cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Multifactorial, site-specific recurrence model after radical cystectomy for urothelial carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: A scoring algorithm of site-specific disease recurrence after cystectomy for urothelial carcinoma was designed. METHODS: Identified were 1388 patients who underwent radical cystectomy for nonmetastatic urothelial carcinoma between 1980 and 1998. Clinical, surgical, and pathologic features were evaluated for associations with 4 locations of site-specific disease recurrence: upper urinary tract, abdomen/pelvis, thoracic region, and bone. Recurrence-free survival rates were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox proportional hazards models were fit to test associations with disease recurrence. RESULTS: A total of 493 (35.5%) patients experienced at least 1 recurrence. There were 67, 388, 143, and 145 patients with recurrences to the upper tract, abdomen/pelvis, thoracic region, and bone at a median of 3.1 years, 1.1 years, 1.3 years, and 1.0 years, respectively. Pathologic T4 stage (hazard ratio [HR], 2.84; P = .006), positive ureteral margins (HR, 5.71; P < .001), and multifocality (HR, 2.07; P = .009) were found to be independent predictors of upper tract recurrence. Pathologic T3 (HR, 2.30; P < .001) and T4 stage (HR, 3.55; P < .001), lymph node invasion (HR, 1.97; P < .001), extent of lymphadenectomy (pNx [HR, 1.66; P = .002] and <10 lymph nodes [HR, 1.52; P < .001]), multifocality (HR, 1.80; P < .001), and prostatic involvement (HR, 1.45; P = .019) were found to be independent predictors of abdominal/pelvic recurrence. Features independently associated with thoracic recurrence included pathologic T3 (HR, 2.61; P < .001) and T4 (HR, 3.39; P < .001), lymph node invasion (HR, 2.64; P < .001), extent of lymphadenectomy (pNx [HR, 1.89; P = .019] and <10 lymph nodes [HR, 1.58; P < .030]), and multifocality (HR, 1.79; P < .001). Pathologic T3 (HR, 3.45; P < .001) and T4 stage (HR, 3.87; P < .001), lymph node invasion (HR, 1.79; P = .006), occupational exposure to radiation (HR, 2.97; P = .003), and a positive urethral margin (HR, 2.28; P = .039) were found to be independent predictors of osseous recurrence. Macroscopic hematuria (HR, 0.52; P = .009) and obesity (HR, 0.59; P = .027) were found to be protective and negatively associated with upper tract and osseous recurrence, respectively. Scoring algorithms to predict the likelihood of disease recurrence to these sites were developed using regression coefficients from the multivariable models. CONCLUSIONS: Scoring algorithms based on independent predictors of site-specific recurrence were presented. These models may be used to tailor postoperative surveillance to the individual patient based upon clinicopathologic features at the time of cystectomy. Cancer 2010. © 2010 American Cancer Society.
Defective equipment and tractor-trailer crash involvement

The role of defective equipment in large truck crashes on interstate highways in Washington State was investigated using a case-control study design. For each large truck involved in a crash, three trucks were randomly selected from the traffic stream at the same time and place as the crash, but one week later both crash and comparison trucks were inspected by Commercial Vehicle Enforcement officers of the Washington State Patrol. The effects of truck equipment condition, truck operating characteristics (carrier type, carrier operation, and truck load), and driver characteristics (driver age, hours of driving) on crash involvement were analyzed by comparing their relative frequency among crash-involved and comparison sample tractor-trailers. A logistic regression model was used to estimate the adjusted odds ratio for each factor. Overall, 77% of tractor-trailers in crashes and 66% of those not involved in crashes had defective equipment warranting a citation. Forty-one percent in crashes had defective equipment warranting taking the truck out of service, and 31% not in crashes had these defects. Brake defects were the most common type and were found in 56% of tractor-trailers in crashes; steering equipment defects were found in 21%. The relative risk of crash involvement for trucks with brake defects was about one and one-half times that for trucks without brake defects. For trucks with steering defects, the relative risk of crash involvement was at least twice that for trucks with steering defects, the relative risk of crash involvement was at least twice that for trucks without defects, and the risk increased substantially for trucks with out-of-service steering defects.
Simplified procedure for the separation of human T and non-T cells.

. A simple and rapid procedure for the separation of human T and non-T lymphocytes is described, based upon an existing technique and using Ficoll-Metrizoate. It offers high cell yields, maintenance of a good vitality and an efficacious separation of the lymphocyte populations mentioned.
RECLAIMING DEVIANCE AS A UNIQUE COURSE FROM CRIMINOLOGY

In this paper we address the overlap between deviance and criminology and provide suggestions for differentiating the two courses. In an effort to illustrate this overlap, we compared the topics covered in deviance and criminology textbooks because we believed that they represent accurately what is covered in many classrooms. We also reviewed the journal Deviant Behavior, because we believed that instructors teaching in this area would be likely to use it for supplemental information.
Cope elimination: elucidation of solvent effects from QM/MM simulations.

