cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Review Article: Preoperative Evaluation and Optimization of the Geriatric Urological Patient

Abstract Introduction Geriatric urological patients are at higher risk for postoperative morbidity and mortality compared to their younger counterparts because of an increased prevalence of comorbidities and functional impairments. A comprehensive preoperative evaluation is necessary to identify and address these issues, as well as to optimize perioperative physiological and functional status. Methods The presence of frailty in geriatric patients is an especially important indicator of increased perioperative surgical risk but frailty screening is poorly addressed in the majority of guidelines on preoperative screening. Geriatric patients are categorized as frail, pre-frail or nonfrail. Preoperative evaluation of these patients should include nutritional status, a psychosocial assessment, and assessment of aftercare and social support. Results Routine preoperative laboratory and radiographic evaluations are not recommended based solely on age. Rather, an individualized, pragmatic approach founded on the preoperative assessment, evidence-based guidelines, and the nature and extent of the surgery is advised. Conclusions Following these recommendations will provide the urologist a thorough and practical approach to the preoperative evaluation of geriatric urological patients, with the ultimate goal of reducing perioperative morbidity and mortality.
A new instantaneous point on wave voltage sag detection algorithm & validation

In industrial applications, power quality has been an issue drawing increasing concerns due to its severe consequences on system performance and downtime cost. Voltage sags are classified as one of the most common power quality issues. In order to guarantee system operation under several line sag scenarios, international standards such as SEMI F47, IEC-61000-4-34, and IEC-61000-4-11 have been established as guidelines for electrical/electronics manufacturers. In this paper, an innovative point on wave sag detection is introduced. Although the main focus of this work is centered on applications related to regenerative motor-drive systems, this approach can be utilized in a myriad of other applications such as grid-tie inverters, uninterrupted power supplies and advanced relay protection. In addition, the introduced technique is very effective at detecting repeated line sag conditions. The introduced detection method has been experimentally validated using a 20 HP regenerative motor-drive system setup under various line sag scenarios.
Pure Hematopoietic Stem Cells Reconstitute Immunity in Allogeneic Hosts Superior to Bone Marrow: Immunosuppression by Subclinical Graft-Versus-Host Disease.

Abstract Antigen specific immune responses are known to be impaired following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Some clinical studies suggest that graft T cell depletion for the prevention of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) leads to poorer immune recovery, while other correlate GVHD with delayed immune reconstitution. Our studies sought to examine the degree to which the co-transplantation of GVHD-inducing mature cells mediated protective immunity post-HCT. We compared the transplant of FACS purified hematopoietic stem cells (HSC: cKit+Thy1.1loSca+Lin-) with bone marrow (BM) between congenic (BA to B6Ly5.2), minor-antigen mismatched (BA to BALB.B), haploidentical (BAxSWR F1 to BALB/cxSWR F1) and MHC-mismatched (BA to BALB/c) donor and host pairs. We show that grafts composed solely of purified HSC give uniformly superior lymphoid reconstitution across all mismatched pairs, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Although absolute blood lymphocytes counts were increased in recipients of BM compared to HSC, lymphoid reconstitution as measured by lymph node size, counts and architecture was significantly improved in the HSC groups regardless of minor or major mismatches between donor and host. Proliferative responses to the allele specific peptides of the antigen hen egg lysozyme were also significantly increased in the HSC as compared BM recipients (p=0.028), with fully MHC mismatched BM recipient cells showing almost no proliferative response. The use of MHC allele specific antigens also revealed that T cell responses post-HCT are dominated by donor-restricted elements. These data suggest that subclinical GVHD mediated by mature cells in the donor BM result in impaired immune reconstitution. While there may be an increase in absolute lymphocyte numbers, this increase does not correlate with an increase in immune cell function. These findings provide important insight into the benefits of purified HSC for preventing post-HCT infectious complication in addition to its known GVHD prophylaxis benefits. Our data highlights the benefit of transplanting a pure HSC population, as the relatively small number of T cells that are found in mouse bone marrow or that remain in the graft after T cell depletion in humans can still result in immune impairment due to subclinical GVHD.
Da Arte Correio Ã Telemática: Comunicação Ã Distancia nos trabalhos de Paulo Bruscky e Eduardo Kac

This article examines the early works of Brazilian artists Paulo Bruscky and Eduardo Kac, as important precursors to art and activism on the Internet. It argues that their legacies of the 1970s and 1980s are significant in any node of the global cultural network. Both engaged art and communication at a distance: Bruscky in Recife in the 1970s, through Mail Art, and Kac in Rio de Janeiro in the 1980s, through videotext networks and telepresence events. Moreover, their conceptual practices resisted the political oppression of those decades by nurturing “the experimental exercise of freedom.”
Necrobiotic xanthogranuloma: a 30-year single-center experience.

