasty during the study period. The average length of follow-up was 30.5 months. HAC cranioplasty was associated with acceptable rates of cerebrospinal fluid leak (3.8%), wound or intracranial infection (5.8%), need for unplanned revision surgery (9.6%), and all complications (15.3%). All complications occurred within 5 months of surgery. No delayed wound infections or implant extrusions occurred. CONCLUSION HAC cranioplasty has an acceptable complication profile for translabyrinthine surgery and is a viable alternative to abdominal fat grafting without associated donor site morbidity. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 4 Laryngoscope, 130:206-211, 2020.
Unilateral versus bilateral sinonasal disease: Considerations in differential diagnosis and workup.

OBJECTIVE Imaging findings play an important role in the workup and diagnosis of sinonasal disease. Unilateral versus bilateral involvement is a key finding that can differentiate between various diagnoses. Our objective is to characterize presenting symptoms, imaging findings, and most common diagnoses associated with unilateral versus bilateral sinonasal disease. METHODS Patients who underwent surgical intervention for sinonasal disease at Emory University between May 2015 and December 2016 were included in the study. Information including demographic variables, comorbidities, presenting symptoms, imaging findings, and pathologic diagnosis was collected for each patient. Unilateral versus bilateral disease was determined by preoperative computer tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, and correlated to surgical and pathologic findings. Data was analyzed using quantitative methodologies and descriptive statistics. RESULTS The study cohort consisted of 250 patients presenting for primary sinonasal surgery, including 110 patients with unilateral disease and 140 patients with bilateral disease. The most common diagnosis for patients with bilateral disease was chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (46%) followed by chronic rhinosinusitis without polyps (26%). For patients with unilateral disease the most common diagnoses were chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps (21%), malignancy (19%), benign neoplasm (15%), and allergic fungal sinusitis (10%). There was a statistically significant association between unilateral sinonasal disease and the final diagnosis of benign neoplasm (OR = 7.8, P < .01) and malignancy (OR = 8, P < .01). CONCLUSION Patients with unilateral sinus disease on initial imaging are less likely chronic rhinosinusitis compared to patients with bilateral disease. This should be taken into consideration in the workup and management of patients with unilateral sinus disease. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 3 Laryngoscope, 130:E116-E121, 2020.
Determining the Organ at Risk for Lymphedema After Regional Nodal Irradiation in Breast Cancer.

Purpose Lymphedema after regional nodal irradiation is a severe complication that could be minimized without significantly compromising nodal coverage if the anatomic region(s) associated with lymphedema were better defined. This study sought to correlate dose-volume relationships within subregions of the axilla with lymphedema outcomes to generate treatment planning guidelines for reducing lymphedema risk. Methods and Materials Women with stage II-III breast cancer who underwent breast surgery with axillary assessment and regional nodal irradiation were identified. Nodal targets were prospectively contoured per Radiation Therapy Oncology Group guidelines for field design. The axilla was divided into 8 distinct subregions that were retrospectively contoured. Lymphedema outcomes were assessed by arm circumferences. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression assessed patient, surgical, and dosimetric predictors of lymphedema outcomes. Results Treatment planning computed tomography scans for 265 women treated between 2013 and 2017 were identified. Median post–radiation therapy follow-up was 3 years (interquartile range [IQR], 1.9-3.6). Dose to the axillary-lateral thoracic vessel juncture (ALTJ; superior to level I) was most associated with lymphedema risk (maximally selected rank statistic = 6.3, P Conclusions Anatomic studies suggest the ALTJ region is typically traversed by arm lymphatics and appears to be an organ at risk in breast radiation therapy. Ideally, avoidance of the ALTJ may be feasible while simultaneously encompassing breast-draining nodal basins. Confirmation of this finding in future prospective studies is needed.
Interlaminar Endoscopic Lumbar Discectomy Using a New 8.4-mm Endoscope and Nerve Root Retractor.