The Cope elimination reactions for threo- and erythro-N,N-dimethyl-3-phenyl-2-butylamine oxide have been investigated using QM/MM calculations in water, THF, and DMSO. The aprotic solvents provide up to million-fold rate accelerations. The effects of solvation on the reactants, transition structures, and rates of reaction are elucidated here using two-dimensional potentials of mean force (PMF) derived from free-energy perturbation calculations in Monte Carlo simulations (MC/FEP). The resultant free energies of activation in solution are in close agreement with experiment. Ab initio calculations at the MP2/6-311+G-(2d,p) level using the PCM continuum solvent model were also carried out; however, only the QM/MM methodology was able to reproduce the large rate increases in proceeding from water to the dipolar aprotic solvents. Solute−solvent interaction energies and radial distribution functions are also analyzed and show that poorer solvation of the reactant in the aprotic solvents is primarily responsible ...
Mathematics Education in China Today: Four Problem Areas

The realization that an educated citizenry is essential to China's modernization has led to the national goal of nine years of compulsory education for all students by the year 2000. Among the many and varied problems encountered in efforts to educate the masses are those existent in mathematics education. The authors identify and discuss four critical areas — educational theory, technology, instruction, and assessment of teaching — which are of immediate concern in the mathematics education of primary and secondary school students in China.
Heisenberg-limited measurements with superconducting circuits

We describe an assembly of $N$ superconducting qubits contained in a single-mode cavity. In the dispersive regime, the correlation between the cavity field and each qubit results in an effective interaction between qubits that can be used to dynamically generate maximally entangled states. With only collective manipulations, we show how to create maximally entangled quantum states and how to use these states to reach the Heisenberg limit in the determination of the qubit bias control parameter (gate charge for charge qubits, external magnetic flux for rf-superconducting quantum interference devices).
Higher order structure is present in the yeast nucleus: autoantibody probes demonstrate that the nucleolus lies opposite the spindle pole body

A panel of sera from 892 autoimmune patients was screened by indirect immunofluorescence on mammalian cells. Seventy-three sera were identified that recognize the nucleolus. Three of these sera appear to stain the nucleolus in yeast, suggesting that they recognize highly conserved antigens. These three sera also immunoprecipitate mammalian U3 snRNA-containing particles, which reside in the nucleolus and have been implicated in rRNA processing. Double immunofluorescence experiments with anti-nucleolus and anti-tubulin antibodies revealed a novel form of non-random nuclear organization in yeast. The spindle pole body and the nucleolus-both of which are associated with the nuclear envelope-preferentially localize at opposite ends of the nucleus. Organization of these and other components into specific regions of the nucleus may be important for optimizing their proper function.
Three-Dimensional Microfluidic Measurements Using Optical Sectioning by Confocal Microscopy: Flow Around a Moving Air Bubble in a Micro-Channel

Microscopic visualization of the transport phenomena associated with an air bubble entrained in liquid flowing through a microchannel has revealed a transition in the bubble shape and proximity to the channel walls with increasing flow rates. Experiments have been conducted to investigate the effect of channel geometry (three different microchannels with square cross-sections, 1.0-mm, 500-μm and 100-μm), and flow conditions (Capillary numbers ranging from 0 to 0.23) on the transition in bubble shape. In addition, micro-Particle Image Velocimetry (μ-PIV) has been used to map the detailed flow field around the bubble and an innovative attempt has been made to provide optically-sectioned image recordings using a state-of-the-art high-speed Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope (CLSM) technique. The research presented herein is directed towards characterizing transport phenomena in two-phase (gas-liquid) flows in microchannels. Of particular interest to this research is the determination of entrance and exit length regions in two-phase microchannel flows. The experimental techniques being utilized towards the objective of characterizing two-phase flow transport phenomena in microchannels are the focus of the following discussion.© 2002 ASME
Scheduling a 100,000 Core Supercomputer for Maximum Utilization and Capability

In late 2009, the National Institute for Computational Sciences placed in production the world’s fastest academic supercomputer (third overall), a Cray XT5 named Kraken, with almost 100,000 compute cores and a peak speed in excess of one Petaflop. Delivering over 50% of the total cycles available to the National Science Foundation users via the TeraGrid, Kraken has two missions that have historically proven difficult to simultaneously reconcile: providing the maximum number of total cycles to the community, while enabling full machine runs for “hero” users. Historically, this has been attempted by allowing schedulers to choose the correct time for the beginning of large jobs, with a concomitant reduction in utilization. At NICS, we used the results of a previous theoretical investigation to adopt a different approach, where the “clearing out” of the system is forced on a weekly basis, followed by consecutive full machine runs. As our previous simulation results suggested, this lead to a significant improvement in utilization, to over 90%. The difference in utilization between the traditional and adopted scheduling policies was the equivalent of a 300+ Teraflop supercomputer, or several million dollars of compute time per year.
Sex-Related Differences in Alkaloid Chemical Defenses of the Dendrobatid Frog Oophaga pumilio from Cayo Nancy, Bocas del Toro, Panama⊥