To characterize the clinical features, associated disorders, and treatment of necrobiotic xanthogranuloma (NXG), a rare non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis, we conducted a retrospective review of pathologically confirmed NXG at Mayo Clinic Arizona from 1987 to June 2017. Data on clinical findings, laboratory findings, associated disorders, therapy, and response to therapy were extracted. Nineteen patients were identified. Mean age was 54 years (range, 17–84) with equal gender distribution. Median follow-up was 5.5 years (range, 1–18). Most patients had a detectable monoclonal protein (84%), and IgG kappa constituted 58%. The most common cutaneous lesions involved the periorbital region (53%). The majority of patients had extracutaneous manifestations, most commonly affecting the liver (32%) and the sinuses (21%). Hematologic malignancies were diagnosed in 26% of patients and included Hodgkin lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), smoldering myeloma, and multiple myeloma. The most common treatment was chlorambucil with or without systemic corticosteroids. Response was seen in most patients (95%), and most patients received 1–3 lines of therapy (74%). NXG is a reactive histiocytic disorder that commonly involves multiple organ systems and requires a high degree of clinical suspicion for accurate diagnosis. Treatment decisions should be based on coexisting conditions and pattern of disease involvement.
Quantitative Extent of Atherosclerotic Plaque in the Major Epicardial Coronary Arteries in Patients with Fatal Coronary Heart Disease, in Coronary Endarterectomy Specimens, in Aorta-Coronary Saphenous Venous Conduits, and Means to Prevent the Plaques: A Review after Studying the Coronary Arteries for 50 Years.

This review tries to answer the following 15 questions: Is atherosclerosis a systemic or a regional disease? Is atherosclerosis in any particular region focal or diffuse? What is the quantity of atherosclerotic plaques in endarterectomy specimens of the right coronary artery in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) compared to that in the right coronary artery in patients with fatal coronary artery disease? How do the units used for measuring arterial narrowing by angiography compare to the units used for measuring arterial narrowing at necropsy? What do atherosclerotic plaques consist of in coronary arteries in patients with fatal coronary disease? What is the quantity of atherosclerotic plaque in bypassed -vs- non-bypassed native coronary arteries in patients dying early ( 60 days) after coronary artery bypass grafting? What is the frequency of acute coronary lesions and multi-luminal channels at necropsy in patients with unstable angina pectoris, sudden coronary death, and acute myocardial infarction? What is the mechanism of luminal widening by angioplasty in the coronary arteries? What observations suggest that atherosclerotic plaques are the result at least in part of organization of thrombi? Is atherosclerosis a multifactoral or a unifactoral disease? What characteristics distinguish carnivores and herbivores? What are reasonable guidelines for whom to treat with lipid-altering agents? What is the rule of 5 and the rule of 7 in statin therapy? What is the effect of lipid lowering drug therapy on coronary luminal narrowing? What are some requisites for a healthy life?
Review of the Incidence of Japanese Encephalitis in Foreign-Born and Korean Nationals Living in the Republic of Korea, 2007–2016

The Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccine was introduced to the national immunization program in 1985, which has led to a dramatic decrease in the number of reported cases, but JE continues to occur in foreign nationals residing in or traveling to Korea. Although the incidence is low, this study demonstrated that more Koreans were infected with JE than foreign-born expatriates. The incidence rates of Korean-born nationals were between 0.01 and 0.08 cases per 100,000. In contrast, the incidence rates of foreign-born nationals ranged between 0 and 0.26 cases per 100,000. The incidence rates clearly showed that foreign-born expatriates were more at risk, which underscores the importance of vaccination. We recommend heightened surveillance among JE-susceptible individuals and promote vaccination among foreign-born nationals living in Korea.
Budgets of turbulent kinetic energy, Reynolds stresses, and dissipation in a turbulent round jet discharged into a stagnant ambient

This paper presents a set of stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV) measurements of a turbulent round water jet (jet exit Reynolds number $$Re = 2679$$ and turbulent Reynolds number $$Re_T = 113$$ ) discharged into an initially stationary ambient. The data were taken on the jet centerplane and at non-dimensional downstream distances $$x/D = 27{-}37$$ ( $$x =$$ axial coordinate and $$D =$$ orifice diameter), where the jet turbulence had evolved into a self-preserving state. Budgets of turbulent kinetic energy k and individual components of the Reynolds stress tensor $$R_{ij}$$ are extracted from the velocity measurements and compared to recent experimental data of an air jet ( $$x/D = 30, Re = 140{,}000$$ ) and direct numerical simulation data ( $$x/D = 15, Re = 2000$$ ). The comparison reveals that the datasets are consistent with each other but that the turbulent transport of energy $$\overline{u^2_i}$$ appears to differ between the present low-Re water jet and the high-Re air jet. Nonetheless, the non-dimensional profile of turbulent dissipation rate $${\overline{\epsilon }}$$ , obtained as the closing term (balance) of the k-budget, is very similar in all studies. The commonly used Lumley’s model for pressure–velocity correlation (pressure transport term in k-budget) is evaluated using the instantaneous pressure field computed from the time-resolved planar velocity data. We find that Lumley’s model is deficient in the jet core $$|r/b_g| < 0.3$$ ( $$r =$$ radial coordinate and $$b_g =$$ Guassian half-width), while performing adequately away from it. Finally, the present data are used to compute terms appearing in the exact transport equation of $${\overline{\epsilon }}$$ . Combining both the k and $${\overline{\epsilon }}$$ budgets, model coefficients in the commonly used two-equation $$k-{\overline{\epsilon }}$$ turbulence closure model are evaluated from the present data. If a fixed set of model coefficients is to be employed in a jet simulation, the following values of the model coefficients are recommended to optimize predictions for the mean flow field, for k, and for $${\overline{\epsilon }}$$ : $$C_{1\epsilon } = 1.2, C_{2\epsilon } = 1.6, C_{\mu } = 0.11, \sigma _k = 1.0$$ and $$\sigma _\epsilon = 1.3$$ .
Changes in refractive errors in albinism: a longitudinal study over the first decade of life.