STUDY DESIGN Surgical technique. OBJECTIVE Using an 8.4-mm endoscope and endoscopic nerve root retractor, the interlaminar endoscopic lumbar discectomy (IELD) technique is introduced for lumbosacral levels. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Although spine surgeons are familiar with IELD, this technique is only used for L5-S1 disk herniations and requires a wide interlaminar space. METHODS Using an 8.4 mm-endoscope, high-speed drill, and endoscopic Kerrison punches, a nerve-root retractor facilitated the simultaneous medial retraction of the nerve root and removal of the disk fragment by the instrument's cannula. Clinical parameters such the visual analog scale scores for back and leg pain, modified Macnab criteria, and Oswestry Disability Index were analyzed. RESULTS A total of 101 patients were enrolled. The visual analog scale scores for back and leg pain significantly decreased from 6.8±2.1 and 7.8±1.5 to 2.0±0.6 and 1.78±1.1, respectively, at the 1-year follow up (P<0.01). The Oswestry Disability Index score significantly improved from 28.6±11.7 to 7.4±2.9 (P<0.01). Ninety-nine patients (97.1%) showed good outcomes. CONCLUSIONS A new IELD technique and instruments can overcome the drawbacks of existing IELD with adequate bone work and control of the affected nerve root.
Metasurface for artificial neural computing (Conference Presentation)

We show that optical waves passing through a nanophotonic medium can perform artificial neural computing. Complex information, such as an image, is encoded in the wave front of input light. The medium continuously transforms the wave front to realize highly sophisticated computing tasks such as image recognition. At the output, optical energy is concentrated to well defined locations, which for example can be interpreted as the identity of the object in the image. These computing media can be as small as tens of wavelengths in size and thus offer extremely high computing density. They exploit sub-wavelength linear and nonlinear scatterers to realize sophisticated input-output mapping far beyond traditional nanophotonic devices. To enable these complex neural computing, we draw inspiration from artificial neural network and use stochastic gradient decent to optimize nonlinear nanophotonic structures with structural gradient computed from adjoint state method.
Enabling In-Bore MRI-Guided Biopsies With Force Feedback

Limited physical access to target organs of patients inside an MRI scanner is a major obstruction to real-time MRI-guided interventions. Traditional teleoperation technologies are incompatible with the MRI environment and although several solutions have been explored, a versatile system that provides high-fidelity haptic feedback and access deep inside the bore remains a challenge. We present a passive and nearly frictionless MRI-compatible hydraulic teleoperator designed for in-bore liver biopsies. We describe the design components, characterize the system transparency, and evaluate the performance with a user study in a laboratory and a clinical setting. The results demonstrate $ % difference between input and output forces during realistic manipulation. A user study with participants conducting mock needle biopsy tasks indicates that a remote operator performs equally well when using the device as when holding a biopsy needle directly in hand. Additionally, MRI compatibility tests show no reduction in signal-to-noise ratio in the presence of the device.
Inter-imaging accuracy of computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and transrectal ultrasound in measuring prostate volume compared to the anatomic prostatic weight.

Objective To evaluate the accuracy of transrectal ultrasound (TRUS), computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compared to the reference standard of the post-surgical anatomic prostatic weight (APW). Material and methods A total of 349 patients from two institutions were included. The CT and MRI dimensions, and TRUS-reported prostate volumes (PV) were obtained. The prolate ellipsoid formula was used to calculate PV. Cross-sectional measurements were evaluated and compared to the reported post-surgical pathology measurements and calculated pathology volume (path PV). A basic statistical analysis was performed using the Pearson correlation, Bland-Altman analysis, and Passing-Bablok regression. Results A total of 198 patients were included in the MRI group, 118 in the CT group, 295 in the TRUS group, and 51 in the all-inclusive common cohort. The MRI PV demonstrated a good to excellent correlation with the APW (r=0.79). The CT PV demonstrated a good correlation with APW (r=0.78). The TRUS PV showed a correlation with APW (r=0.67). The correlations identified in each individual group held true in the common cohort as well. The path PV showed an excellent correlation with APW (r=0.87), followed by MRI PV (r=0.81), then CT PV (r=0.73), and lastly TRUS PV (r=0.71). Conclusion MRI and CT are equally effective in assessing the PV, and they can be readily utilized to guide the benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) management without repeating in-office TRUS. This is not only cost-effective, but also eliminates patient anxiety and discomfort.
Real-Time Hand Model Estimation from Depth Images for Wearable Augmented Reality Glasses