Poison frogs contain an alkaloid-based chemical defense that is sequestered directly from a diet of alkaloid-containing arthropods. Geographic and temporal variation in alkaloid defense is common in poison frogs and is generally attributed to differences in the availability of alkaloid-containing arthropods. Variable chemical defense in poison frogs may have important consequences for predator-prey interactions, requiring a full understanding of the factors involved in explaining such variation. In the present study, we examine alkaloid variation in the dendrobatid poison frog Oophaga pumilio between males and females on Cayo Nancy (Isla Solarte), located in the Bocas del Toro archipelago of Panama. On average, females contained a significantly larger number and quantity of alkaloids when compared to males. Alkaloid composition varied significantly between males and females, illustrating that chemical defense in this population of O. pumilio is sex-dependent. The variation in alkaloids between sexes is attributed to differences in feeding and behavior between males and females. The majority of alkaloids present in the skin of O. pumilio appear to be of oribatid mite origin, supporting the importance of these dietary arthropods in the chemical defense of poison frogs.
Field Estimates of Net Trophic Transfer of PCBs from Prey Fishes to Lake Michigan Salmonids

Dietary exposure is the principal source of polychlorinated biphenlys (PCBs) to Great Lakes salmonids. PCB transfer efficiency has typically been determined with laboratory studies using high food PCB concentrations and clean animals, making extrapolations to the field uncertain. Here, we present estimates of net PCB transfer efficiencies for Lake Michigan coho salmon, chinook salmon, and lake trout based on 15 years of PCB concentrations in these fish and their prey. Between 1975 and 1990, large changes in Lake Michigan's pelagic food web led to changes in coho and chinook salmon diets and chinook salmon growth efficiency. Early in this period, PCB transfer efficiencies increased in lake trout but decreased in chinook and coho salmon. These early trends carry relatively high uncertainty due to high variability in prey and predator PCB concentrations and are probably not ecologically significant. After 1983, PCB transfer efficiencies remained relatively constant at ∼0.55 for lake trout and at ∼0.60 for chinook salmon and increased slightly to ∼0.50 for coho salmon. PCB transfer efficiencies appear to be little affected by changes in prey PCB concentration, shifts in prey type, and shifts in predator gross growth efficiency. Use of a constant PCB transfer efficiency in models that consider PCB accumulation by piscivorous fishes is therefore appropriate.
Average delay SLAs in Cloud computing

In this paper, we conduct feasibility studies on the average delay space for Cloud computing, and we propose a heuristic method to control the vector of average delays, subject to predefined delay constraints. Our work is strongly motivated by the fact that delay control plays a critical role to improve Service Level Agreements (SLA) between users and Cloud service providers, which is necessary for empowering online business. Specifically, our main contributions are two-fold: First, the feasible regions of various routing algorithms for the system's dispatcher are investigated in depth. Second, a simple heuristic algorithm is designed, to move the average delay point along the feasible direction until achieving the delay constraints. Average delay is dependent on multiple factors such as job size, inter-arrival time, flow rate, and the dispatching rules of the system. Therefore, we vary their distribution, parameters and routing rules to examine how the feasible regions move or change. After establishing the feasible delay space, then by moving along the feasible directions, we show that a simple heuristic algorithm can achieve the delay constraints for a two queue system.
Quantitative 2D exchange spectroscopy using time-proportional phase incrementation

Abstract We have used a version of 2D exchange spectroscopy which employs amplitude modulation during evolution to obtain pure absorption-mode exchange maps of several multisite systems. Quadrature detection in ω1 is provided by 90° phase incrementation of the excitation pulse in concert with incrementation of ti. The matrix A of normalized peak amplitudes is determined by the dynamic processes which occur during the mixing interval τm according to the rate matrix R, which contains chemical exchange and longitudinal relaxation terms. The R matrix may be directly calculated from A using an eigenvalue-eigenvector method. In principle all of the dynamic parameters of a spin system of any size may be calculated from a pair of phase-sensitive exchange spectra acquired with and without mixing. This approach distinguishes between direct and indirect (relay) couplings irrespective of mixing time. The principles and practical aspects of exchange spectroscopy with time-proportional phase incrementation are briefly discussed and the method is illustrated with the measurement of chemical exchange rates in three-site and five-site spin systems.
Left Main Coronary Artery Acute Thrombosis Related to Energy Drink Intake

A 24-year-old previously healthy black man presented the emergency department with a 10-hour history of nausea, multiple episodes of emesis, palpitations, and severe retrosternal chest pain, described as constant pressure. His symptoms started 1 or 2 hours after he had 3 drinks of vodka mixed with an energy drink at a local party. He used marijuana in the week before but denied cocaine or other recreational drug use. Two of his friends who shared the drinks had similar symptoms but without chest pain. There was no family history of premature coronary artery disease. The patient smokes no more than 5 cigarettes weekly. At admission, his vital signs were blood pressure 138/94 mm Hg, pulse 63 bpm, breathing rate 18 respirations per minute, temperature 36°C, and 99% oxygen saturation on room air. …
The interaction of phosphorylase with protamine.