Purpose To analyze longitudinal changes in refraction in patients with albinism. Methods The medical records of 481 patients were reviewed retrospectively to identify patients who had cycloplegic refractions at three ages: visit A, 0-18 months old; visit B, 4-6 years old; visit C, 8-10 years old. We recorded refraction, type of albinism, glasses wear, and best-corrected visual acuity at visit C. Only right eyes were analyzed. Results A total of 75 patients were included. Of these, 73 wore glasses. Mean best-corrected visual acuity at visit C was 20/72 (range, 20/25-20/200). Mean spherical equivalent was 2.81 ± 2.4 D at visit A, 2.53 ± 3.4 D at visit B, and 2.15 ± 4.0 D at visit C. These values did not differ significantly from visits A to C (P = 0.0578). Mean astigmatism for the three time points was 1.60 ± 1.00 D, 2.50 ± 1.14 D, and 2.87 ± 1.45 D; these values did differ significantly from A to C (P Conclusions Children with albinism require periodic cycloplegic refraction, because astigmatism often increases within the first 10 years of life.
High Pressure-Assisted Infusion of Calcium into Baby Carrots Part I: Influence of Process Variables on Calcium Infusion and Hardness of the Baby Carrots

This research was aimed at exploring and evaluating high pressure processing (HPP) as a technique for calcium infusion into baby carrots. HPP was employed in infusing calcium in pectin methylesterase (PME) pre-treated baby carrots using infusate solution of calcium lactate gluconate (CLG). Experiments were performed following a Box-Behnken design to evaluate the effects of pressure, holding time, and CLG concentration on the extent of calcium infusion (amount infused per serving size (85 g) of baby carrots) and the hardness of baby carrots using single pressure cycle. In addition, the effect of pressure cycling on the extent of calcium infusion was also studied by varying the number of high pressure cycles at 1, 3, and 5 at a fixed pressure (550 MPa) for a total holding time of 15 min and using 9% (w/v) CLG solution. HPP enhanced the infusion of calcium from 19.5 mg/serving in raw baby carrots to 134 mg/serving at 350 MPa–10 min–9% CLG, which was more than 3 times the amount of calcium infused in osmotically and vacuum infused controls. Pressure level, time, and CLG concentration had significant effects on calcium infusion. Increasing the number of pressure cycles increased the amount of calcium infused. The calcium infused baby carrots had higher hardness than raw unprocessed carrots.
Individuals and Institutions Publishing Research in Real Estate-1989-1998

This article ranks individuals and institutions according to their publications in eight academic journals from 1989 through 1998. The results imply that the most prolific individuals tend to exten...
Corrigendum: Characterization of the Interactive Effects of Labile and Recalcitrant Organic Matter on Microbial Growth and Metabolism.

Geochemical models typically represent organic matter (OM) as consisting of multiple, independent pools of compounds, each accessed by microorganisms at different rates. However, recent findings indicate that organic compounds can interact within microbial metabolisms. The relevance of interactive effects within marine systems is debated and a mechanistic understanding of its complexities, including microbe-substrate relationships, is lacking. As a first step toward uncovering mediating processes, the interactive effects of distinct pools of OM on the growth and respiration of marine bacteria, individual strains and a simple, constructed community of Roseobacter lineage members were tested. Isolates were provided with natural organic matter (NOM) and different concentrations (1, 4, 40, 400 μM-C) and forms of labile organic matter (acetate, casamino acids, tryptone, coumarate). The microbial response to the mixed substrate regimes was assessed using viable counts and respiration in two separate experiments. Two marine bacteria and a six-member constructed community were assayed with these experiments. Both synergistic and antagonistic growth responses were evident for all strains, but all were transient. The specific substrate conditions promoting a response, and the direction of that response, varied amongst species. These findings indicate that the substrate conditions that result in OM interactive effects are both transient and species-specific and thus influenced by both the composition and metabolic potential of a microbial community.
Single-Loop Integrated Guidance and Control Using High-Order Sliding-Mode Control

With threats becoming more sophisticated, improvements at the sensor and subsystem level may not be enough for missile interceptors. In this chapter, a single-loop integrated guidance and control (G&C) intercept strategy is introduced that establishes a direct link between the sensor feedback and the fin actuators. By only requiring the normal relative velocity for feedback, target acceleration limits, and the interceptor’s input–output relative degree controller design is simple. Robustness is also evident from the black-box treatment of the interceptor. The single-loop structure reduces system complexity by requiring less feedback sensors. This enables operation in sensor-denied areas and improves vehicle maneuverability from the weight reduction. An added benefit is its ability to avoid instability from spectral separation between the guidance and autopilot subsystem control loops. These capabilities stem from the high-order sliding-mode controller. Simulations compare it to a baseline G&C system, and then its practical implementation is tested through unmodeled actuator dynamics of various speeds.
Current and future treatments for tuberculosis.