This work presents a hand model estimation method designed specifically with augmented reality (AR) glasses and 3D AR interface in mind. The proposed work is capable of estimating the 3D positions of all ten finger from a single depth image. By leveraging a low-dimensional hand model and exploiting hand geometries from an ego-centric view, we build a lightweight algorithm that is accurate, environment agnostic, and runs in real time on mobile hardware. One major consideration in our design for AR is that the user's hand is likely to interact with planar surfaces since they serve as ideal "touchscreens". As a result, our method will not fail to detect the hand even when the hand is in physical contact with a surface such as a table, wall, or even another palm. Our experiment shows using the CVAR database that the accuracy with clear background at 98% and with cluttered background at around 85%
Near-isometric duality of Hardy norms with applications to harmonic mappings

Abstract Hardy spaces in the complex plane and in higher dimensions have natural finite-dimensional subspaces formed by polynomials or by linear maps. We use the restriction of Hardy norms to such subspaces to describe the set of possible derivatives of harmonic self-maps of a ball, providing a version of the Schwarz lemma for harmonic maps. These restricted Hardy norms display unexpected near-isometric duality between the exponents 1 and 4, which we use to give an explicit form of harmonic Schwarz lemma.
Overall Opioid Consumption Is Not Associated With the Amount of Opioids Administered and Prescribed on the Day of Upper Extremity Surgery.

Background: Orthopedic surgeons need to better understand the effect their opioid-prescribing habits have on patients. The purpose of our study was to evaluate whether the type of procedure or init...
Co-occurrence of incontinentia pigmenti and down syndrome: examining patients' potential susceptibility to autoimmune disease, autoinflammatory disease, cancer, and significant ocular disease.

Incontinentia pigmenti (IP) has been reported to co-occur with autoimmune disease, autoinflammatory disease, cancer, and genetic conditions, such as Klinefelter’s syndrome, Noonan syndrome, and Dow...
Filial Norms, Altruism, and Reciprocity: Financial Support to Older Parents in China

As a direct expression of filial piety, adult children, in particular sons, are expected to provide support to older parents in China. Despite concerns about a decline in traditional values, few empirical studies examine whether adherence to Confucian family values impacts adult children’s financial support of aging parents, or if other factors play a more central role. In the present study, I assess several categories of factors including filial piety, altruism, long-term reciprocity, and contemporary mutual exchange. Survey data from the 2002 wave of the Chinese Survey of Family Dynamics (CSFD) (N = 3768) was utilized. For both sons and daughters, agreement with filial piety values, parents’ education level and help with housework were associated with greater likelihood of economic support. For daughters, those with young children (under 18) were less likely to support parents. Among sons, those who received support from parents earlier in the life course (a wedding gift) were more likely to provide financial transfers.
A novel decoupled second-order time marching scheme for the two-phase incompressible Navier–Stokes/Darcy coupled nonlocal Allen–Cahn model

Abstract We construct a novel second-order time marching scheme with the full decoupling structure to solve a highly coupled nonlinear two-phase fluid flow system consisting of the nonlocal mass-conserved Allen–Cahn equation where two types of flow regimes are considered (Navier–Stokes and Darcy). We achieve the full decoupled structure by introducing a nonlocal variable and designing an additional ordinary differential equation for it which plays the key role to maintain the unconditional energy stability. The whole scheme is built upon the pressure correction/ quadratization approach for the fluid equation and nonlinear double-well potential, respectively. At each time step, one only needs to solve several independent elliptic equations with constant coefficients illustrating the high practical efficiency. We strictly prove that the scheme satisfies the unconditional energy stability, and carry out various numerical simulations to prove its stability and accuracy numerically, such as spinodal decomposition and fingering instability due to the continuous injection flow, etc.
Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of intravenous and oral apixaban in horses.