Abstract Protamine at 0°C forms a highly insoluble complex with phosphorylase a which contains one or two moles of protamine per mole of phosphorylase, depending on whether or not protamine is present in excess. Precipitates formed at 30° contain up to 7 moles of protamine per mole of enzyme, and the precipitation curves are diphasic owing to a solubilizing effect of an excess of protamine on the complex. The pH dependence of the precipitation shows that phosphorylase and protamine must be oppositely charged in order to form a precipitate. The protein which protamine precipitates directly from crude muscle extract contains at least 50% phosphorylase a. Protamine may be used to separate phosphorylase a and b, since the latter forms a much more soluble complex than the former. A crystalline protamine-phosphorylase b complex has been described containing equimolar ratios of the proteins. The enzymic activity of the precipitated phosphorylase a complex becomes progressively lower as the molar ratio of protamine in the complex is increased. The diphasic activity curves of phosphorylase a in the presence of increasing amounts of salmine as reported by Krebs in the preceding paper1, may be explained by similar diphasic precipitition curves of phosphorylase and salmine, as well as by the varying enzymic activities of the different complexes. From the temperature dependence of the phosphorylase a reaction in the absence and presence of adenylic acid it was calculated that the energy of activation was 24,600 calories in the former and 20,800 calories in the latter case. Thus adenylic acid increases the rate of the phosphorylase a reaction by lowering the energy of activation. In the phosphorylase b reaction, which does not occur unless adenylic acid is added, the energy of activation was 21,200 calories, or approximately the same as for phosphorylase a in the presence of adenylic acid.
On the existence and the manipulability recovery rate of self-motion at manipulator singularities

This article investigates the escapability of redundant manipu lators at a singularity. Escapability means that the manipulator can reconfigure itself from a singular posture to a nonsingular posture via self-motion. Criteria for the classifications of es capable and inescapable singularities are established based on multivariable calculus theorems. For the general case, we give necessary conditions for the escapability of singular configura tions. For singular configurations with only one lost degree of freedom in the workspace, sufficient conditions for the escapa bility are provided. We then show how the arm can escape the singularity at the maximum rate if these sufficient conditions are satisfied. Our method gives the best self-motion among the set of all feasible self-motions, in the sense that the manipula bility measure of the arm increases most rapidly for the chosen self-motion. It is also shown that at a singular configuration with more than one lost degree of freedom in the workspace, the init...
The decay limit of the Hugoniot elastic limit

Abstract The Hugoniot elastic limit (HEL) precursor decay in shock loaded solids has been the subject of considerable experimental and theoretical investigation. Comparative evidence is presented to show that the elastic precursor wave particle velocity, U p HEL for certain materials decays asymptotically with propagation distance to the DeBroglie velocity, V 1 , level. This is demonstrated for the following materials: iron, aluminum alloy 6061-T6, plexiglas (PMMA), nickel alloy (MAR-M200), and lithium fluoride (LiF). The DeBroglie velocity is V 1 = h 2md 1 , where h is Planck’s Constant, m is the mass of one atom, and d 1 is the closest distance between the atoms. For macroscopic particle velocities, U p, equal to V 1 , the corresponding elastic pressure is Pv 1 = ρ 0 C L V 1 , where ρ 0 is the material density and C L is the elastic wave front velocity. This relates the microscopic domain to macroscopic observable quantities.
Comparative reductions of hepatitis A virus, enteroviruses and coliphage MS2 in miniature soil columns

The reduction of viruses in wastewater and other contaminated waters in the subsurface or soil environment is an important public health consideration for land disposal of wastes and the use of ground sources as water supplies. Because of the lack of information on the comparative reductions of different viruses in soils receiving wastes, we determined the reductions of hepatitis A virus (HAV), poliovirus 1, echovirus 1 and the indicator virus MS2 in 10-cm deep, miniature soil columns dosed twice weekly with 2.5 cm of water or wastewater and incubated at 5 or 25°C for 16 weeks. The soils studied were coarse sand, loamy sand, clay loam and organic muck. By examination of column effluents, few or no viruses were detected in clay loam column effluents, with >99.98% virus reductions under all conditions tested. In organic muck columns virus reductions ranged from 30-98%, with greater reductions at 25°C than at 5°C and greater reductions of enteroviruses than either HAV or MS2. In the sandy soil columns viruses were retained generally better in loamy sand than in coarse sand. Overall, poliovirus was reduced the most and echovirus the least. In coarse sand, mean virus reductions ranged from a low of about 50% for echovirus at 5° to a high of about 99.4% for poliovirus at 25°. In loamy sand, mean virus reductions ranged from a low of about 60% for echovirus at 5° to a high of 99.997% for poliovirus at 25°. Virus reductions were greater in sandy soil columns dosed with groundwater than with wastewater. The appreciable breakthroughs of viruses in column effluents of organic muck and coarse sand soils indicate that these soil types may be unsuitable for land application of wastewater under some hydrogeological conditions.
Regulation and Systematic Risk in the Electric Utility Industry: A Test of the Buffering Hypothesis