Abstract Guidelines on the treatment of tuberculosis (TB) have essentially remained the same for the past 35 years, but are now starting to change. Ongoing clinical trials will hopefully transform the landscape for treatment of drug sensitive TB, drug resistant TB, and latent TB infection. Multiple trials are evaluating novel agents, repurposed agents, adjunctive host directed therapies, and novel treatment strategies that will increase the probability of success of future clinical trials. Guidelines for HIV-TB co-infection treatment continue to be updated and drug resistance testing has been revolutionized in recent years with the shift from phenotypic to genotypic testing and the concomitant increased speed of results. These coming changes are long overdue and are sorely needed to address the vast disparities in global TB incidence rates. TB is currently the leading cause of death globally from a single infectious agent, but the work of many researchers and the contributions of many patients in clinical trials will reduce the substantial global morbidity and mortality of the disease.
Time-driven activity-based costing of a novel form of CT-guided high-dose-rate brachytherapy intraoperative radiation therapy compared with conventional breast intraoperative radiation therapy for early stage breast cancer.

Abstract Introduction Intraoperative radiation therapy is an emerging option for adjuvant therapy for early stage breast cancer, although it is not currently considered standard of care in the United States. We applied time-driven activity-based costing to compare two alternative methods of breast intraoperative radiation therapy, including treatment similar to the techniques employed in the TARGIT-A clinical trial and a novel version with CT-guidance and high-dose-rate (HRD) brachytherapy. Methods and Materials Process maps were created to describe the steps required to deliver intraoperative radiation therapy for early stage breast cancer at each institution. The components of intraoperative radiation therapy included personnel, equipment, and consumable supplies. The capacity cost rate was determined for each resource. Based on this, the delivery costs were calculated for each regimen. For comparison across centers, we did not account for indirect facilities costs and interinstitutional differences in personnel salaries. Results The CT-guided, HRD form of intraoperative radiation therapy costs more to deliver ($4,126.21) than the conventional method studied in the TARGIT-A trial ($1,070.45). The cost of the brachytherapy balloon applicator ($2,750) was the primary driver of the estimated differences in costs. Consumable supplies were the largest contributor to the brachytherapy-based approach, whereas personnel costs were the largest contributor to costs of the standard form of intraoperative radiation therapy. Conclusions When compared with the more established method of intraoperative radiation therapy using a portable superficial photon unit, the delivery of treatment with CT guidance and HDR brachytherapy is associated with substantially higher costs. The excess costs are driven primarily by the cost of the disposable brachytherapy balloon applicator and, to a lesser extent, additional personnel costs. Future work should include evaluation of a less expensive brachytherapy applicator to increase the anticipated value of brachytherapy-based intraoperative radiation therapy.
148 – WKB Method

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the application and yield of WKB Method. It is applicable to linear differential equations and it yields a global approximation. The solution of an ordinary differential equation near an irregular singular point is often in the form of an exponential. An exponential will often be a good approximation to an ordinary differential equation even one without an irregular singular point. It is found that if a given ordinary differential equation does not have a small parameter in it, the highest order derivative term is multiplied by a small parameter. This turns the equation into a singularly perturbed differential equation.
Insignificant Effects of Coloring and Labeling on Memory Span and Serial Recall

Human perception involves many cognitive processes, such as memory, attention, and critical thinking. An important cognitive process is memory, which is usually connected with the storing and retrieval of information. Different colors and labeling have diverse physiological effects on humans. Our investigation aimed to determine if a change in color or labeling would have a significant effect on memory span and serial recall. However, our results do not support that coloring and labeling have significant impacts on a subjectâ€™s memory.
You've got a friend in me: sociable robots for older adults in an age of global pandemics.