Large vessel and microvascular thrombi are common complications in systemically ill horses contributing to patient morbidity and mortality. Apixaban, an oral factor Xa inhibitor, shows excellent efficacy against stroke and deep vein thrombosis in humans. The purpose of this study was to determine serum apixaban concentrations and anti-factor Xa activity in horses after orally administered apixaban. Five horses received a single dose of intravenous (0.09 mg/kg) and oral (1 mg/kg) apixaban in a cross-over design. Serum apixaban concentrations and anti-Xa activity were measured serially via liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and a commercial assay, respectively, for 12 hr following oral administration. Apixaban was detected in all horses after both oral and intravenous administration. Oral administration yielded a mean maximum concentration of 60.3 ng/ml (59.4-111 ng/ml), mean time to maximum concentration of 0.5 hr (0.5-2), mean half-life of 6.2 hr (4.6-8.3), and mean oral bioavailability of 10% (3.8-17.4). After oral administration, anti-Xa activity had a strong positive relationship with serum apixaban and was best represented by a dose-response model with the following parameters: E0 = 5.00 ng/ml, EMAX = 311 ng/mL, EC50 = 267 ng/ml, and n = 1.58. Anti-Xa activity was significantly higher 2 hr post-administration compared with baseline (p = .032). Despite low oral bioavailability, administration of 1 mg/kg oral apixaban, in healthy horses, achieves serum concentrations similar to those reported in humans. Apixaban has potential clinical utility in horses and warrants further investigation.
Treating Christian Patients as a Non-Christian Psychiatrist

Jewish psychiatrists who are grounded in traditional Judaism can use that background to empathize with devout Christian patients who share the same intensity of religious commitment yet whose beliefs and practices are diametrically different. After identifying parallels between Jewish tradition and the conflicts experienced by pious Christian patients, Jewish practitioners can share such circumscribed personal information to increase rapport. This essay reviews the historical and contemporary connections between Jewish religious identification, Freud’s anti-religion attitudes, and psychiatry/psychoanalysis. We review case histories of patients who identify as Pentecostal or charismatic Christians, Mormon, Catholic, or Jehovah’s Witnesses. We emphasize belief systems that conflict with contemporary psychiatric practice. We review behaviors that conflict with religious norms and result in excommunication or exile from respective religious communities and the social isolation and psychological distress that results. We identify challenges in applying standard CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy), such as identification of “catastrophizing,” to dispel harrowing apocalyptic ideas that are predetermined by religious ideology.
A Journey Through Wonderland: A Novice, Her Mentor, Tea Parties, and Tenure

When novice nurse educators cross over into the academic threshold, they enter into a state of culture shock. The tenets of teaching, research, and service combined with the expectations of mastering clinical and academic competencies can overwhelm new nurse educators. A successful synergistic mentor-mentee relationship is essential for a positive transition to the educator role. This lighthearted adventure of Alice entering Wonderland University is intended to provide a humorous simile for both new nurse educators and tenured faculty. It is also the intent of the authors to let new nurse educators know that they are not alone in their frustration during the acclimation process to the multitude of role changes they are expected to master.
Toxic Trypsin Digest Fragment from the Bacillus thuringiensis Parasporal Protein.

Abstract Enzymatic digestion in vitro of the Bacillus thuringiensis protoxin presumably releases and activates the toxin in a manner analogous to that which occurs when a B. thuringiensis sporulated fermentation preparation passes through the midgut of a lepidopteran larva. Therefore, a sporulated culture of B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki (serotype 3a3b) HD-263 was treated with trypsin to release an activated toxin soluble in bicarbonate buffer. A 63-kilodalton protein, toxic to cabbage looper larvae (Trichoplusia ni) and to lepidopteran cells in culture, was purified to homogeneity from this trypsin digest. The larvicide, a glycoprotein containing 5% carbohydrate (wt/wt), was purified from the soluble B. thuringiensis trypsin digest by using ammonium sulfate precipitation, anion-exchange chromatography, and hydrophobic-interaction chromatography. Its amino acid composition was high in nonpolar residues and unusually low in lysine and histidine. The isoelectric point was 6.5, and the amino acid on the N terminus was identified as isoleucine. The toxin was only slightly soluble in aqueous buffers unless the chaotropic agent potassium thiocyanate was added. Partial characterization of the toxin indicated that it corresponds well with reported sequences deduced from cloned genes.
Online frequency domain information for control of a flexible-link robot with varying payload