In this paper, the authors test Peltzman's [19] buffering hypothesis—whether regulatory environment impacts systematic risk for regulated electric utilities. The paper differs from previous research in that an exogenously defined measure of regulatory environment, a large sample, and a method that controls for time-series and crosssectional autocorrelation are used. The results are consistent with the buffering hypothesis but only in years of increasing input factor prices for the utilities. Using causality tests, the results also show that it is the regulatory environment that influences systematic risk and not vice versa.
Churchill, De Gaulle, Spears and the Levant Affair, 1941

After the fall of France in 1940, Britain's predicament in the Middle East became worse still when the French authorities in Syria and Lebanon aligned themselves with the new Vichy government. The British, already outnumbered by Italian forces and uncertain of Arab loyalties, now found their northern flank controlled by men susceptible to Axis pressure. Both Churchill and de Gaulle responded with the determination that the Levant should be denied to the Axis and placed in friendly hands. Despite this common resolve, however, fundamental differences emerged during the Anglo-Free French invasion of Syria in 1941. This hastily improvised venture was marred by rash political tactics, poor liaison, bad diplomacy and the interventions of Churchill and de Gaulle. Although the Syrian flank was secured, this affair did serious damage to Anglo-Free French relations, created new problems in the Levant, and precipitated personal antagonism between Churchill and de Gaulle.
Beneficial effects of low doses of ethanol on reoxygenation injury following anoxia in rat hearts

We investigated the effect of ethanol on adverse effects of anoxia and reoxygenation in isolated rat hearts. Perfusion of the anoxic Krebs-Henseleit medium for 40 min followed by 30 min of perfusion with aerobic medium produced considerable myocardial cell injury. Incorporation of ethanol (21.7 mM), in both anoxic and aerobic perfusion media resulted in a significant reduction of cell injury and inhibition of creatine phosphokinase release. The contraction bands were reduced to 0.24 as compared to 1.14 per field in the non-treated hearts. The tissue Ca++ was decreased to 8.72 mumol/gm/dry dry wt as compared to 20.17 mumol/gm/dry wt), as compared to the nontreated anoxic tissue (4.41 mumol/gm/dry wt). However, the inclusion of only ethanol in the anoxic medium did not decrease the damage, suggesting that maximal injury occurred during reoxygenation. Ethanol appears to inhibit myofibril contractures and preserve the structural integrity of plasma membrane during anoxia and reoxygenation. This study suggests a beneficial effect of ethanol in low doses on the post anoxic reperfusion injury in the myocardium.
A statistical approach to mining customers' conversational data from social media

In this paper, we present one possible way of analyzing social media conversional data in order to better understand customers. Ultimately, our goal is to analyze customer behavior as it is expressed in free-form conversations and extract from it commercially valuable information about the customer. In this study, we concentrate on using statistical techniques for analyzing this unstructured data at two levels: 1) at the level of the words used in the conversation and 2) by mapping those words to abstract concepts. The goal of such a statistical analysis is twofold. First, the statistically significant terms used by the users and the concepts associated with them provide insight on a user's interests that commercial services can use, for example, in order to target advertisements. In addition, knowing the evolution of a customer's interests and hobbies can be exploited commercially by retailers, media and entertainment companies, telecommunications companies, and more. In this paper, we describe a general framework for the analysis of social media data and, in turn, the application of the framework to the statistical analysis of the language of tweets.
A hardware-software codesign strategy for Loop intensive applications

Hardware-software codesign is a powerful technique that can be used to build complex systems. In this paper, we propose a compiler driven hardware-software codesign strategy that works at application level, aiming at facilitating algorithm architecture co-explorations. The proposed approach employs an intermediate code representation, called Loop Hierarchy Tree (LHT), to perform codesign exploration, and applies a branch-and-bound search to find a hardware-software partitioning that minimizes execution latency under the given area constraints. We also developed fast cost estimation models for LHT and can be extended to handle codesign for more complex hybrid architectures. Experimental results show that our approach is successful in finding good solutions for the applications on the target codesign platform.
Carbon dioxide-induced amnesia in the cockroach (Periplaneta americana).

Cockroaches (Periplaneta americana) learned to passively avoid electric shock in a two-compartment box after a single training trial. However, Ss exposed to CO2 gas immediately after the training trial failed to show retention of the previous experience when tested 24 h later. Results obtained are consistent with those observed in studies of retrograde amnesia in vertebrates.
Medullary cystic kidney disease type 1 in a large Native-American kindred

Background: Autosomal dominant medullary cystic kidney disease type 1 (MCKD1; Mendelian Inheritance in Man 174000) is a hereditary tubulointerstitial renal disease. For MCKD1, a locus on chromosome 1q21 is published. Although there are characteristic biopsy and imaging findings for MCKD, clinical diagnosis of this disorder is still very difficult because unique phenotypic features are not always present in individual cases. Methods: In a large Native-American kindred with apparent autosomal dominant nephropathy, clinical findings in more than 50 individuals were collected and evaluated. Haplotype analysis for 34 individuals was performed. Results: We report the difficulties establishing the diagnosis of MCKD in a large Native-American kindred solely by means of clinical criteria. This kindred shows a wider range of age of disease onset than previously reported. Gout and hypertension were common, but no patient reported symptoms of salt wasting. By means of haplotype analysis linkage was shown to the MCKD1 locus (logarithm of the odds score, 3.34). Conclusion: Establishing a diagnosis of MCKD solely on clinical findings is difficult because signs and symptoms may be subtle, renal cysts may be absent in more than 50% of affected individuals, and renal histological abnormalities are nonspecific. In patients presenting with renal insufficiency from apparent interstitial disease, a thorough family history and genetic linkage studies are required to establish a diagnosis of MCKD. We suspect MCKD is underdiagnosed and the true incidence of MCKD1 in the general population may be underestimated. No further living-related transplantation should be performed until genetic testing can exclude potentially affected donors.
CHANGES IN THE GENERAL LINEAR MODEL : A UNIFIED APPROACH