Social isolation and loneliness are ongoing threats to health made worse by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. During the pandemic, half the globe's population have been placed under strict physical distancing orders and many long-term care facilities serving older adults went into lockdown mode, restricting access to all visitors, including family members. Before the pandemic emerged, a 2020 National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report warned of the underappreciated adverse effects of social isolation and loneliness on health, especially among older populations. Social isolation and loneliness predict all-cause mortality at rates that rival clinical risk factors, such as obesity and smoking; they are associated with greater incidence of psychological, cognitive, and physical morbidities. This paper sets forth a proposal to design robots to function as companions and friends for socially isolated and lonely older people during pandemic emergencies and in aging societies more generally. "The proposal" section presents and defends the proposal. The "Replies to objections" section answers objections based on coercive design, replacement of humans with robots, privacy incursions, and counterfeit companionship. The "Conclusion" section submits that sociable robots offer a promising avenue for addressing social isolation and loneliness during pandemics and hold promise for aging societies more broadly.
Renal Cell Carcinoma: Occurrence and Classification

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC, renal adenocarcinoma) accounts for 3 % of all adult malignancies and is the most common renal tumor. The incidence of RCC in the United States continues to rise, possibly reflecting incidental discoveries during imaging workups for nonspecific abdominal symptoms. Kidney cancer mortality rates have flattened, also possibly due to early detection of incidental, often early-stage, tumors.
Association between Smoking Cannabis and Quitting Cigarettes in a Large American Cancer Society Cohort.

Background: Cannabis use is increasing, including among smokers, an at-risk population for cancer. Research is equivocal on whether using cannabis inhibits quitting cigarettes. The current longitudinal study investigated associations between smoking cannabis and subsequently quitting cigarettes. Methods: Participants were 4,535 adult cigarette smokers from a cohort enrolled in the American Cancer Society9s Cancer Prevention Study-3 in 2009–2013. Cigarette quitting was assessed on a follow-up survey in 2015–2017, an average of 3.1 years later. Rates of quitting cigarettes at follow-up were examined by retrospectively assessed baseline cannabis smoking status (never, former, recent), and by frequency of cannabis smoking among recent cannabis smokers (low: ≤3 days/month; medium: 4–19 days/month; high: ≥20 days/month). Logistic regression models adjusted for sociodemographic factors, smoking- and health-related behaviors, and time between baseline and follow-up. Results: Adjusted cigarette quitting rates at follow-up did not differ significantly by baseline cannabis smoking status [never 36.2%, 95% confidence interval (CI), 34.5–37.8; former 34.1%, CI, 31.4–37.0; recent 33.6%, CI, 30.1–37.3], nor by frequency of cannabis smoking (low 31.4%, CI, 25.6–37.3; moderate 36.7%, CI, 30.7–42.3; high 34.4%, CI, 28.3–40.2) among recent baseline cannabis smokers. In cross-sectional analyses conducted at follow-up, the proportion of cigarette smokers intending to quit smoking cigarettes in the next 30 days did not differ by cannabis smoking status (P = 0.83). Conclusions: Results do not support the hypothesis that cannabis smoking inhibits quitting cigarette smoking among adults. Impact: Future longitudinal research should include follow-ups of >1 year, and assess effects of intensity/frequency of cannabis use and motivation to quit on smoking cessation.
Improvement of Directed Energy Deposition (DED) material addition rate via fluence-based parameter scaling method

Directed Energy Deposition (DED) is a metal additive manufacturing process where feedstock (metal powder in this study) is delivered to a meltpool on the surface of a metallic part simultaneously with an energy source (a laser in this study) that causes the local melting. DED process productivity is measured using the Material Addition Rate (MAR) which is a measure of the amount of material that is added to the part per interval of time, while process efficiency is measured with the powder catchment efficiency which is the ratio of powder deposited into the part and powder fed through the nozzle during the deposition cycle. If clad geometry can be maintained while deposition head feed rate is increased, then MAR is increased. As DED functionality has been integrated into industrial CNC machining centers published deposition head feed rates in literature have not kept up with machine feed rate capabilities. This research demonstrates a method of using energy and powder fluence into the meltpool to scale up deposition head feed rate in a DED equipped CNC machining center to improve MAR while maintaining part quality and geometric accuracy.
High Lift Micro-Aerial-Robot Powered by Low Voltage and Long Endurance Dielectric Elastomer Actuators.

Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) are a special class of artificial muscles that have been used to construct animal-like soft robotic systems. However, compared with the state-of-the-art rigid actuators such as piezoelectric bimorphs and electromagnetic motors, most DEAs require higher driving voltages, and their power density and lifetime remain substantially lower. These limitations pose significant challenges for developing agile and power autonomous soft robots. Here, a low voltage, high endurance, and power-dense DEA based on novel multiple-layering techniques and electrode material optimization, is reported. When operated at 400 Hz, the 143 mg DEA generates forces of 0.36 N and displacements of 1.15 mm. This DEA is incorporated into an aerial robot to demonstrate high performance. The robot achieves a high lift-to-weight ratio of 3.7, low hovering voltage of 500 V, and a long lifetime that exceeds 2 million actuation cycles. With 20 seconds of hovering time, and position and attitude error smaller than 2.5 cm and 2°, the robot demonstrates the longest and best performing flight among existing sub-gram aerial robots. This important milestone demonstrates that soft robots can outperform the state-of-the-art rigid counterparts, and it provides an important step towards realizing power autonomy in soft robotic flights. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Jitter-Free Streak Camera System