The authors present experimental results on endpoint position control of a single-link, very flexible robot arm carrying an unknown, varying payload. The control objective is to maintain endpoint position accuracy in the presence of flexure effects after rapid movement to a rigid-body slew-angle commanded position. Fast, simple, and efficient frequency-domain schemes are used for online controller gain adjustment within an effective scheduling framework. Only endpoint acceleration measurements and motor shaft angle measurements are utilized in relatively simple control laws, where the appropriate gains have been scheduled in accordance with modal frequency information corresponding to a varying, unknown payload. >
Interstrain Variation of the Major Internal Structural Component (p30gag) of Two Murine Oncornaviruses: Comparative Immunochemical, Biochemical, and Biophysical Analysis

Abstract The major internal structural protein (p30gag) of the Moloney leukemia virus and the endogenous Y-1 murine oncornavirus was examined for biochemical and biophysical manifestations of interstrain antigenic variation. Although the two viral proteins share murine group-specific antigenic determinants, the Y-1 virus p30 appeared to have both a lower relative number of such determinants and a decreased affinity at the cross-reactive sites for Moloney virus p30 monospecific antibodies. Further, immunological analysis indicated the presence of unique antigenic sites on the Moloney virus p30 not shared by the analogous Y-1 virus molecule. The two polypeptides copurified and had similar isoelectric points (pH 6.2 to 6.3) and sedimentation coefficients (2.47S). However, equilibrium sedimentation yielded a significant mass difference between the two proteins, 28,300 ± 600 and 31,000 ± 300 daltons for the Moloney and Y-1 virus molecules, respectively. Amino acid analysis indicated a concomitant increase in total residues for the Y-1 virus p30, although a number of residues appeared to have been conserved between the two viral proteins. Conformational studies and hydrodynamic calculations demonstrated marked secondary and tertiary structural differences; with the Y-1 virus p30 being an asymmetric prolate ellipsoid containing 27 to 28% α-helix and Moloney virus p30 being somewhat more spherical and possessing an α-helical content of 50 to 55%. Two-dimensional mapping of 125I-labeled tryptic peptides of each p30 suggested that considerable sequence heterogeneity is responsible for many of the biophysical, biochemical, and immunochemical differences in these two analogous structural proteins.
Zeolite-confined Mn complexes of cyclic amines: New selective catalysts for hydrocarbon oxidation

A new heterogeneous catalyst for olefin epoxidation is obtained by intraporous complexation of Mn2+ in NaY zeolite with 1,4,7-trimethyltriazacyclononane. The best epoxide yields on H202 basis are obtained in acetone at 273 K. Epoxide selectivities of up to 99 % are observed. Effects of changing ligand structure or ligand to metal ratio are examined. Incomplete stereoretention with non-cyclic olefins indicates that the oxidation with [Mn(TMTACN)]-NaY and H202 goes through a radical intermediate, even if freeradical reactions do not contribute significantly to product formation.
Breaking RSA may not be equivalent to factoring

We provide evidence that breaking low-exponent RSA cannot be equivalent to factoring integers. We show that an algebraic reduction from factoring to breaking low-exponent RSA can be converted into an efficient factoring algorithm. Thus, in effect an oracle for breaking RSA does not help in factoring integers. Our result suggests an explanation for the lack of progress in proving that breaking rsa is equivalent to factoring. We emphasize that our results do not expose any specific weakness in the rsa system.
Nasal saline irrigation has no effect on normal olfaction: a prospective randomized trial

Background Nasal saline irrigation is a safe treatment for chronic rhinosinusitis; however, its effect on olfaction is unclear. Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) is a key second messenger in the mechanism of olfaction and has been shown to be associated with smell function. In animal studies, olfactory cilia may be harvested by simple saline preparations. This study aimed to characterize the effect of nasal saline irrigation on smell function. Methods Volunteers with normal olfaction were randomized into a control or irrigation cohort. In the initial appointment, subjects completed a University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) and nasal samples were obtained by 2 methods: the nasal curette and cytobrush. The irrigation cohort performed daily nasal saline irrigations. Both cohorts then returned in 1 week. The UPSIT and nasal cell collection were repeated, and each subject completed a subjective olfactory transition scale. Nasal samples were processed for cAMP levels using a commercial assay. Results Thirty-two subjects were enrolled and randomized into each cohort. Control and postirrigation mean UPSIT scores were 36.8 and 36.7 (p = 0.48). No subjects reported a subjective smell loss. Ten pairs of nasal samples were assayed. Using the curette, control and postirrigation cAMP levels were 509 and 490 fmol/(mg/mL), respectively (p = 0.94). Using the cytobrush, respective cAMP levels were 424 and 449 fmol/(mg/mL), respectively (p = 0.94). Conclusion Nasal saline irrigation has no subjective or objective effect on olfaction. It also does not appear to affect cAMP levels, a potential marker of smell function.
FPGA I/O: when to go serial