Abstract Analysis of the general linear model with possibly rank-deficient design and dispersion matrices has sometimes generated some confusion and controversy, prompting some researchers to discuss it as quite distinct from the case of full-rank matrices. We show that linear zero functions, i.e., linear functions in observations which have zero expectations for all parameter values, provide an intuitive way of developing all the important results in connection with the general linear model, thus bridging this imaginary gap. We show that the effect of addition or deletion of a set of observations in this model can be clearly understood in statistical terms if viewed through such linear zero functions. The effect of adding or dropping a group of parameters is also explained well in this manner. Several sets of update equations were derived by a host of previous researchers in various special cases of the above set-up. The results derived here bring out the common underlying principles of these formulae and indeed help simplify most of them. These results also provide further insights into recursive residuals, design of experiments, deletion diagnostics and selection of subset models.
Regulation of stearoyl-CoA desaturase activity by the trans-10,cis-12 isomer of conjugated linoleic acid in HepG2 cells.

Stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) catalyzes the rate-limiting step in the cellular synthesis of monounsaturated fatty acids mainly oleate (C18:1) and palmitoleate (C16:1) which are the major monounsaturated fatty acids of membrane phospholipids, cholesterol esters, waxes, and triglycerides. Several SCD isoforms exist in the mouse whereas the human has one well-characterized SCD gene. The trans-10,cis-12 isomer of conjugated linoleic acid has been previously shown to repress the expression of the mouse SCD1 gene isomer by decreasing SCD gene expression as well as by direct inhibition of SCD enzyme activity. We studied the regulation of human stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) expression by conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in cultured human hepatoblastoma cell line, HepG2. Treatment of the cells with the trans-10,cis-12 CLA isomer did not cause changes in the SCD gene transcription, mRNA and protein levels. However, this isomer decreased both the SCD activity as well as the levels of monounsaturated fatty acids. The other major CLA isomer, cis-9,trans-11 CLA, had no effect on SCD gene expression and activity. These results suggest that in HepG2 cells the trans-10,cis-12 CLA isomer regulates human SCD activity mainly by a posttranslational mechanism.
Willingness to communicate: A cross‐cultural investigation

This study examined the means of and correlations between perceptions of willingness to communicate, communication apprehension, and communication competence of college students in the United States and Australia. Comparisons indicated a high degree of similarity in the relationships between communication orientations in the two cultures but substantial differences between the cultures in terms of mean scores on willingness to communicate and self‐perceived communication competence. Results of the study suggest similarities between people of two different cultures on one communication orientation do not necessarily indicate similarities on other communication orientations. However, relationships between orientations may have some generalizability across cultures.
Low-temperature synthesis of rutile VO2 in aqueous solution using NH2OH·HCl as reducing agent

Ambient-temperature reduction of ammonium vanadate with hydroxylamine hydrochoride results in a vanadium oxide gel that, upon crystallization at 500°C, yields the binary VO2 oxide.
Coccidioidomycosis in non-endemic areas: a case series

Coccidioidomycosis is a systemic infection caused by the soil fungus Coccidioides immitis, which is endemic to the south-western United States. Manifestations range from flu-like illness to pneumonia and septic shock. Diagnosis may be delayed or missed in non-endemic areas because of the low index of suspicion. We describe a series of 23 patients with coccidioidomycosis at one institution in a non-endemic area. Diagnosis was often delayed. In two patients, the route of exposure could not be determined, but 20 patients had a history of residence or travel to endemic areas, and the remaining patient had an occupational history of exposure to fomites from an endemic region. Five patients were immunosuppressed. Most patients responded well to medical therapy, surgery, or both. Although coccidioidomycosis is rare in non-endemic areas, physicians must keep it in mind when evaluating patients who have traveled to endemic areas or who are immunosuppressed.
Non-destructive method for estimating methyl bromide residues in apples during aeration following fumigation†

A method is presented for estimating the persistence and concentration of residual free methyl bromide (MB) present in apples during the aeration period following fumigation. The method is based on determining the rate of decline in concentration of methyl bromide in the exhaust air stream during aeration. The rate was shown to follow two consecutive pseudo-first-order decay curves. The first component of the curve resulted primarily from removal of MB from the free air space in the chamber, and the second component resulted from the desorption of MB from the apples. Estimates of the concentration of MB residue in apples were obtained from the regression parameters for the second decay curve. The technique gave good estimates of the residue concentration over a wide range of fumigation conditions and ventilation rates, and may be useful for determining the duration of aeration period required to achieve a proposed residue tolerance of 0.2 mg kg −1 methyl bromide.
Sex differences in the subjective and reinforcing effects of cigarette nicotine dose.