Since the demonstration of a streak camera with 2 ps jitter,1 we have evolved a versatile system for picosecond detection which facilitates study in a wide range of areas. The capabilities of the system are discussed with emphasis upon the advantage of signal averaging.
Baseline subjective memory complaints associate with increased risk of incident dementia: the PREADVISE trial

Background Subjective memory complaints reflect patient-identified deficits in memory and have been linked to increased risk of future dementia in nondemented (including cognitively intact) older adults. Objectives To assess the risk of incident dementia during follow-up for participants in the Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease with Vitamin E and Selenium (PREADVISE) study who reported memory complaints at baseline. Design Double-blind, placebo controlled 2×2 randomized controlled trial that transformed into an observational cohort following discontinuation of supplementation in the SELECT parent trial. Setting PREADVISE participants were assessed at 130 local clinical study sites in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico during the controlled trial phase and were later followed by telephone from a centralized location during the observational phase. Participants PREADVISE enrolled a total of 7,547 nondemented men over the age of 60; 4,271 consented to participation in the observational study. Measurements Participants were interviewed at baseline for memory complaints. The Memory Impairment Screen (MIS) was administered to each participant at the annual memory screening. Participants who failed the MIS also received a more detailed neurocognitive assessment: an expanded Consortium to Establish a Registry in Alzheimer's Disease (CERADe) neuropsychological battery was used during the RCT, and the modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-m) was used during the observational study. Participants who failed the second screen were asked to have a memory work-up with a local physician and to share their medical records with PREADVISE. Subgroups of men who did not fail the MIS were also asked to complete the CERADe battery and TICS-m for validation purposes. Additional measures collected include self-reported medical history, medication use, and the AD8 Dementia Screening Test. Results After controlling for important risk factors for dementia, Cox proportional hazards regression revealed that men who reported memory changes at baseline had an 80% increase in the hazard of incident dementia compared to men who reported no SMC. Men who reported memory problems at baseline had almost a 6-fold increase in the hazard of incident dementia compared to men who reported no memory complaint. Conclusions Memory complaints in nondemented older men predicted future dementia. Men who reported that the changes in their memory were a problem were especially at risk, and the presence of common comorbidities like diabetes, sleep apnea, and history of head injury further exacerbated this risk.
Chapter 18. Vitamin D: Metabolism and Mechanism of Action

Publisher Summary The activation of vitamin D3 to its hormonal form, 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25-(OH)2D3) involves two sequential hydroxylations at carbon 25 and carbon 1, respectively. There have been several reports of extrarenal 1α-hydroxylation. Removal of kidneys in pregnant rats, for example, does not prevent formation of 1α,25-(OH)2D3 in vivo and placenta has been identified as an extrarenal site of 1α -hydroxylation. The major metabolic fate of 25-OH-D3, other than 1α-h d oxylation, is 24-hydroxylation to produce 24R,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. Recently, a synthetic 26,27-hexafluoro derivative of 25-OH-D3 has been used to test whether 26-hydroxylation or lactone formation might be of functional importance. The techniques of metabolite isolation and identification being by now well-defined, there has been a notable recent surge of publications describing the characterization of new metabolites. Conceivably, some of the compounds may be metabolic intermediates, but, given their highly non-physiological mode of production, it is equally and perhaps much more valid to regard these “metabolites” simply as interesting structural analogs generated by biochemical means. Discussion on molecular mechanism of action is all about intestinal calcium transport, because it represents the focus of current efforts to understand the mechanism of action. Much work has been done to demonstrate the existence of a macromolecule that binds 1,25-(OH)2D3 in the target tissues.
Brain mitochondria. IV. The activation of fatty acids in bovine brain mitochondria.

Abstract Fatty acid oxidation was studied in the presence or absence of adenosine triphosphate with the use of sodium octanoate-1-14C as substrate. In the absence of ATP, fatty acid oxidation proceeded at a rate 5 to 30% of that obtained in the presence of optimal ATP. The rate of oxidation was partially inhibited by the uncoupling agents dinitrophenol, Dicumarol, or arsenate, completely inhibited by cyanide or antimycin A, and stimulated by oligomycin or azide. The dinitrophenol inhibition was not reversed by oligomycin, although the arsenate inhibition was reversed by oligomycin. Fatty acid oxidation was only slightly inhibited by arsenite, suggesting that substrate level phosphorylation makes only a small contribution to fatty acid activation. In the presence of ATP or ADP, fatty acid oxidation was inhibited both by uncoupling agents and by oligomycin. The oligomycin inhibition was reversed by increasing concentrations of ATP. After preincubation with glucose and hexokinase, the rate of fatty acid oxidation in the absence of ATP was only slightly reduced. Addition of oligomycin reversed this inhibition. Fluoride ion inhibited fatty acid oxidation in the presence of ATP or ADP but had no effect on the oxidative rate in the absence of nucleotides. These results indicate that fatty acids are activated in brain mitochondria by two different mechanisms: (a) an ATP-linked reaction which used primarily the ATP produced during respiration and (b) a system involving high energy intermediates of oxidative phosphorylation.
Determinism Should Ensure Deadlock-Freedom