Over the past decade, field-programmable gate arrays have gained a foothold as some of the most used building blocks in digital systems. The flexibility of an FPGA allows designers to decrease hardware design cycles while adding inherent feature upgradeability in the final product. In addition data rates of modern FPGAs are competing with application-specific integrated circuits, thus allowing the needed system performance to be achieved using what was once only a prototyping vehicle. Field-programmable gate arrays now incorporate high-speed serial interfaces, but which are the right types of interface and clocking scheme to use.
Inputs to the pontine A5 noradrenergic cell group: A horseradish peroxidase study

The noradrenergic A5 cell group of the caudal ventrolateral pons has been implicated in regulation of cardiovascular activity. The efferent fibers from this cell group have been established, but the sources of afferents into the region have not. Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was injected into the A5 region in rabbits, or into regions surrounding A5. The pattern of retrograde labeling indicated that several areas known to have a role in the control of cardiovascular function by the brain send projections to and/or through the A5 region.
Iron-stress response in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum). 1. Sites of Fe reduction, absorption and transport

T3238fer (Fe-inefficient) and T3238FER (Fe-efficient) tomato plants differ in their ability to utilize Fe and therefore can be used as test genotypes to locate sites of Fe uptake or to characterize changes that occur in roots in response to Fe stress (Fe deficiency). T3238fer does not respond to Fe stress. Release of hydrogen ions and reduction of Fe3+ to Fe2+ are two primary responses of T3238FER roots to Fe stress. Fe reduction sites were predominately in the young lateral roots, and between the regions of root elongation and maturation of the primary root. The use of BDPS (bathophenanthrolinedisulfonate) to trap Fe2+ did not affect the release of H+ ions or reduction by T3238FER roots. BPDS did not decrease Fe uptake until it exceeded the Fe concentration in the nutrient solution. A sevenfold increase in BPDS caused a threefold decrease in Fe taken up by the plant. Fe3+ is reduced to Fe2+ at root sites accessible to BPDS. Adding Zn decreased the response to Fe stress. Iron stress initiates the development of lateral roots, and we propose that most Fe enters the plant through these roots. The iron moves through protoxylem into the metaxylem of the primary root and then to the top of the plant as Fe citrate. Root environmental factors that are competitive or inhibit Fe-stress response, or genotypes that fail to respond to Fe stress, contribute to the development of Fe deficiency in plants.
Fecal adenoviruses from a longitudinal study of families in metropolitan Washington, D.C.: laboratory, clinical, and epidemiologic observations.

During a 29-month period, we studied enteric infection in 70 families from a pediatric practice in suburban Washington, D.C. Fecal adenoviruses were detected in stools of 18 patients by tissue culture and electron microscopic procedures. From 6 through 11 months of age, the incidence of fecal adenoviruses associated with enteritis was seven per 100, and of confirmed enteric adenoviruses (EAds), three per 100 individuals per year. All EAds belonged to subgenus G (type 41). All three patients with EAds had diarrhea; two had vomiting and one had fever, but none required hospitalization. Ten of the 15 patients with non-EAds were younger than 2 years, and 60% had diarrhea, 40% had vomiting, and 20% had fever. Combined gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms occurred more often in those who shed non-EAds (three of 11) than in matched controls (two of 48, P=0.04). An adenovirus was detected in approximately 6% of gastroenteritis episodes, and confirmed EAds were present in approximately 2% of episodes of gastroenteritis in children younger than 2 years of age. None of the contacts of patients with non-EAds shed such virus in their stools. None of nine family contacts of those with EAd appeared to shed adenovirus in stool. In contrast, rotavirus spread readily to exposed adults (25% of 65) and children (56% of 62) when a child in similar families had rotavirus infection.