Abstract Rationale. Some research with novel nicotine delivery methods suggests that nicotine itself may be less reinforcing in women than in men. However, sex differences in the reinforcing effects of nicotine dose via cigarette smoking have received little attention. Objectives. Sex differences in the subjective and reinforcing effects of smoking were examined as a function of two cigarette nicotine "dose" levels (moderate – subjects' preferred brand, ≥0.7 mg yield; low – Carlton "ultra-light", 0.1 mg yield). Methods. Male and female smokers (n=30) participated in three sessions, the first two involving independent assessment (only one brand available), and the third involving concurrent assessment (both brands available), of subjective ratings (e.g. "liking") and reinforcement for the two cigarette brands. Subjects were blind to the brand of each cigarette, and subjects abstained overnight prior to each session. Reinforcement was determined by responses on a computer task to earn single puffs on the designated cigarette. Results. Subjective ratings differed between the low versus moderate cigarette nicotine dose under both independent and concurrent assessment conditions, as expected. Notably, this dose difference was smaller in women than in men (i.e. significant sex by dose interactions). The dose effect on smoke reinforcement also was smaller in women than men, but only under the independent and not concurrent assessment condition. Conclusions. These results indicate that cigarette nicotine dose is a less important influence on the subjective and, under some conditions, reinforcing effects of smoking in women than in men.
Functional expression of α7-nicotinic acetylcholine receptors by muscle afferent neurons

The exercise pressor reflex (EPR) is generated by group III and IV muscle afferents during exercise to increase cardiovascular function. Muscle contraction is triggered by ACh, which is metabolized into choline that could serve as a signal of exercise-induced activity. We demonstrate that ACh can induce current in muscle afferents neurons isolated from male Sprague-Dawley rats. The nicotinic ACh receptors (nAChRs) appear to be expressed by some group III-IV neurons since capsaicin (TRPV1) and/or ATP (P2X) induced current in 56% of ACh-responsive neurons. α7- And α4β2-nAChRs have been shown to be expressed in sensory neurons. An α7-nAChR antibody stained 83% of muscle afferent neurons. Functional expression was demonstrated by using the specific α7-nAChR blockers α-conotoxin ImI (IMI) and methyllycaconitine (MLA). MLA inhibited ACh responses in 100% of muscle afferent neurons, whereas IMI inhibited ACh responses in 54% of neurons. Dihydro-β-erythroidine, an α4β2-nAChR blocker, inhibited ACh responses in 50% of muscle afferent neurons, but recovery from block was not observed. Choline, an α7-nAChR agonist, elicited a response in 60% of ACh-responsive neurons. Finally, we demonstrated the expression of α7-nAChR by peripherin labeled (group IV) afferent fibers within gastrocnemius muscles. Some of these α7-nAChR-positive fibers were also positive for P2X3 receptors. Thus choline could serve as an activator of the EPR by opening α7-nAChR expressed by group IV (and possible group III) afferents. nAChRs could become pharmacological targets for suppressing the excessive EPR activation in patients with peripheral vascular disease.
In vivo measured effective half-life of 125 I in human thyroids.

Seven radiation workers accidentally inhaled 125I vapours released from an open beaker. Thyroidal uptake was found by scintillation counting methods with both collimated and uncollimated NaI(Tl) crystal detectors. Retention studies were performed on five of the individuals. Exponential retention patterns were observed for thyroidal 125I activity. Effective half-lives ranged from 38 to 45 days, the average being 41 ± 2 days. Total dose values for the individual uptakes, computed by extrapolation of the retention data back to zero time, ranged between 1.1 and 109 rads. This paper describes the in vivo measurements, medical management and internal dosimetry calculations.
Rabbinic Authority, Medical Rhetoric, and Body Hermeneutics in Mishnah Nega‘im

The second century CE has long been recognized as a time of intense preoccupation with medicine and health in the Graeco-Roman world. Medicine had always been a part of the Greek paideia, and acquaintance with it was traditionally required of every aristocrat, but it was during the second Sophistic period that a new form of medical self-presentation emerged in which the knowledge of medicine was hailed not only as one of the apices of the intellectual habitus, but also as indispensable to everyday life. As Michel Foucault observed, the literature of this period placed an enormous emphasis on the body not just as a tool to be used but also as an end in itself, and the classic philosophical ideal of “caring for the Self” (epimeleia heautou) came to entail unrelenting attention to one's health and physical well-being. In this setting, the doctor—the bearer of medical knowledge and the ultimate caretaker of the Self—was seen as offering more than physical relief: The doctor was both a healer and a mentor, and functioned as a watchperson and a guide to right living. Indeed, it is in this period that we first come across the appellations iatrophilosophos (doctor-philosopher) and iatrosophistes (doctor-sophist). Medical knowledge had thus become a most esteemed form of knowledge during the Antonine period of the Roman Empire, and doctors, as its guardians, interpreters, and practitioners, were invested with substantial power and authority.
A numerical study of transient ignition and flame characteristics of diluted hydrogen versus heated air in counterflow