The advent of multicore processors has made concurrent programming models mandatory. However, most concurrent programming models come with two major pitfalls: non-determinism and deadlocks. By determinism, we mean the output behavior of the program is independent of the scheduling choices (e.g., the operating system) and depends only on the input behavior. A few concurrent models provide deterministic behavior by providing constructs that impose additional synchronization, but improper or out-of-order use of these constructs leads to problems like deadlocks. In this paper, we argue for both determinism and deadlock-freedom. We propose a design of a deterministic, deadlock-free model. Any program that uses this model is guaranteed to produce the same output for a given input. Additionally, the program will never deadlock: the program will either terminate or run forever.
Diversification Decisions of Individual Investors and Asset Prices

In this paper, we examine if the diversification decisions of individual investors influence asset prices. First, we show that a vast majority of individual investors in our sample are under-diversified and the unexpectedly high idiosyncratic risk in their portfolios results in a welfare loss - the least diversified group of investors earn 2.40% lower return annually than the most diversified group of investors on a risk-adjusted basis. Next, we examine the determinants of investors' under-diversification and find that younger, low-income, and relatively less sophisticated investors hold less diversified portfolios. In addition, investors who prefer skewness, exhibit relatively stronger familiarity bias, and exhibit greater over-confidence are less diversified. Finally, we show that the systematic under-diversification of individual investors influence asset prices. A zero-cost portfolio (DIV factor) that takes a long position in stocks with the least diversified individual investor clientele and a short position in stocks with the most diversified individual investor clientele earns an annual excess return of 7.44% on a risk-adjusted basis. Furthermore, this factor has power to explain the cross-sectional variation in returns for a considerable group of stocks
Thrombocytopenic Purpura Related to Rubella Infection

Serologic studies for rubella (hemagglutination inhibition and complement fixation changes) were carried out at two-week intervals in 15 patients with acute idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and in age-matched controls in the same season during a small rubella epidemic. Hemagglutination inhibition, sucrose density gradient for hemagglutination inhibition, and complement fixation titer changes implicated recent rubella infection as an etiologic factor in five of the 15 patients.
The deformation and failure of a biaxially stretched sheet

Biaxial straining has been done by first producing a uniformly thinned, elongated patch at the center of a much larger metal sheet. The patch was gridded with 100 lines per in, separated from the loading tool with an annular spacer of polyethylene, and then deformed incrementally by stretching the sheet over a large-radius hemispherical punch. By regulating patch eccentricity, the imposed strain ratio,ρ =e 2/e 1, could be made nearly constant over a range from slightly less than zero to ∼0.6. Strain at first developed uniformly throughout the patch. But gradually a perturbation in ∈ became apparent and rather quickly after thatδe 2/δe 1 → 0 as a local neck and finally a tear appeared. A clear indication of the straine 1 * at whichδe 2 δe 1 → 0 for any given ρ could be found in the results. The test materials were an aluminum-killed steel (both annealed and cold rolled), copper (in three grades and with different grain sizes), α-brass, type 301 stain-less steel, and Zircaloy-4. A range of behavior was observed. In most cases,e 1 * at ρ=0 was less than predicted by the usual instability theory, andρ = 0 was either <0 or ≃0. The ferritic steel was unique in supporting conventional theory at ρ=0 and having a large, positivede 1 * /dρ. A theory of quasistable flow, which recently entered the literature, was applied to the results, but with indifferent success. The central problem seems to be one of identifying the structural origins of the small-scale weakness that underlies the gradual local change from a uniformly imposed ρ to ρ=0.
"Doctor population ratio for India - the reality".

India plans to establish some 200 new medical colleges in the next 10 years to meet the projected huge shortage of 600,000 doctors. The projections are based on recommendations that have several caveats and therefore somewhat arbitrary1. As compared to their pre-independence levels, all health parameters have shown remarkable progressive improvement even in rural India2. Shortage of doctors for primary health care has been hyped. In fact, States like Maharashtra are now producing surplus MBBS doctors. The Government of Maharashtra has, therefore, decided to scrap the service bond to serve rural sector given by all students in government medical colleges3. On the other hand, India is already facing gross shortages of medical teachers4. The proposed massive expansion, which would reduce the medical colleges to pathshalas (primary schools), is ill advised. It will not solve India's woes of poor health services, but only downgrade country's standing in the medical world. More attention should now be paid to quality of medical education to facilitate establishment of hubs of excellence in medical services, education and research. Rural health services are today actually in dire need of well trained specialists and super-specialists. The basis for arriving at this huge projected shortage is the recommendation about minimum doctor population ratio of 1:1000 made by ‘High Level Expert Group (HLEG) for Universal Health Coverage’ constituted by the Planning Commission5. The concept was originally developed by the Joint Learning Initiative (JLI)1 and subsequently more or less adopted by the WHO5. The two parameters used by the JLI to arrive at the concept were magnitude of coverage of measles immunization and births conducted by skilled attendant. Both of these are low level medical skills that could be easily done by paramedics. However, the issue is more complex as there are several caveats to the recommendations. Several nations and Indian States have achieved health indices of global standards with much lower doctor population ratio1,5.
Commercial reading programmes as the solution for children living in poverty