Combined experimental and numerical studies of the transient response of ignition to strained flows require a well-characterized ignition trigger. Laser deposition of a small radical pool provides a reliable method for initiating ignition of mixtures that are near the ignition limit. Two-dimensional direct numerical simulations are used to quantify the sensitivity of ignition kernel formation and subsequent edge-flame propagation to the oxidizer temperature and the initial width and amplitude of O-atom deposition used to trigger ignition in an axisymmetric counterflow of heated air versus ambient hydrogen/nitrogen. The ignition delay and super-equilibrium OH concentration in the nascent ignition kernel are highly sensitive to variations in these initial conditions. The ignition delay decreases as the amplitude of the initial O-atom deposition increases. The spatial distribution and the magnitude of the OH overshoot are governed by multi-dimensional effects. The degree of OH overshoot near the burner centerline increases as the diameter of the initial O-atom deposition region decreases. This result is attributed to preferential diffusion of hydrogen in the highly curved leading portion of the edge flame that is established following thermal runaway. The edge-flame speed and OH overshoot at the leading edge of the edge flame are relatively insensitive to variations inmore » the initial conditions of the ignition. The steady edge-flame speed is approximately twice the corresponding laminar flame speed. The rate at which the edge flame approaches its steady state is insensitive to the initial conditions and depends solely on the diffusion time scale at the edge flame. The edge flame is curved toward the heated oxidizer stream as a result of differences in the chemical kinetics between the leading edge and the trailing diffusion flame. The structure of the highly diluted diffusion flame considered in this study corresponds to Linan's 'premixed flame regime' in which only the oxidizer leaks through the reaction zone such that the flame is located at fuel lean rather than stoichiometric mixture fraction conditions. (author)« less
Excitons and optical absorption in one-dimensional extended Hubbard models with short- and long-range interactions

We show that charge excitations within one-dimensional extended Hubbard models in the limit of large on-site Coulomb interaction can be mapped onto pairs of spin reversals from the ferromagnetic Ising-Heisenberg spin Hamiltonian. The exciton in the extended Hubbard models is equivalent to the bound two-magnon state of the spin Hamiltonian. From exact results for the spin Hamiltonian, for the intersite Coulomb interactions limited between nearest neighbors, the lowest optical exciton is separated in energy from the electron-hole continuum only for the intersite interaction larger than half the one-electron bandwidth. The commutation relationship between spin operators allows us to numerically investigate exciton binding energies and optical absorptions from the ground state in the limit of large on-site Coulomb interaction even for cases where analytic results are not available. For intersite Coulomb interaction limited between nearest neighbors, the binding energy of the lowest optical exciton changes very weakly for realistic Peierls bond dimerization, although there is a profound change in the optical absorption. While in the undimerized chain a single optical exciton can occur, two additional excitons that occur above the threshold of the electron-hole continuum become optically visible in the dimerized case. For long-range intersite Coulomb interactions, multiple excitons can occur even for the undimerized chain, and additional exciton states become optically visible upon dimerization. With the $1/r$ form for the intersite Coulomb interaction, our numerical calculations suggest that the formation of at least one optical exciton is unconditional, unlike the case of nearest-neighbor interaction. The binding energy of the lowest optical exciton again depends weakly on the dimerization for long-range interaction. Our theoretical results can explain the occurrence of two charge-transfer absorption bands in half-filled band segregated stack charge transfer solids below the spin-Peierls dimerization temperature. Our results also suggest that the lowest optical state of \ensuremath{\pi}-conjugated polymers, in which Coulomb interactions are long ranged, is necessarily an exciton.
Improving public reporting and data validation for complex surgical site infections after coronary artery bypass graft surgery and hip arthroplasty.

Deep and organ/space surgical site infections (D/OS SSI) cause significant morbidity, mortality, and costs. Rates are publicly reported and increasingly used as quality metrics affecting hospital payment. Lack of standardized surveillance methods threaten the accuracy of reported data and decrease confidence in comparisons based upon these data.We analyzed data from national validation studies that used Medicare claims to trigger chart review for SSI confirmation after coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) and hip arthroplasty. We evaluated code performance (sensitivity and positive predictive value) to select diagnosis codes that best identified D/OS SSI. Codes were analyzed individually and in combination.Analysis included 143 patients with D/OS SSI after CABG and 175 patients with D/OS SSI after hip arthroplasty. For CABG, 9 International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision (ICD-9) diagnosis codes identified 92% of D/OS SSI, with 1 D/OS SSI identified for every 4 cases with a diagnosis code. For hip arthroplasty, 6 ICD-9 diagnosis codes identified 99% of D/OS SSI, with 1 D/OS SSI identified for every 2 cases with a diagnosis code.This standardized and efficient approach for identifying D/OS SSI can be used by hospitals to improve case detection and public reporting. This method can also be used to identify potential D/OS SSI cases for review during hospital audits for data validation.