In 2006–2007 a non-profit reading institute initiated a reading reform programme in the United States in which demonstration classrooms were established in 13 of the lowest performing schools in Mississippi, a state recognised for its high rate of poverty and low academic achievement. This qualitative study describes the experiences of 12 highly competent demonstration classroom teachers and their use of a scripted commercial programme Read Well as core instruction for kindergarten and first grade students who were struggling to learn to read and, at the same time, living with the devastating effects of poverty. Demonstration classroom teachers found the scripted programme inadequate in meeting the needs of all their students and found it necessary to alter their use of Read Well. This study demonstrates the need for educational policy-makers to consider social and cultural contexts of learners when determining what constitutes best instructional practice for teachers.
Management of preoperative anaemia in patients undergoing elective surgery

Previously undiagnosed anaemia is commonly identified during preadmission testing in patients undergoing elective surgery. Anaemia in these patients and related perioperative therapy have been associated with increased morbidity (including increased rates of perioperative infection) and mortality. Clinical care pathways for patients in these settings have been developed by the Society for Blood Management (SABM) and the Network for the Advancement of Transfusion Alternatives (NATA). These consensus recommendations emphasize the following: (1) preadmission testing, including complete blood counts (CBC) that should occur as close as possible to 30 days before the scheduled surgery date; (2) any anaemia identified should be evaluated and managed before surgery; (3) evaluations and laboratory testing should be performed to rule out nutritional causes (particularly iron deficiency), chronic kidney disease and/or anaemia of inflammation and (4) management of anaemia should include consideration of IV iron therapy and/or therapy with erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESA).
Cultural Disparity and Lack of Social Anchorage in the Host Country as Contributing Factors Toward Reactive Depression in Immigrants

The study examined some factors related to depressive symptoms shown by otherwise healthy immigrants. The immigrants from Turkey, Pakistan and South America living in West Berlin were compared with local West German migrants. It was hypothesized that the cultural disparity between one's own culture and that of the host country and lack of social anchorage in the host country will contribute toward depression in the immigrants. The results indicated that cross country migration has more profound effects on depression as compared to within country migration. The hypotheses about the relationship between cultural disparity and depression, on the one hand, and lack of social anchorage and depression, on the other, were partly confirmed.
Design and Performance of a Versatile Penn State near IR Imager and Spectrograph

A versatile near IR instrument called Penn State near IR Imager and Spectrograph (PIRIS) with a 256 x 256 PICNIC IR array has been developed at Penn State and saw its first light at the Mt. Wilson 100 inch in October 2001. The optical design consists of five optical subsystems including (1) the slit aperture wheel, (2) an achromat collimator optic, (3) a grism/filter and pupil assembly, (4) a pupil imaging optic, and (5) achromat camera optics. This instrument has imaging, spectroscopy and coronagraph modes. It is being updated to have an integral field 3-D imaging spectroscopy mode and a very high IR spectroscopy mode (R ~ 150,000) with an anamorphic silicon immersion grating in 2003. The instrument is designed to take full advantage of high Strehl ratio images delivered by high order adaptive optics systems. Its imaging mode has f/37 and f/51 optics to allow diffraction-limited imaging in H and K bands, respectively. Its spectroscopy mode has R = 20, 180, 400, 2000, and 5000. The lowest resolution is obtained with a non-deviation prism. The medium resolution spectroscopy mode is conducted with three commercial fused-silica grisms. They can be either used in long slit spectroscopy mode with a blocking filter or used as a cross-disperser for a high resolution silicon grism. High resolution spectroscopy is done with silicon grisms and cross-disperser grisms, which are designed to work on high orders (~ 80) to completely cover H and K bands for R = 5000 separately, or simultaneously cover H and K bands for R = 2000. Coronagraphy is done by inserting an apodizing mask, held in the slit aperture wheel, in the focal plane and a Lyot stop (pupil mask) at a reimaged pupil inside the dewar. Image contrast can be enhanced by using different combinations of the apodizing mask and pupil mask. Several of Gaussian pupil masks have also been installed in the pupil wheel for high contrast imaging. We have successfully detected two substellar companions during our first light at Mt. Wilson 100 inch telescope. We were also able to evaluate our cononagraphy and gaussion pupil mask modes, which demonstrate 10 -3 - 10 -4 contrast 1 arcsec region around a bright point source. A hybrid coronagraph mode, a combination of an apodizing focal plane mask with a Gaussian shaped pupil mask, has been tested and produces 10 -5 - 10 -6 deep contrast as close as 4 λ/D at 2.2 μm in the lab. Low resolution spectroscopy modes including a vision prism (R = 20) and three fused silicon grisms (R = 200 - 400) have been tested in the lab. The spectroscopy results are reported here.